The Next Big Thing — Find the New Authors You Need to Read

This is the second part of my Next Big Thing blog hop where I answer questions about my novel posed to me by author Sidney Williams, whose book, Midnight Eyes, is available through Amazon. I hope you enjoy this little peek into the work that went on behind writing Resonance. Afterwards, click the authors below to go to their blogs and see the stories of the novels into which they poured their talent, time, heart, and soul.

1: What is the title of your book?

Resonance

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

I had moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland from the outskirts of D.C. just less than a year before I started writing this novel. I suffered a bit of culture shock, moving from a bustling metropolitan area to such a rural location. The overwhelming lack of diversity here started me thinking how it would be if a punk rock city girl transferred to a very small town, and how she would handle herself. Add to that some strange neighbors and a cool local cemetery and I started thinking, “What if the town wanted her to move to it?” The plot took off from there.

3: What genre does your book come under?

Dark contemporary fantasy

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

There is an amazing alternative model named Messy Stench who rocks this feral, exotic, fuckedupedness that almost exactly fits what Resonance looks like in my head. But, acting-wise, I think Jennifer Lawrence could muster the contempt for the world, as well as the (deep, deep) deeply buried vulnerability Resonance holds. Anton Yelchin has the boyish charm with that underlying current of protective danger I see in Quinn. Clive Owen would fill Wyatt’s ample shoes. And Bob Balaban would make a terrific Arhreton.

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

Girl who is told to save the world tells the world to fuck off, and then reconsiders somewhat.

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

It is self-pubbed

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

Two years. Lots of POV characters, plus twisting storylines, plus first novel inexperience = long time writing.

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

I like to imagine it has a complex story style similar to (but nowhere near as amazing as)  Tad Williams, the mystical world building of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (and again Tad Williams), and embraces the urban heroine mythology like L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress series. I think Jacqueline Carey’s most recent series, Dark Currents, would fit nicely on a shelf next to Resonance. And can I say, “Tad Williams,” one more time just because he’s my favorite?

Tad Williams

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

Like I said, culture shock. And maybe a bit of unresolved youthful rage. It was an exorcisim of my twenties, I suppose. I had a rough span of years with a job and circumstances I loathed. I spent eight years shoving anger into myself like Daffy Duck double-foot stomping Bugs back down the rabbit hole. Then my grandmother–one of my biggest supporters–died and I realized all of this emotion needed a place to go. Roller derby had not yet appeared on the Eastern Shore, so Resonance was born instead.

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

I’ve tried to avoid the overly self-assured, slightly-marred-yet-somehow-still-magnificent heroine prevalent in many urban fantasy stories, and instead written a character who is deeply (in many ways irredeemably) flawed, and is really a rather shitty person. Resonance screws up, acts selfishly, and impulsively. She is pretty much a vortex of self-loathing and destruction, and yet the fate of the world is hers to decide. She causes so much misery, but somehow manages to collect this band of people who love her wholly and unconditionally. It’s holding this love and the potential she has to do with it that makes her maybe redeemable, but also spectacularly dangerous. Under all of the fantasy elements it’s really a look at how someone who doesn’t want to be part of the human race ends up dealing with humanity, mostly her own.

Plus there are a lot of plot twists; a bunch of messed-up, fascinating characters; tons of action; and many demonsandmagicandbadthings to keep the pages turning.

Click the image link to buy Resonance for Kindle on Amazon. Hard copies will be available soon.

And now, speaking of turning pages, let’s take a look at some more new and amazing authors you absolutely need to be reading right damn now. I was supposed to pick just five, but there’s enough Resonance in me to not care too much about the rules:

Melanie Hooyenga

Steve Malley

Travis Erwin

G.B. Miller

C.E. Rundle

Mark C. Durfee

Marcia Colette