The Next Big Thing

So, Hugh Howey mentioned Sarra Cannon in his "The Next Big Thing" post and then Sarra Cannon mentioned me and now I'm hyperventilating a little. I wonder if this is how Celion Dion feels. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COME DOWN FROM THIS?

If it's not obvious, I'm a huge Sarra Cannon fan girl...as evident by this video. If you haven't read the Peachville High Demons series, the first one is FREE on all eretailers including Amazon, so get it now.

But the purpose of this Internet meme, as some of you know, is to talk about your next book. The My Alien Romance series is over, I know, it's sad. A lot of people have emailed me about continuing the series, but I think it ended just the way I wanted it to. There is going to be three more books in the My Paper Heart Saga (because of the huge support from fans on that one when the book was going to be a stand alone), but today I'm going to talk about my upcoming project. The #SecretNAProject I've been teasing everyone with on Twitter. I'm working with Mae I Design for a cover and will reveal that in February with the release date in April. So without further ado, The answers about THE ONLY EXCEPTION.

What is the title of your next book?
THE ONLY EXCEPTION

Where did the idea come from for the book?
For awhile I've wanted to write a book with a liberal girl and a conservative guy, but couldn't think of a great storyline. Then I saw an episode of new girl in which Schmidt pretended to be Mitt Romney's son. Instantly that put an idea in motion of a conservative senator's son living next door to an uber liberal girl.

What genre does your book fall under?
New Adult Contemporary. It's pretty hot, but nothing I wouldn't let my MIL read. There are some controversial topics and some different political things, but as one of my CPs told me, "I hate politics, but I loved your character's banter on it."

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

I kind of have an obsession with casting my characters...obviously. For MPH, Blaine and Libby were actually just in my head the whole time and hard to pick someone that would represent them. It got easier the more I wrote. I'm only going to pick a few characters, but hopefully it should give you a little taste.

Monica Remy- She's a fiery liberal with an eyebrow piercing and "auburn" hair (so she says...everyone else says red.) I would go with either Emma Stone or Jane Levy. I heart them both.

Trey Chapman- The conservative senator's son with a killer set of green eyes and a dimpled smile. *sigh* I think Colton Haynes would be amazing. I was pinning and came across his picture and then I think I drooled on my Ipad.

Melissa- Monica's friend and co-worker who has a mound of curly, brown hair and always keeps Monica in check. I think Emmy Rossum has the spunky personality and definitely the hair to pull of Melissa.

Mindy (Trey's mother)- She is described as bottled blonde and the perfect senator's wife. Immediately I thought of Anna Camp and her role in True Blood. So she's only 30 and would play a nineteen year old's mother...it could happen....

I have a very OBVIOUS choice for Trey's father, but I'm not going to put that down, so I'll just put my chocie for his mother. I realize that the actors for the son and mother are probably the same age, but it's my book and I think how I want.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Fiercely liberal Monica Remy prefers to blend in. Despite her tattoos, piercings, and outspoken personality, she transferred to Central to escape—before she finds out that her next door neighbor is the uber conservative senator’s son, Trey Chapman.

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

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
No laughing...uh like two weeks. I write a lot and every day. With my new work schedule I probably write at least two-four hours a day with my lunch break, after work, and sometimes before work. It's crazy, but then it went off to my alpha reader, revise, first round cps, revise, and right now it is off to second round cps and then after I revise that, to my editor.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I'm sure that people are going to compare this to the big NA books that are out there now like THE SECRET OF ELLA AND MICHA or LOSING IT or books like that, but really what makes this book stand out is that I took the formula of bad boy and good girl and flip flopped it. Yeah, my hero is a genuine good guy. Soak that one up.


Who or what inspired you to write this book?
This book really took a lot of my heart and soul. Like I said, the episode of New Girl started it, but I needed something dark for Monica to escape from and then I had to put a political scandal in that dark moment. There is a moment in which Monica faces her dark past and I literally cried while writing it. I love this book so darn much it's a sin.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Um...it's sexy? No, ha, there is more to it then than, but I try to pride myself on writing as sexy as possible without getting down and dirty (as obvious by the alien books). I'm not saying the characters don't get down and dirty, but...

For those who are leary on politics, it's more political banter. The characters have different beliefs in things, but it leads for some interesting scenes that will have you laughing out loud or crying with the characters.

AND, hot guy in dress clothes. That's all.

****

So, that’s The Only Exception and this is the first time I'm talking about it! Scary! It's out of the bag!

Now, it’s my turn to tag five writers. I haven’t checked to see if they were already tagged because I’m too lazy and it was hard to pick only five, but I decided to go with a few that have helped along with some ideas for this book...and then I added one more. I DO WHAT I WANT.

Juliana Haygert

Chelsea Cameron

Laurie Larsen

Kelsey Ketch

Leigh T. Moore

Eryn LaPlant