The Next Big Thing

The lovely and talented, A.L. Jackson recently tagged me in The Next Big Thing.  So I have to answer some questions about my next book and tag five more people. 

I figure you guys are all Finding-Claire-Fletchered out so I'm going to talk about my next book, Aberration. 

What is the working title of your book?

Aberration

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I lived in this really tiny apartment once (which I called, not affectionately, the Shoebox) and periodically things kept disappearing from it.  Weird things like 2 books I was reading for one of my literature classes and my lucky hair scrunchy to name just a couple.  I thought I was going crazy.  I never recovered any of the missing items but for awhile I kept wondering what would it be like if you had a benign stalker?  Like someone who bore no ill-will toward you (other than stealing your crap) but basically stalked you?  Of course warm, fuzzy, nice stalker doesn't make for an entertaining story so I thought okay, well what if this stalker started killing for you?  And the story was born . . .

I used an FBI "profiler" for the main character because back then I was reading a lot of John Douglas books and I thought it would be fun to make the main character a behavioral analyst.

What genre does your book fall under?

Crime fiction; suspense

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

Hmmm . . . that's a tough one.  Especially for Kassidy who is the main character.  I always imagined her as looking a lot like Diane Lane but Kassidy is in her mid-thirties so I had to choose a younger actress.  I would say Emily Blunt for the main character, FBI analyst, Kassidy Bishop.

For her two love interests, I would chose Hugh Jackman for Jory Ralston and Simon Baker for Isaac McCaffrey.

To play Detective Jory Ralston

To play Lt. Isaac McCaffrey

I didn't purchase royalty free photos for the other characters but I could see Don Cheadle as Kassidy's unofficial partner, FBI agent TK Bennett and although I can't think of an actress who actually looks like Kassidy's best friend, DEA agent Linnea Deeds, I think perhaps Rosario Dawson could pull it off.  For the killer, Wyatt?  That's a tough one too but maybe actor James McAvoy.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

When a series of sadistic murders bearing the same signature arise in different parts of the country, FBI behavioral analyst, Kassidy Bishop is assigned to the "For You" killer's task force--whose investigation leads right back to her.

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

It will be published by Sapphire Star Publishing and it will be available 6/6/13!

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

I wrote the first chapter of this book way back in 2001, if I recall correctly.  Then it sat for years and in 2006 I picked it up again, wrote a few chapters.  Then I put it aside to work on something else.  In 2007 I picked it up again and began working seriously on it.  I finished my first complete draft in 2009.  So from first chapter to final draft, 8 years but if you want to calculate how long it took me to write the first draft using the time I was seriously working on it, 2 years.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

See my answer to the second question about benign stalkers and John Douglas books!

What else about your book might pique readers' interests?

Well let's just say that there are a couple of twists at the end that will make you go back and rethink the entire book.  I tried to pull a Harlan Coben here.  I hope it worked!

And Tag, You're It!

Libby Heily
L.G. Smith
Hope Roberson
Jeff O
Emily Moir

And P.S. if you are a woman or care about a woman, I recommend reading John Douglas' Obsession.  Seriously.  It is very instructive and may help people avoid potentially dangerous situations that they might not have noticed otherwise.