Dear readers of the Spotty Blog, I know it has been a while. Recently, I was invited by author Che Gilson to participate in a Blog Hop concerning the work in progress. (Her post can be found here: https://chegilson.wordpress.com/ )This comes at a good time, since one of the many reasons I've been so quiet in the blogosphere is that I am elbow deep in projects. I have many WIPs right now, okay, 3 of them to be exact, but for the purposes of answering the Blog Hop's questions I'll be focusing on the work, tentatively titled, Getting On With It, which is a sequel to Haunted.
Sidenote: I can't do a blog hop without thinking of this.
So, without further ado...
1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or historic?
This one is tough to focus on. Getting On With It follows the continuing family drama of the living, but fictional, McTutcheon sisters. In Haunted, they were still dealing with the loss of their sister Gwen, and in this book they are dealing with a multitude of events as they move forward with their lives. Lots of change is in store for everyone.
There were two characters in Haunted that did not spend much time on the page, Bethany's daughter Sue was at boarding school, and her gay husband, Aidan, was away on business. I mention these two characters because in Haunted, my one big regret was not exploring their stories. Readers have asked what happens next with this particular family. I wasn't planning a sequel, but then I started thinking about it and I thought this was a really great opportunity to explore Aidan and Sue. While the story broadly focuses on the McTutcheons as a family, Aidan and Sue are at the heart of this particular piece.
2) When and where is the story set?
Modern day, in a small town in Pennsylvania.
3) What should we know about him/her?
What you should know about Aidan is that he and Bethany married young. Shortly after Bethany discovered she was pregnant with their daughter, Sue, Aidan came out. After coming to grips with that, Bethany and Aidan decided to stay married and raise their child together, at least until the arrangement no longer worked. Their emotional bond as best friends turned out to be more important to Bethany than the idea of romantic love.
Sue, their daughter, has been expelled from boarding school. Our story begins with her return home, bearing a letter with this news.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?
I would argue that each family member is already in various stages of messed up. Aidan and Bethany are at a point where the marriage is a point of contention. Aidan has fallen in love with Lucas, who wants to marry him. Sue has discovered that boarding school is not as fun as she thought it would be, and has been expelled for several different incidents throughout the year, where she was the target of bullying after having been caught kissing her best friend, Yolanda.
If you read Haunted, you know that the oldest sister, Trudy, is about to have a baby which is the progeny of her married ex-boss. Sarah, who had an affair with Evan, is re-united with Price, but they struggle with living situation and life goals as well as some things that happened while they were apart. Here, I'm being intentionally vague. I've gotta leave a few surprises!
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
Aidan wants to move forward with his new life partner, but he also wants to be more present in Sue's life. Sue wants the freedom to be herself, but at 12, she's confused and angry about a lot of what is going on with her family. She's basically struggling to feel like she belongs somewhere.
6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
The working title is Getting On With It. At first draft stage, there isn't a whole lot more I can say. Things will inevitably change as the narrative progresses, and of course I don't want to give too many spoilers! But, if you haven't read Haunted, you can always get acquainted with the characters by checking that out, here.
7) When can we expect the book to be published?
My projected publication date for Getting On With It is spring of 2016. For the spring of 2015, I am going to be releasing a collection of short stories, many of which have been previously published, and of course, some previously unseen stories. The title is "Aliens in the Soda Machine and Other Strange Tales."
...and so ends my contribution to the hop.
I've invited Ian T Healy and Julie Doherty to participate in this particular blog hop. Look for their posts on December 2!
Sidenote: I can't do a blog hop without thinking of this.
So, without further ado...
1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or historic?
This one is tough to focus on. Getting On With It follows the continuing family drama of the living, but fictional, McTutcheon sisters. In Haunted, they were still dealing with the loss of their sister Gwen, and in this book they are dealing with a multitude of events as they move forward with their lives. Lots of change is in store for everyone.
There were two characters in Haunted that did not spend much time on the page, Bethany's daughter Sue was at boarding school, and her gay husband, Aidan, was away on business. I mention these two characters because in Haunted, my one big regret was not exploring their stories. Readers have asked what happens next with this particular family. I wasn't planning a sequel, but then I started thinking about it and I thought this was a really great opportunity to explore Aidan and Sue. While the story broadly focuses on the McTutcheons as a family, Aidan and Sue are at the heart of this particular piece.
2) When and where is the story set?
Modern day, in a small town in Pennsylvania.
3) What should we know about him/her?
What you should know about Aidan is that he and Bethany married young. Shortly after Bethany discovered she was pregnant with their daughter, Sue, Aidan came out. After coming to grips with that, Bethany and Aidan decided to stay married and raise their child together, at least until the arrangement no longer worked. Their emotional bond as best friends turned out to be more important to Bethany than the idea of romantic love.
Sue, their daughter, has been expelled from boarding school. Our story begins with her return home, bearing a letter with this news.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?
I would argue that each family member is already in various stages of messed up. Aidan and Bethany are at a point where the marriage is a point of contention. Aidan has fallen in love with Lucas, who wants to marry him. Sue has discovered that boarding school is not as fun as she thought it would be, and has been expelled for several different incidents throughout the year, where she was the target of bullying after having been caught kissing her best friend, Yolanda.
If you read Haunted, you know that the oldest sister, Trudy, is about to have a baby which is the progeny of her married ex-boss. Sarah, who had an affair with Evan, is re-united with Price, but they struggle with living situation and life goals as well as some things that happened while they were apart. Here, I'm being intentionally vague. I've gotta leave a few surprises!
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
Aidan wants to move forward with his new life partner, but he also wants to be more present in Sue's life. Sue wants the freedom to be herself, but at 12, she's confused and angry about a lot of what is going on with her family. She's basically struggling to feel like she belongs somewhere.
6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
The working title is Getting On With It. At first draft stage, there isn't a whole lot more I can say. Things will inevitably change as the narrative progresses, and of course I don't want to give too many spoilers! But, if you haven't read Haunted, you can always get acquainted with the characters by checking that out, here.
7) When can we expect the book to be published?
My projected publication date for Getting On With It is spring of 2016. For the spring of 2015, I am going to be releasing a collection of short stories, many of which have been previously published, and of course, some previously unseen stories. The title is "Aliens in the Soda Machine and Other Strange Tales."
...and so ends my contribution to the hop.
I've invited Ian T Healy and Julie Doherty to participate in this particular blog hop. Look for their posts on December 2!