Be Inspired Bloghop Meme

The lovely Steph Sessa tagged me for the Be Inspired Bloghop Meme! Thanks, Steph! I think I'm going to do this for my work in Progress instead of my querying manuscript. You've all heard me talk about that one too much, right?

1. What is the name of your book?

The Last Lightning Prince

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?

I have no idea. I had an idea as a teen - maybe even younger - about a boy falling from the sky. That idea sat in the back of my head for probably 20 years before I decided to give it a try. I was driving past the Signal Hill neighborhood of Long Beach and the setting clicked into place. A town that's an epicenter for weather and a boy who controls lightning tumbling to the earth. And the awesome girl who rescues and protects him.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?

I always hope I can reign in the crazy enough to call it magical realism, but most likely it will end up as contemporary fantasy.

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

Cambria, my main character, looks like a young Sara Rue (who I totally think was cuter before Jenny Craig got her hands on her). For Raiden, the Lightning Prince  himself, there's a photographer in Norway named Joakim Kræmer who happens to look exactly like the image in my head. He's seriously talented too. Check out his gallery!


5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis if your book.

When 16-year-old Cambria finds an injured boy in her backyard, she has no idea he shepherds lightning or that they will soon be running for their lives or that he might just be the love of her life.

Lame, huh? Haven't put a whole lot of thought into that yet.  I'm still trying to get through my first draft!

6. Is your book already published?

It's not even finished.

7. How long did it take you to write your book?

I started in January and I'm half way. But I keep revising as I write and I had to cut out a whole story line. And I'm pregnant. I get a pass, right?

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?

Erm...I never know what to say to this question. Especially for this one. It's really high on the romance, light on world building, but weird. Does that sound like anything?

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?

As always, Madeline L'Engle and Lois Lowry. I think of them both as "one off" writers - there's a level of normalcy amid their fantasy. Their stories seem so possibly impossible. Neil Gaiman is a master of that too.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.

There's a lot of kissing. Especially for me. The first kiss happens on page 32. It's page 150 in my other MS. So yeah. Very different. And this:

"I am the last lightning prince of the Western reaches of the Heavens.”
“The Heavens?”
“In the beginning, the Creator made the Heavens and the Earth,” he recited.
“I know that story too.”
Raiden smiled. “But you don’t know the rest. The Creator gave the men of the earth dominion over the animals, over the land and all that grows in it. He gave my people, the men of the Heavens, dominion over the weather, over the sky and all that grows in it.”
“You make the rain fall?”
“No. I shepherd the lightning.”

11. Tag five people!

I know everyone is crazy busy right now, so if you want to share, I'd LOVE to hear about your projects! There's a lot of new stuff happening and I want to read it all! If you post, let me know so I can come stalk read your stuff!