Bound (Bound Trilogy book one)

(Questions and answers based on the “Next Big Thing” blog hop. Answered pre-publishing, answers left as-is)

What is the title of your work in progress?

Bound

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I always joke that they say to write what you know, so I wrote headaches. There’s some truth in that, though. My headaches frequently send me to a dark, quiet bedroom, which means a lot of long, lonely, quiet hours for stories to percolate in my aching brain. I wondered what would happen if someone had headaches that turned out to be caused by something more significant than atmospheric pressure and aspartame, and my love of Fantasy led me to consider a magical connection.

That gave me the beginnings of a character. The plot came when I asked what would happen if a nice, fairly average girl accidentally rescued a bad guy, and their lives just kept on colliding. Those two ideas combined and took me places I never expected, but that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing about.

What genre does your book fall under?

I’m going with “Mature YA Fantasy.” Young adult themes, mature situations (though nothing as explicit as some readers would like, sorry!), romance, adventure, magic… it’s all so hard to pin down.

What is a one sentence synopsis for your book?

When nineteen-year-old Rowan Greenwood accidentally saves the life of one of her people’s most feared enemies, she learns that all of her childhood wishes might just come true– that is, if the one thing she’s always wanted doesn’t kill her first.

(hint- it’s not finding Prince Charming.)

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

Self-published. I hired a fantastic editor for developmental and line editing, and got to choose my own cover artist, both of which were lovely (and challenging) experiences.  There are many reasons I chose to publish independently, but the most important one might be control.  I have very definite ideas about where this story’s going that might not fit in with what a publisher wants, and this way I get to put out the books I want.  If readers love a character and want to read his/her story, I don’t want to have to ask for permission to write and publish it (or worry about non-compete clauses). I don’t want readers to have to pay $9.99 for my e-books, and this way I can price however I see fit. I retain full rights to my work, and don’t have to worry that a book will go out of print if it’s not a best-seller right away.

I want to write the best books I can and share them with people who might love them, and this is how I’ve decided to achieve that. I have a lot of respect for every path to publication. This is simply the one I’ve chosen. I won’t say that I’d never work with an agent or publisher, only that it doesn’t seem right for me at this time.

I’ll have this book ready to publish in June 2014, and the sequel the following winter.

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

About 7 months for that draft… but all told, it’s been more than three years.

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

Bound is a story about flawed people- not clumsy girls who don’t know they’re pretty, but people who can genuinely terrify or annoy each other, who have strength and goodness in them, too. It’s a story about love, adventure, danger, lies, freedom, and (of course), magic. Asses are kicked, hearts are broken, enemies are outsmarted, values are questioned and boundaries are destroyed. It’s good fun.

And wait until you see what happens after that…

Chapter One Here

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