The Next Big Thing

Friend and fellow Permuted Press author D.L. Snell invited me to be a part of The Next Big Thing. The Next Big Thing is a blog tour in which the invited author answers a set of questions about his/her latest work, gives a shout out to the author who offered the initiation, and then tags five other authors to participate (you can see my selected authors at the end).

So without further adieu, below are my answers to The Next Big Thing interview tour.  Enjoy.  And please be sure to visit my colleagues' blogs to see how they answer.

What is the working title of your next book?

Yeitso.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I've had this idea floating around in my head for years, but have been concentrating on The Vampire Hunters trilogy and Rotter World. 

What genre does your book fall under?

It would probably fall somewhere between Science Fiction and fantasy/adventure.

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

I would want Nathan Fillion to play Russell Andrews and Crista Campbell to play Molly Collins.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

The desert of New Mexico harbors a creature that preys on cattle and humans, and only a small band of police stand between the town of Los Alamos and an unspeakable horror from an era that time has forgotten.

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

The book will be published in the spring of 2014 by Blood Bound Books.

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

I have a day job, so I only get a few hours a day to write, at best.  It takes me approximately one year to write a novel: about a month to research it and plot out the storyline, six months to get the first draft written, and another five months to let my beta readers review it and prepare the final draft for submission. 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The only books that I know of that fall under this category would be the Clickers series by Brian Keene and J.F. Gonzalez, Mandibles by Jeff Strand, and the anthology Monstrous by Ryan C. Thomas

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

As a kid, I grew up watching Creature Double Feature on WLVI Channel 56.  My favorite films were the big monster movies from the 1950s.  They rarely make movies like that anymore, and even more rare are novels in the same vein.  I spent years mentally playing around with the concept until I finally came up with the right monster.  Yeitso is my homage to those movies.

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

My vampire and zombie works have always been filled with violence, foul language, and copious amounts of blood and gore.  This time I wanted to do something different, so I wrote the novel to read like a movie from the 1950s.  There is minimal sex, and the language and gore is toned way down from my usual fare. 


The following authors have graciously agreed to be tagged for the next round of The Next Big Thing:

Alison Beightol, author of the paranormal romance/dark fantasy novel Blood Betrayal, the first book in The Primigenio Tales trilogy, to be published in December 2012 by Cambridge Press.  Alison reached out to me back in March 2010 to say she had read The Vampire Hunters and loved it.  I volunteered to be one of the beta readers for her vampire novels.  It was an excellent decision on my part -- we became engaged in November. 

Max Xavier, writer, photographer, part time philosopher, and full time maniac.  Also a long-time Facebook friend.

Joy Killar, author and host of the blog Mayday Collective, an online consortium for artists. Joy has been one of my biggest fans for years after reading my second short story, "Rednecks Shouldn't Play with Dead Things." 

Tony Faville, author of the zombie apocalypse novel Kings of the Dead published by Permuted Press.  I met Tony this past May at Crypticon in Seattle.  Him, David, and myself occupied the far end of the Permuted Press tables, and he introduced me to Makers' Coke. 

Sam Garcia, author of the zombie apocalypse novel Dead Air: First Flight from Silver Dagger Press.  I met Sam on Facebook and have not know him too long, but anyone who loves zombies is okay in my book.