THE NEXT BIG THING

And now for something a little different...

I’m turning over today’s blog post to author Lois Winston, she who writes the books about moi. Lois was invited by fellow Midnight Ink author Sheila Boneham (Drop Dead on Recall) to play The Next Big Thing game. Authors answer ten questions about their next book, then tag other authors to be “it” the following week. Sheila tagged Lois for this week. You can read the answers to Sheila's questions here. See below for the authors Lois has tagged for next week’s game.

So here are Lois’s answers to the ten questions, and you know I’m certainly hoping her book is the next big thing, since it’s all about yours truly. – AP

Lois Winston’s Answers to the Ten Questions for the Next Big Thing:

1. What is your working title of your book?

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse

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

This is the third book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The idea for the plot in this book came about as a result of situations that occur in Book 2, Death By Killer Mop Doll and a newspaper article I read about a murder that occurred in a nursing home.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

humorous amateur sleuth mystery

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

Anastasia – Sandra Bullock

Mama – Ellen Burstyn

Lucille – the ideal actress would be the late Nancy Marchand, who played Tony Soprano’s mother in The Sopranos. Anyone know how to raise the dead?

Zack – Patrick Dempsey

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When Anastasia Pollack’s cantankerous, communist mother-in-law is accused of killing her convalescent home roommate, Anastasia digs into the victim’s scandalous past in hopes of finding clues to the real killer.

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

agency represented and published by Midnight Ink

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

approximately 5 months

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

Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series

Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Kirkus Reviews dubbed Anastasia, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.”

And if we’re talking TV shows, Publisher’s Weekly called Anastasia “as droll as Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon.”

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It was my agent who first suggested I try writing a crafting mystery series because of my background as a crafts designer. Anastasia was born out of my own experiences working as a designer and editor for craft kit manufacturers, magazines, and craft book publishers. Lucille, her communist mother-in-law, was inspired by my own communist mother-in-law who didn’t live to see herself in print. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The rest of the characters sprang solely from my imagination, but the stories in the series are often inspired by actual events.

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

When she’s not stumbling over dead bodies, Anastasia deals with all the issues that confront many women these days as they try to juggle the demands of a career, life as a single parent, and the stresses of dealing with elderly parents. But Anastasia handles her situation with a quirky sense of humor that I hope will give readers an escape, if only for a short time, from their own problems. After all, how can you not get a good laugh out of a commie mother-in-law and a self-proclaimed Russian princess mother forced to share the same bedroom? And did I mention there’s a Shakespeare quoting parrot?

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse will be available January 2013.

Thanks again to author Sheila Boneham for inviting Lois to take part in the Next Big Thing game. Lois will now pass the torch to other authors she thinks you should get to know better. Please visit their blogs the week of October 15th when they’ll be answering the Ten Next Big Thing questions.

Jill Archer (author of Dark Light of Day)

Shelley Freydont/Shelley Noble (author of Foul Play at the Fair and Beach Colors)

Ada Madison/Camille Minichino (author of the Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries)

Caridad Pineiro (author of the Sin Hunters series)

~~~
Message for the tagged authors and interested others:

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.