1) What am I working on?
I’m currently prepping (see: editing/revising/querying for) my debut Middle Grade novel THE STATE OF DREAMS. It’s a psychological suspense meets low fantasy in the vein of A Wrinkle in Time meeting Inception. Here’s some flap jack copy (mmm pancakes):
After their parent’s disappearance, Basil Benton and his talkative little sister Katheryn are forced to move in with their eccentric grandfather. While sneaking through his restricted laboratories, the kids discover an archway that leads to a world where Basil’s own dreams are physically built and acted out each night. But once they’re through, they’re trapped. To escape, they must navigate a crumbling dreamland, evade a denigrating, menacing Shadow creature that is the physical manifestation of Basil’s negative side, and conquer Basil’s darkest thoughts and paralyzing nightmares in order to find The Council which builds the Dreamscape and harbors the only way back home.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Most psychological suspense novels revolve around the unstable emotions of the main character and how s/he views the world and what happens to him/her. Many works are incredibly thought provoking and may involve an unreliable narrator. The State of Dreams only does this subtly. I’ve made sure that the book can be an enjoyable experience for both the passive reader and the aggressive reader that looks for the layers of meaning. My main character, Basil, enters his own mind through a strange portal. He is able to see, feel, and experience how his mind works on a psychological level from the inside. His mind and everyone else’s minds are crumbling, the psychological suspense that is usually viewed from outside the mind is now being viewed at the very source.
Another thing that makes The State of Dreams stand out is the concept of dreams being interconnected in one land and attainable through invisible doorways that you experience while you’re dreaming. All of my beta readers so far have said, “It’s completely changed the way I dream at night.”
3) Why do I write what I do?
I write what I want to read. I’d like to read a book that’s full of adventure, danger, psychology, science, and fantasy without being overwhelmed by any of it. I’m also very interested in dreams: why we dream, what they mean, what would happen if the strange things we dream about (like flying, falling, dreams-within-dreams, and the nightmares you wake sweating and shaking from) were actually real and inescapable, and what the dreams of other people, cultures, animals, the blind, and the deaf would look like. These are all things I cover in The State of Dreams as a three-book series.
4) How does my writing process work?
If I’m writing Fiction (like The State of Dreams or a short story):
Like many writers I know, I start by inserting an IV with a caffeine drip, haha.
When I’m writing I’ll start around 9am. When I’m editing and revising I’ll start around 11am, give or take a few weeks of procrastination. Then I’ll write/edit for the entire day, breaking for an hour at lunch time. Then at 5 my workout/cook dinner/housewife duties start and my fiancé returns from the mines – or whatever it is he does all day. Sometimes I work at night, but most times I like to allow myself that time to step away from the process.
If I’m writing poetry:
Poetry is kind of different. It doesn’t involve caffeine at all. There are two types of poetry that I write, the internal, considerate pieces about nature or life that are very soft and contemplative which I usually write when I’m sitting in a backyard, or in the woods, or by a large overwhelming body of water where I can feel very small; then there are the pieces that are harder, involving strength, power, and inevitably cuss words, that are about inhibitions and uncertainties- those are written in darkness, bathrooms, and hallways parallel to parties and usually involve alcohol. If you'd like to read both types of this poetry, you can do so in my book ANOTHER LID TO A POTLESS EXISTENCE published March 2014 available here on Amazon.
Next week (July 7th), check out these awesome, talented authors to see how their process works!
Keri Rand
Website: www.kerirand.com
Bio:
Toni McGee Causey is the author of the critically acclaimed and nationally toni_pressbestselling “Bobbie Faye” novels—an action/caper series set in south Louisiana; the series was released in back-to-back publications, beginning with CHARMED AND DANGEROUS, GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS, and WHEN A MAN LOVES A WEAPON. She is also a contributor to the USA Today Bestselling anthology LOVE IS MURDER, as well as the KILLER YEAR and the DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS anthologies.
While pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting, Toni had scripts optioned by prominent studios and recently produced an indie film, LA-308, which now has offers of distribution pending. Toni began her career by writing non-fiction for local newspapers, edited Baton Rouge Magazine, and sold articles to places like Redbook and Mademoiselle. In her copious spare time, she practiced her Ninja skills, though she can’t prove it because no one ever saw her.
She and her husband, Carl, thrive in the French Quarter, where they’re not the craziest ones on the block. Sometimes, they’re not even second craziest. She and Carl have also owned and operated a civil construction company for over thirty years [hence, the crazy], with projects all over Louisiana, Mississippi, and south-eastern Texas. They are also working on a home/remodeling project in the Quarter. Her grown sons survived her (they might say ‘barely’ but they don’t get to write the bio, ha!), with one becoming a SWAT police officer and one becoming a Firefighter. [In other words, Toni rarely sleeps.] Meanwhile, she and Carl are absolutely frothing-at-the-mouth proud of the two g-kids and three step-ish-g-kids (it’s complicated, but it’s all good).
One day, when she’s grown up enough, she’s going to get another puppy. This may take a while.
Raised in Avon, Ohio, the duct tape capital of the world, Jenny began her writing career as a featured columnist for her hometown newspaper. After earning a degree in photojournalism from Kent State University, she vowed to never spend another winter in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles, where there is far too much sunshine.
Amid working as a grant writer for Sound Art, a non-profit that teaches music in inner-city neighborhoods, and raising two kids, Jenny decided to do something with all the snippets of stories she wrote during microeconomics and began writing for young adults. She likes her heroines smart and quirky, her heroes nice, and her kisses sweet. Her debut young adult romance, THE ART OF FALLING (Bloomsbury Spark), is available now.
Apart from writing, Jenny is still an avid photographer, loves music despite no discernable musical talent and reads the dictionary for fun. She lives near Los Angeles with her husband, son and daughter. The four of them are always looking for their next adventure.
Bio:
A writer by heart and soul, Keri Rand was raised in rural Northern New Jersey and has been a purveyor of the arts since a young age. In high school she cultivated a passion for writing. The realization that books could not only change her world, but the world around her, lead her to study literature in college. Her first novel, MY SONG, debuted in May 2012. When she's not writing, she can be found singing, reading, or traveling.
Toni McGee Causey
Blog Post: http://themisfitchronicles.com/?p=1511
Bio:
While pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting, Toni had scripts optioned by prominent studios and recently produced an indie film, LA-308, which now has offers of distribution pending. Toni began her career by writing non-fiction for local newspapers, edited Baton Rouge Magazine, and sold articles to places like Redbook and Mademoiselle. In her copious spare time, she practiced her Ninja skills, though she can’t prove it because no one ever saw her.
She and her husband, Carl, thrive in the French Quarter, where they’re not the craziest ones on the block. Sometimes, they’re not even second craziest. She and Carl have also owned and operated a civil construction company for over thirty years [hence, the crazy], with projects all over Louisiana, Mississippi, and south-eastern Texas. They are also working on a home/remodeling project in the Quarter. Her grown sons survived her (they might say ‘barely’ but they don’t get to write the bio, ha!), with one becoming a SWAT police officer and one becoming a Firefighter. [In other words, Toni rarely sleeps.] Meanwhile, she and Carl are absolutely frothing-at-the-mouth proud of the two g-kids and three step-ish-g-kids (it’s complicated, but it’s all good).
One day, when she’s grown up enough, she’s going to get another puppy. This may take a while.
Jenny Kaczorowski
Website: jennykacz.com
Bio:
Amid working as a grant writer for Sound Art, a non-profit that teaches music in inner-city neighborhoods, and raising two kids, Jenny decided to do something with all the snippets of stories she wrote during microeconomics and began writing for young adults. She likes her heroines smart and quirky, her heroes nice, and her kisses sweet. Her debut young adult romance, THE ART OF FALLING (Bloomsbury Spark), is available now.
Apart from writing, Jenny is still an avid photographer, loves music despite no discernable musical talent and reads the dictionary for fun. She lives near Los Angeles with her husband, son and daughter. The four of them are always looking for their next adventure.
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