Work in Progress Challenge

J. Elizabeth Hill hit me with the WIP Challenge. As I definitely need to force my sick (ill, not twisted) brain back in writer mode, I thought this presented a good opportunity.

1.  What is the title of your Work In Progress?

Stormcaller.

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

My mother teaches at a community college and told me about a number of homeless students in her classes. These are young men and women who could afford rent or tuition, but not both, yet they chose tuition. That kind of dedication and courage impressed the hell out of me, so I wanted to tell a story about someone with that kind of obstacle in her life…and then throw a bunch of other crap at her.

3. What genre would your WIP fall under?

Dark urban fantasy. Definitely.

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

While I did actually cast the parts using pictures, I don’t want to name those because I want the readers to be able to fill that image in on their own.

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your WIP?

Isaura, a homeless girl in Seattle, discovers the eldritch world as her mind awakens to magic, dropping her in the middle of a series of ritualistic murders with a horrifying purpose…

6. Is your WIP published or represented?

Neither at the moment. My dear friend Bridget had some last minute suggestions to the beginning, so I’m making those last rewrites. I’ll publish it soon, though, probably in November.

7. How long did it take you to write?

I wrote the first 60,000 words during 2011′s NaNoWriMo, but I hit a mental block and set it aside for a few months. After I got back to it, the last 25,000 words went pretty fast, which gave me a solid first draft. I’d say six months in total, from first draft to revision (after revision after revision).

8. What other WIP’s in your genre would you compare it to?

If I managed to write half as well as Kat Richardson or Jim Butcher, I’d die a happy scribe.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this WIP?

Oh, definitely Kat. The first thing that impressed me about her work was how seamless and coherent magic worked in her universe. No hand-waving, no deus ex machina–just another facet of her tale that added tremendous depth.

10. Tell us anything else that might pique our interest about this WIP.

Isaura’s journey will see her come to terms with her sexual identity, some of her own demons, and the truth that magic is anything but an easy solution. Power comes with a price, but is it one she’s willing to pay? Guess we’ll see.

11. Finally:  Tag three other Authors and ask them to complete the above interview.

Bridget McKenna

Kat Richardson

Peter Smalley

Now we’ll see if they’ve got time to do it….