next big thing

Trevor Calvert tagged me for The Next Big Thing. Here's my self-interview:

What is the working title of the book?

Bombyonder


Where did the idea come from for the book?

The concept is that it's a "psychic memoir" meaning that it reads as a personal record of a mental/supernatural phenomena. Since it's a "memoir" the memories recovered are treated as truth, there's no question as to whether or not something "really" happened. The protagonist doesn't wake up and go "oh, it was just a dream" and it's not a hallucination. The book works under the belief that the mental/supernatural spaces we move in and out of are indeed quite "real." The veracity of the events is not what's in question, but the perspectives/motivations of the characters and what the protagonist extracts and concludes from these recovered truths. These psychic events expand, overlap and evolve as their own spaces. It's these events and experiences that are accounted for by the protagonist.

The influences for this idea come from everywhere: bibliomancy, Tarot, books, films, memories and fragments, physical experiences, dreams, fantasies, the news, religious and mythological texts and on and on.


What genre does your book fall under?

Fiction. I read somewhere that people like to read novels, so I thought I'd give that a try since I'd like for people to read it. Also, even though it IS a memoir, I don't want to be in the position where I have to PROVE something REALLY HAPPENED.


What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Lena Headey, Cate Blanchett or (in 15 years from now) Jennifer Lawrence for the protagonist. Amy Sedaris as Lily, the straight-texting friend who lives in a box inside a box. For Rauan, the unconceived brother, maybe Patton Oswalt.


What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Lady swallows a bomb in pill form (invented by her father), barfs up a dead bird and embarks on an excavation layered with murder, sexual politics, patriarchy, matricide and ancestral torment along with a parrot-faced cat girl, a boy on a donkey, a terrifyingly handsome lover, an unconceived brother, a straight-texting friend who lives in a box inside a box and Medusa.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I'm still writing it, so 14 months and counting.



Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My unflinching desire to set the record STRAIGHT and then blow it to SMITHEREENS to see what's inside.



Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I haven't thought too much on that yet. Right now I'm focusing on finishing the manuscript. I'm open to both possibilities, but there's probably a slightly higher chance that I'll publish it myself because I tend to want to be the one who makes the decisions. Sometimes I have trust issues.



I'm not sure who hasn't been tagged yet, but I don't think I've seen a selfie by: Rauan Klassnik or Hugh Behm-Steinberg. Anyone else want to be tagged who hasn't been?