The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing

 Blog Hop

by

GVR Corcillo

The Publishing Revolution - which will not be televised, but downloaded - gives THE READER freedom like never before. Publishing companies are no longer the definitive gatekeepers deciding what the reader will have access to. Now, the reader can smash through the gates, cause a flood, and ride the waves. Readers, and I am one heck of a reader myself, can explore books and authors and make their own choices.

That's what The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is all about. A writer answers ten questions about her or his latest project, then tags more writers to blog the following week. It is one more way for writers to connect with readers and let them know what's out there.    

Last week, I was tagged by the talented and delightful Kitty Bucholtz, author of the refreshing and cozy Little Miss Lovesick. I was also lucky enough to have a short story in the same anthology as she did, Romancing the Pages. 

After my interview, I will tag two more writers who will keep the blog hopping along.

Now, on to...

1: What is the working title of your book?

My novel She Likes It Rough has just been released in trade paperback,but it certainly hasn't always been called that! First, it was Between a Rock and a Hard Place, but as I wrote, the book became less and less about a dilemma. Then the title became Into the Wild, but then I realized there was a very different book out there named Into the Wild, so I changed my title. Though I hadn't even been thinking of the Jon Krakauer book - I had gotten the title from a line in the movie The Fellowship of the Ring. When the Hobbits ask Strider where he is taking them, Strider responds, "Into the wild," a line I thought just reverberated with excitement. And it was sexy, too, since Viggo Mortensen was the one delivering the line! Next, the title became Girl Gone Wild, but so many people despised that title because of the videos that I changed it yet again. When I hit upon She Likes It Rough, I knew I'd nailed it. My heroine Lisa Flyte makes it rough on herself, doing so many things in the book that terrify her, but on a deeper level, she has been making it rough on herself her whole life because she has always been too scared to live her life to the fullest and go after what she really wants. 

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

Viggo Mortensen, again! Kind of. Years ago, I was flipping channels and came across the Sylvester Stallone movie Daylight, written by Leslie Bohem. Viggo Mortensen was in it, so I stopped to watch for a bit. Viggo plays an outdoor extremist who is also a businessman. That sparked the idea for my hero Jack, a an adrenaline junkie who designs gear for outdoor sporting adventures. The rest of the story evolved from there. The inspiration for Lisa? Well, I have this, uh, friend, yeah, a friend, and she's afraid of so many things. Heights, big animals, loud noises, wearing the wrong thing, what her mother thinks of her... 

3: What genre does your book come under?   

I call it a romantic comedy, but that is not exactly a book genre. Contemporary humorous women's fiction is the closest. Though I have to say, I am not a huge fan of pigeon-holing books into genres. I often wonder what would happen if J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye were released today. Would it be labelled Young Adult and dismissed by serious literary critics the world over? Would it make it to the reading list in almost every high school in America? I wonder.  

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

Mandy Moore and James Marsden. Mandy Moore plays down-to-earth better than any other actress I've seen in her age range. Her performances in Dedication and How to Deal convince me that she would be perfect as Lisa. And James Marsden - this guy is such a good actor that the depths and nuances of his characterizations actually overshadow his amazing looks. And that is my hero Jack to a T - he is so hot that he seems daunting from afar, but once Lisa sees him up close and gets to know him, she realizes he is a guy with issues, attitudes, and opinions that keep her on her toes and knock her for a loop. 

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

Can daring outdoor adventures with an adrenaline junkie give a daydreaming scaredy-cat the backbone she needs in order to get tough and make her life count for something?

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

I've created my own company Blackbird Press to self-publish my books. Wow! The control and the satisfaction of creation is exhilarating! Without a doubt, self-publishing is very hard work, but I am loving every second of it. 

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

Years! This book has gone through so many incarnations. Very little is left from the first 'first' draft except the hero's name and the scene in his office that involves the wetsuit. Over those years, not only the story, but also my writing style was evolving as I became more and more comfortable with and confident about my own voice.

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

Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary. The playful irreverence of the story as a woman tries to become the hero of her own life echoes throughout my book. With one big difference. My heroine Lisa's goal is never to get a guy or get married. Her prime directive is to make her life count for something, to become more significant. Her interaction with the hero Jack is a big part of that journey, but Lisa never focuses on her 'single' status as something she needs to remedy. Because of this shift, She Likes It Rough reminds me of Lisa Lutz's Izzy Spellman Series. Though my book is not a mystery, it uses wacky situations to explore not only romance, but relationships with family, career angst, and ways and means of getting along with the rest of the populated world.  

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

Let me tell you who inspired me to do something even more amazing than write this book - I'll tell you who inspired me to publish this book. Leonard Wang Kingsley! I went to school with him, and we met up again a few years ago at a class reunion. So, we began emailing each other. (We live on opposite coasts.) Last spring, he sent me an email suggesting I self-publish my novel. Really? I thought. Could I be so bold? He sent me a list of everything I would need to do, and ever since that email, I have been working on everything on that list! With his help!  Debra Holland, a wonderful and phenomenally successful author that I have known for years, has been another inspiration. She self-published several of her novels last year and has blasted a beacon of light and guidance across the world of publishing.

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

Jack and Lisa'a adventures out in the wild were so much fun to research and write! Lisa is so scared, but she steps up and jumps when Jack says jump - into the middle of the ocean, off a cliff, out of a plane. Lisa jumps completely out of her own world - a world dominated by pop culture references to the movies, TV shows, songs, books, and commercials she's been surrounded by all her life. How she melds what happens in the wild with what goes on in her everyday life is the essence of the story.  

Tag - you're it!

What an energizing interview! Now I'm tagging two more writers to blog next week about their captivating latest projects.

Claire LaZebnik, 
author of humorous women's fiction and delightful YA! Click on her name to see what she is all about and what she writes and blogs!

Paula Martin, 
author of wonderfully satisfying contemporary romances! Click on her name to see what she is all about and what she writes and blogs!

The Next Big Thing....
Though I blog every night (sometimes day), this The Next Big Thing Blog will remain posted as my primary blog for the next week. However, comment on my blog if you want to check in with me, see how I'm doing, ask about my writing, or find out about my tallies. I will write back with alacrity! 

GVR Corcillo

author of

  

She Likes It Rough

"All Summer on a Date"

"Jane Austen Meets the New York Giants"

Queen of the Universe coming this Fall