Why Pixies are Evil

I got tagged...again...and here are the culprits:

Exhibit A: Yes, they're evil and weird and no, I don't know which is which.

I'm not talking about the guy in the middle, Ryan. He's their whipping boy, web-monkey, and all around minion which they enjoy torturing on a regular basis. I'm talking about the rather bizarre creatures on either side of him. They have real names, but to protect the not so innocent, we'll call them Cat and Lynx Raven (I do know their real names and will find some way of using it against them in the future...revenge and all that). Despite being evil, they aren't really that bad. Just a little bent as you can see here in, what I call, Exhibit A. Anyway, they're awesome and funny and you should check them out. They've also written a couple books, Disenchanted and Gunning Down Romance. Both are a collection of twisted shorts stories.

So, here's what I have to do to appease this wicked little creatures. I have to answer some questions about my current work in progress. I'm also supposed to tag five unsuspecting innocents, but seeing as I was "stabbed" repeated (all virtual because blood is hard to wash out of fabrics) by some of my friends after I tagged them with the Beautiful Blogger Award, I'll refrain.

Questions and Answers:

What is the current working title of your book?
Hate Jacket. I don't plan on this changing...ever...

Where did the idea for this book come from?
This story has been floating around in my head for awhile now, I just didn't realize it. An early blog post titled, Sometimes You Can't Avoid a Story, has an early concept scene for it. At the time, I didn't realize it would grow into something as big as Hate Jacket. Fast forward a year later and I had just finished the first draft of Stone of Unity and needed something else to occupy my time while I was waiting for people to get back to me with comments, etc.

I was talking to the fabulous, Adrien-Luc Sanders about angsty teens. I can't remember the exact conversation but I remember him complaining about a teen he was dealing with at the time was being quite angsty. I made the comment that we were probably just as bad. We went back and forth talking about our angst ridden years when I mentioned that I had something called a "Hate Jacket" that I wore for a while in high school. It was my cry of anti-establishment that really annoyed people. As soon as he heard about it, his comment was "That would make an awesome story."

My brain went CLICK and suddenly I had my now main character screaming obscenities and demanding my attention. That day I wrote down 12 story ideas to see which one spoke loudest all the while hoping that Hate Jacket wasn't one of them. Julius, the MC of Hate Jacket refused to be ignored. That evening I wrote down half a dozen characters in my journal and I was off.

I still blame Adrien-Luc, but in a good way. If you are on twitter you should follow him, he works as the Ed. Director at Entangled Publishing. He has some great insights on dos and don'ts on writing. Oh, he's also a writer. :D

What genre does your book fall under?
YA Contemporary, which if you know me, is a bit odd as I almost never read those types of stories. My preferred genres are Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, and Horror. I've read a couple contemporary stories, but it doesn't happen very often.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
To be honest, I don't know. I'd have to do some research on that one as I generally don't think about those things. It's a pretty intense and emotional story, so the actors would have to be able to carry that intensity pretty well. I'm open to suggestions.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
The story Julius Monroe's a struggle through a life of pain, love, loss, and one bad-ass jacket.

Will your book be self-published or represented through an agency?
I would prefer to go through an agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I'm still working on the first draft right now. I have over 20K written of 60K words.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't like to compare, but I did have a couple mention that the concept reminded them of The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The other book that it might be similar to is Pretty Amy by Lisa Burnstein (which I really want to read). I could be wrong though. From what I've heard and read of Pretty Amy, there are some similarities in concept...maybe...

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Um...me...life...crap that you see happen every day? I tell people that Hate Jacket is NOT autobiographical. It isn't. None of the things that happen in that story happened in my life. However, I do have a lot of "source material" from which to draw, fictionalize (in some cases heavily), and include in the story. This is true for every story every written by any author. We draw the characters from what we know and feel and can extrapolate based on our experiences. This is the case with Hate Jacket.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
If you aren't interested by now, I'm not sure what else to do. Maybe a quote? A snippet of the rough first draft untouched by editor's hands?

If she’d just leave me alone, maybe her ape brained boyfriend wouldn’t want to use me as a punching bag. Greg’s sneering face invades my daydream. My pleasant walk turns darker and my mind boils at the memory of him shoving me up against the locker. In my mind, I imagine fighting back. Kicking his ass and spitting on him. My hands clench into tight fists as I imagine him lying broken on the ground.

Also, at some point, I need to recreate the Hate Jacket...for research and inspiration of course. :D