The Next Big Thing or The Next Thing

My friend Ann Rushton, yes, that lovely and talented Ann Rushton, tagged me on this writerly project and I promptly dropped the ball. I'm finally picking it up today. Expect a couple of posts throughout the day.

According to Ann:

(This is my limited understanding of this phenomenon: Writers are tagged and asked to write about their current projects and then tag other writers to do the same the following week. Surely you’ve seen this. If not, I am sad to report that googling may not be helpful, as I’ve also seen this project referred to as The Next Big Thing and other questions have been asked of other writers so maybe ultimately this has turned into a version of an internet telephone game.)

Okay. So here it goes. I'm going to answer some questions about my novel-in-progress.   Expect this to be awkward and vague. I'm (not really) sorry.

TNBT: What is the working title of the book?

What We Have Lost
            What We Have Found

I totally imagine that this is how the title will look on a book cover one day. Or maybe not. I don't know.

TNBT: Where did the idea come from for the book?

When I graduated from college I scribbled a lot of paragraphs about a couple named Sherry and Roger and domestic misery. At the time I was writing a lot about Sherry toying with the idea of committing suicide. The scene I wrote had her packing a suitcase as if she were going to take a trip, and then sitting in her car in the garage while the engine ran. She would stop the car when she felt a little dizzy and then go back into the house and unpack the suitcase. Those scenes have all been cut (maybe they'll come back??) but around that idea I give S. and R. a family. It's more fun to write a family self destructing. I've also been inspired by numerous people I've encountered, stories I witnessed and stories that have been told to me.
 
TNBT: What genre does your book fall under?
 

Literary fiction.  Domestic fiction. Fiction.

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

Ugh. I have no idea. I went on a House of Cards bender last weekend and I think the actress who plays the young journalist would be good for Claire, she's young, ambitious in all the wrong ways, and pretty but not stunning. I would cast Michael K. Williams in everything. I would even change the lead male into Omar if I could be friends with him. But he's a little too young. 

TNBT: What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

  

A kid dies, a family self-destructs, let's all talk about race and class!  

TNBT: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

General wonderment and curiosity.

TNBT: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Adultery! Race! Class! Teen pregnancy! Guns! Summer houses! And then somebody gets married!!
What's not to love?

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

Well, first I should finish writing it. I hope some agent will take an interest and represent the work. I'd like to think that if I can complete something I'm proud of, it will have a life outside of my computer's hard drive.

I'm going to tag May in the Bay maybe she'll have some time??