The name of the game - to answer the following questions about your latest novel/WIP.
Since Treasured Lies is coming out in just a few short months, I thought I'd give you a little peek :)
1) What is the working title of your book? Treasured Lies
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
The short answer - it was inspired by my love of gothic romances, a good chunk of my own experiences, and the movie National Treasures :)
The slightly longer answer - Treasured Lies began as a completely different book than it is today. At first, I was inspired by some sad romantic events in my own life. But I wanted anything personal I added to be disguised enough only I'd know what was going on, so I set it in Victorian England (a time period I love). I'd grown up devouring Victoria Holt's gothic romances and I envisioned Treasured Lies very much in that vein. A historical love story with a good dose of danger and mystery.
I wanted to write a slightly autobiographical story about a girl who gets her heart broken and overcomes it. I also wanted her to fall in love with her new man and stay in love and happy through the entire book, working together as a team no matter what happened. But...it turns out stories like that have very little conflict. Which made it a bit boring :) I'd just seen National Treasure and thought that a treasure hunt would be a really fun idea. And the story evolved from there. Min became feistier and more determined; the stakes for not finding the treasure became higher; her relationship with Bryant became much more complicated; her fiance Arthur warped into someone unrecognizable from the first draft (I think he was the most fun to revamp); and Bryant changed from a fully reformed thief trying to be a good guy into a still-very-much-in-the-game rival for Min.
Very little of my original idea for the story has survived. And I'm glad. It is a much better story now
4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? ooo this is always so hard for me - I can never find anyone exactly how I picture my characters :) But British actor Jake Hendriks is close to how I picture Bryant (if he had darker hair).
And Min...argh, I seriously looked for an hour. Maybe Kat Dennings....
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young woman in Victorian England must trust a master thief she intends to betray in order to find a legendary necklace that could save her fiancé, but in searching for the necklace, she may lose her heart
6)Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Treasured Lies is being published by Entangled Scandalous.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
LOL this is almost an impossible question to answer. I wrote half of the very first draft in about a month and a half...and then took an almost 3 year break before I touched it again. I think I finished it up in about a month. So...we'll say 3 months for the original draft (which was 100k). I have since entirely rewritten the book 4 times (I think, it could be more) and then did extensive revisions at least twice. Each rewrite took a month or two - revisions only took a few days to a week (I'm a very fast reviser). :)
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
hmm it's probably Victoria Holt-ish. It's first and foremost a romance, but there is a lot of danger, suspense, and mystery going on.
9) Who or What inspired you to write this book?
See question 2 :D
10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I think readers will really enjoy my main character Min. She's a bit klutzy - an island-bred girl better at scaling trees than dropping curtsies, and often gets herself in ridiculous situations, but she is highly intelligent, a total bookworm who can't stand Shakespeare, she's determined to get her way and accomplish her goals, funny (though she usually doesn't intend to be) and fiercely loyal (which makes the situation she finds herself in with her love interest, Bryant, so miserable), and would do literally anything to protect those she loves
One of the little historical details I added into my book that I found very interesting were eye portraits, fascinating (and sometimes creepy) mementos that clandestine lovers used to exchange. I wrote a post about them a while back.
4 comments:
Hurray for Michelle, my partner in crime, craziness and hyper-activity. Two hamsters on the wheel of life, that's us. But we seem to be gaining some momentum, finally.
AWESOME! I don't read as much historical fiction as I should, but that will change once I can take a breather from school. And TS sounds amazeballs, Michelle!
I shall attempt to make sense out of my WIP with this tag post. *bites nails*
I enjoyed your answers to TNBT blog hop questions - most especially when you wrote how long it took you to come up with a 1st draft. I often set things aside for a while, too, so your answer rang true for me. BTW I was tagged by Jennifer Allis Provost who was tagged by Lisa Amowitz whose blog led me to you!
I was looking at those pictures of your ideal actors and thinking, Yep, I can see Min and Bryant there, although I pictured Bryant older and ruggeder.
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