The Next Big Thing Interview
I’m excited to be part of this interview that is flying blog to blog, where writers talk about The Next Big Thing they’re working on, then tag another five writers (or in my case, four) who answer the same ten questions, and then tag another five writers, and so on. It’s a great way to find out about other writers’ works in progress.
I’ve been tagged by Diana Fitzgerald Bryden (so visit her site and read about her latest wip!) Here goes.
What is your working title of your book?
How We Live Now
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve been astonished at how many women I’ve met who are married to or living with men who have ADHD, and who have a child or children diagnosed with ADHD as well. The stories they tell are both comic and tragic. I’ve also been increasingly aware of how many of us seem to be in a state of total distraction most of the time. Our environment—with its unending stream of fast messages, the expectation that we constantly multitask, the incredibly fast pace of change that we are experiencing—I wonder how this might encourage or perhaps simulate or mimic ADHD. I’ve also been seeing, thanks to reality TV and the explosion of social media, how the line between public and private seems to be increasingly blurred, and that figures in this novel too.
What genre does your book fall under?
Literary fiction. But readable, very readable.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I’m hopeless. I can’t name any actors! Probably not your good- looking Hollywood types though. For the seven-year-old boy, it would have to be a really smart, charming, hyper kid.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When a woman’s young son stows away in a camper van headed for Disney World, she must face the reality of his ADHD, her husband’s ADHD, the duplicity of her neighbours, and the problems in her marriage and her life.
That’s what it is at the moment, anyway.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Agency
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
That’s a tough one, because I had a really long break in the middle where I had to get a job. But probably about a year of writing time. That’s generally what a first draft takes me. The rewriting takes just as long. Probably longer.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I can’t think of any other books that deal with ADHD and with distractedness and what a stranglehold it has on us, as individuals and as a society. I’m trying to find the humour and the resiliency in what really is a sad and difficult situation.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always been interested in dysfunctional families—they’re so compelling. And so common. I wanted to look at a family that was struggling with ADHD and learning disabilities, struggling to parent in increasingly difficult circumstances—and use it as a way to look at the bigger picture of the distractedness in today’s society.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There’s quite a bit in there about reality TV and what it says about our culture. It’s also about parenting and how that has changed from the “hands off” approach of the Mad Men era, to the hyper parenting or “helicopter” parenting of today—and what that might mean for our kids.
Thanks for reading!
And now I’m tagging four talented writers, so you can visit them and learn about their work.
Elizabeth Ruth
Patricia Westerhof
Angie Abdou
Rebecca Rosenblum
Message for tagged authors:
Rules of the Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post ***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress) ***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.
Be sure to line up your five people in advance.
— Shari Lapeña
Launch of David Whitton's The Reverse Cowgirl
Very excited that tomorrow night, Tues, Nov. 15th, my pal Dave Whitton will be launching his collection of stories, The Reverse Cowgirl.
At Ben McNally’s at 7 pm.
See more here.
— Shari Lapeña
Great Canadian Authors table!
I know I don’t blog much. But I had to share this photo of Happiness Economics on the Great Canadian Authors table at Chapters! Never thought I’d see the day.
— Shari Lapeña
The Future of Free
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how we are living at a time when cultural content is expected to be free. This has been very bad for musicians, and lately, for writers too.
But maybe it won’t necessarily have to go that way. Check out this article in Newsweek — The Future Won’t Be Free.
Maybe this is a blip, and the future won’t necessarily mean giving it all away for nothing.
— Shari Lapeña
OOPS!
We have had a few difficulties with the blog entries lately. Please be patient while we make a few adjustments.
— Shari Lapeña