The Next Big Thing

Thanks to Jen McConnel and Kip Wilson for tagging me in this fun post. It gives me the chance to talk about the manuscript I’m working on and share that love with some friends.  I’m tagging, E.R. Arroyo, Oliver Dahl, Mia K Rose, and A.K. Fotinos-Hoyer.

1. What is the working title of your book? Blood of Isis

 

2. Where did the idea come from the book? Honestly I have no idea.  I do not remember how this book started, I can only guess with much certainty that it came from my love of all thing Ancient Egyptian as well as my experience transferring to a new high school for my senior year.

 

3. What genre is your book? Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy

 

4. Which actors would you choose to play the characters in a movie? Haha, actually when I started doing some characterization exercises I created Pinterest Boards for my Main Characters.  And for the cover of those boards I have Blake Lively as Camille Katzen, Alexis Bledel as Alexis Bello, Tika Sumpter as Jordan Monroe, and some mix of Marion Cotillard and Meta Golding as Aziza Harper (the main character).

Sadly, if my book does become a movie, these actresses will be too old, and the person who plays Aziza will need to be Egyptian and I know of no famous young Egyptian-American actresses…my book will not be whitewashed by Hollywood.

 

5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? When Aziza Harper discovers that she is the descendant of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, it will be up to her an her new friends, who are not so ordinary themselves, to save the world from the coming of the Seth–a power-hungry Egyptian God who is back for revenge.

 

6. Will your book be self-published or repped by an agency? I do not have an agent–my book is in its final editing/revision phase, or at least hopefully that’s what my Beta Readers will tell me.  I plan on beginning to query for agents by October 8th, however I am entering in GUTGAA so we shall see….I do want & plan on being traditionally published.

 

7. How long did it take you to finish your first draft? My first draft was finished in three months, that’s my time frame for first drafts…I always aim to produce one and start another every three months.

 

8. What other books would you compare yours to in this genre? I see my closest comparisons to be the Percy Jackson Series (especially the first one), Oppression,the Gallagher Girls series, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  Percy Jackson because of the mythology and the journey to the Underworld with friends aspect (I’d like to think of my MC as the female Percy Jackson, in some ways).  Oppression because of the mythology but also because Oppression unlike, PJ, is aimed more at the audience my book is aimed at (16-18  year olds +/- a year), as well as the “prophecy” aspect that the main character of Oppression and mine share.  And Gallagher Girls and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants because while my book does have a tinge of romance, it mainly focuses on the girls friendship and adventures together.

**These are some of my favorite series…if you haven’t read them I highly suggest it, and you can read my review of Oppression, here!**

Yes there are more obvious choices such as Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles or Lynn Ewing’s Sisters of Isis series that deal with Egyptian Mythology however I’ve read these books (after I wrote mine) and I think the comparisons I have chosen compare better.

 

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? I don’t want to sound pompous but I inspired myself to write this book.  I had a really hard time adjusting to a new school during my senior year that was only made easier my me making friends and getting involved with theater.  I switched school’s a few times throughout elementary/middle school and so I know what it feels like to have to readjust to new surroundings, luckily I’m a pretty social person where my main character Aziza, isn’t.

Also I have four sisters, and I work &  volunteer with a lot of teen mentoring programs.  So I really wanted to write a book that encompassed a lot of the things teen girls go through, and teens in general which is why my MC starts out kind of hardened and by the end of the book has gained a sense of who she is as a person.  As a result there are a lot of underlying themes in my book, some of which I didn’t plan to be there…I love it!

 

10. What else about your book my pique a reader’s interest? So many things, I could go on and on for days but since I don’t have that kind of time, and you probably don’t want to read all of that I shall refer you to a love list I wrote for BLOOD OF ISIS as well as another one of my WIPs.  Check it out here!

Thanks again, Jen & Kip!  This was really fun! 🙂

—Whimsically Yours,

PnC