The Next Big Thing

V.R. Barkowski tagged me for The Next Big Thing, so now I have an excuse to talk about Pirithous even more than I already do!


THE QUESTIONS

1. What is your working title of your book?

Pirithous and Thalia go to Washington. Which is maybe not the most original title in the world, but definitely describes the story well.
   
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Actually, it came from my aunt. After I sent her the first Pirithous book (titled, much more practically, Son of Zeus) she read it, and wrote back to me with pitches for two more Pirithous books, and after reading them, I knew I *had* to write the stories, because I really wanted to read them. So, Pirithous and Thalia go to Washington is actually the sequel to Son of Zeus, and maybe I shouldn't be writing it, but WHATEVER. I needed to just have some fun, and there is no better pair of characters to have fun with than Pirithous as the fish out of water, and Thalia as his modern day guide to all things he should not be doing.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Paranormal Romance, easy peasy.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Geez. I have honestly never considered this at all. I'm not good at seeing faces when I picture people in my head, but now I'm going to have to go investigate and see who is most Pirithous-like in hollywood. They'd have to have a lot of natural athletic-grace, and some height, with the right kind of sparkle in their eye. Dead-eyes need not apply. Pirithous is a very animated kind of man, and he isn't afraid at all to show emotion, except, perhaps, fear. Maybe a Hugh Jackman kind of guy in his late twenties? As for Thalia -- A 20-something Caterina Murino would be on the right track.

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Pirithous isn't interested in letting modern-woman Thalia slip through his fingers once they've met, and if that means following her from Upstate New York, where he stumbled out of Hades, to Washington D.C., he isn't about to let a little thing like illegal immigration stand in his way.

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

I feel like this question should be worded differently. Do I want to be represented by an agency? Absolutely! Do I want to land said agent with Pirithous? ummmm. I'm not entirely sure I do. It's so different from everything else I've written, and so much more gratuitous, and it isn't really the book I want to make my name with as an Author. But I'd be a fool to say no if opportunity came knocking, either way.

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

I'm still in the middle! And I reached the middle in 2 weeks or so -- I'd guess it won't be done until early 2013, what with Christmas, and edits for my publisher, and other obligations. But if I had nothing else going on, another 4 weeks, max, I'd have a working first draft.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

North of Need by Laura Kaye comes to mind, published by Entangled. Though, that hero is a lot less of a fish out of water than Pirithous. Being trapped in a chair of forgetfulness in Hades for 3000+ years does not exactly allow one to keep tabs on how the world has grown and changed.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Didn't I answer this question already? If what you really want to know is where I got the Pirithous-comes-to-the-modern-world idea to begin with, *that* came from my mother. After I wrote HELEN OF SPARTA, my mother said "but -- I just hate to think of Pirithous trapped in Hades forever! Can't he escape somehow?!" and I thought "what if he DOES? but TODAY?" and then I ran with it, because there were a lot of people demanding that Pirithous get his own book, after reading HELEN, and I wanted to satisfy them with some kind of something. I expected maybe a short story kind of thing, and wound up with a novel. And then my aunt suggested the trilogy and... Poor Pirithous. He has a novella, too. I'm not sure how it happened that he had so many stories in him, but I love writing him, and I love getting him into trouble.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Well, Pirithous is not so well-known as a hero. He was Theseus' best friend back in the Bronze Age, and the only myths we really have are those in which his story intersects with Theseus. So I think readers might be interested because he's not so well established. And he is *really* sexy. But Thalia does not let him get away with ANYTHING, and it's really fun to see the world through his eyes, as someone coming from a totally *totally* different worldview -- for example, in Pirithous' day, it was totally normal to go out raiding and come home with some new livestock and a woman over your shoulder. Today, that's called kidnapping, theft, and, considering what Pirithous would have been planning to do with said woman, most likely, rape, which of course outrages Thalia. That contrast of values and morals, and the struggle of Thalia and Pirithous to come to some kind of understanding regarding those behaviors which are no longer acceptable in the slightest, is to me really fascinating, and not often addressed in these kinds of books, where the main characters travel through time, somehow or other. So. I don't know. Sexy Alpha Hero, put in his place by a sexy, confident modern woman. If that sounds like your cuppa, then Pirithous is your book.

Sooooooo... Those were some long answers. Which I hope VR, at least, will enjoy :) And I guess I have to pick some people to pass this along to? I am going to choose Mr. Z. Tringali and Ms. Diana Paz, because I am kind of maybe sure they have not taken part in this already? The questions are under the cut withOUT my answers for your copy/paste ease.

1. What is your working title of your book? 

     

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

3. What genre does your book fall under?

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

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

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

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?