The Work - In - Progress - Blog Hop (or an interview with myself)

Hi all my lovely followers! Hope you've been having a good week.

I had a great day last Saturday at the Barnes & Noble Book reading and signing in Mandeville, LA. That bookstore sure does stay busy. There were people in and out all day.

 

This weekend is our big Louisiana Book Festival so I'll be selling and signing my book there as well. I'm really excited for that! Now everyone put your palms together, close your eyes, and pray for good weather and no rain, please!

Today I'm going to have a different kind of blog post. I will be interviewing myself about my current work - in - progress! But first, I'd like to thank Deb Hockenberry http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com/, one of my wonderful critique partners, for nominating me to do this. Thanks, Deb!

There are two rules to this. (1) answer all ten questions about my work - in - progress; (2) Nominate five other writer friends who you know that have blogs or websites so they can join in the fun! However, I'm cheating and nominating just three. See my nominee's at the end of this post.

Drum roll... here are the questions:

What is the title to your work - in - progress?
I'm working on a bunch of different picture books right now but probably the most prominate one is Wacky Wednesdays.

Where did the idea for your book come from?
I was talking one day to an ex-coworker and he was telling me his daughters school had different days of the week where they did fun stuff like one day they dress up, one day they all wear a certain color etc. etc. So I grabbed that idea and started creating!

What genre does your book fall under? Children's picture book, ages 4-8.

What actors would you choose to play the characters in the movie rendition? Well since all the characters are circus animals, I'd have to say whatever the illustrator can come up with! But they'd have to be cute!!

What is the synopsis of your book in one sentence? Nelly the horse, Squealy the seal, and Jumbo the elephant are frustrated because circus school just isn't fun anymore. They try to come up with something to change that. (that's two sentences, oh well)

What other book would you compare this work - in - progress to in your genre? It's an original so none! Well none that I'm aware of. I'm sure there is something else out there similar to it.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The first draft was quick. However, I've been editing and redoing it for a year now! And it's about to go to my critique group for one more final "pick apart" session. Plus it's one of my advanced ICL class submissions so by the time I actually finish and tighten it to where I feel confident enough to send it out, it will be as good as it gets!

Will this book be self-published or represented by an agency? God willing, it will be picked up by a publisher.

What inspired you to write this book? As I mentioned before, my ex-coworkers class. Plus I thought circus animals would really add some fun to it.

What else about your book might pique your readers interest? Here is one of my favorite parts of the story which is repeated several times:

Off they went. Nelly trotted, Squealy wriggled, and Jumbo thump thumped.

Now it's time to announce the three people I've nominated. I hope they have some fun with it!

Courtney
Genilee Swope Parente & Sharon Swope
Deborah Lynne