About My Debut Novel--A Meme

I grabbed this meme from Chantele Sedgwick a few weeks ago. I think I'll do a couple of them--one for each of my completed novels. What a fun way to fill the summer!

Feel free to grab the questions and do the same. I know I'd love to hear more about your novel or current wip.


1. What is the name of your book?
The Magic Wakes

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?
The original seed came from a freaky dream I had when I was 19 combined with another one I had when I was 28. It's changed so much over the years that it's almost a new animal.


<---pretty close to the creatures I saw in my dream when I was 19. They were chasing me through underground tunnels filled a foot deep with water with one purpose-kill me. I still don't know why, but that dream stuck with me for all these years.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?
Speculative fiction would be the easy answer because it's complicated. :) See question 10 for more details.

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?

I made this for a Now Showing Blogfest in April 2011. It mostly works now, although I'm thinking I need to find a younger Talia. Any suggestions?

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.
As her nightmares of invasion and death become reality, a scientist embraces her hidden magic to save her world from an ancient mistake.

Or, if given more than one sentence--
Everyone has secrets. Talia Shannon’s will save her world and destroy it at the same time. Only she can decide if the price is worth it.

6. Is your book already published/represented?
It will be released Winter of 2013 by WiDo Publishing.

7. How long did it take you to write your book?
It's been ten years since I started playing around with it, but I only got serious about writing in 2008. That's when I knocked out the completed first draft for Nanowrimo. This is where the novel was really born because I threw away everything that had come before. I wrote two and a half other books since then, but kept coming back to this first story.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
I hate this question because I'm never sure how to answer. I read more YA (I'm fixing that) and so I compare myself to those authors, but this is not YA because of the age of my characters. But I think people who like Elana Johnson, Beth Revis, Janice Hardy, and Stephanie Meyer will enjoy my writing style.

This is what I would consider an easy read--high adventure, fast paced, but not so technical that you get bogged down in details. Those who enjoyed Alex Cavanaugh's CassaFire might enjoy this as well.

I would hope that people who enjoyed Michael Offutt's Slipstream would enjoy this even though I'm no where near as scientifically detailed as he is.

In general, I wrote this with the purpose of showing my Non-science fiction friends that they could read the genre and enjoy it. So everything is basic when it comes to the tech stuff. 

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
I've devoured books since the 5th grade and there are way too many authors to list. I love to read authors who make the book about the story rather than the science or the particular brand of magic. Those elements should flow through seemlessly.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.
I guess the fact that I REALLY love it myself isn't what will get you to buy it, huh? :)

This book was written as an escape for me, and for you. There's a little science, a little fantasy, lots of adventure and chases, aliens, a dragon, and a little romance. The dragon has only a small part in this book, but will play a greater role in upcoming sequels.