Work In Progress Challenge

I’ve been tagged by the very wonderful jmmcdowell to participate in the WIP Challenge. You should go check out her own WIP, which sounds intriguing.  This challenge seems like a good opportunity to practice my interview skills which, outside of finding a job, hover somewhere around zero.  Hmm, definitely need to work on these in that case.

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

This question isn’t a simple one for me, as you all well know.  If I answer these for all of my WIPs, this is going to be a mighty long blog post.  I’m going to focus on Bound (Book 1 of the Mirrors of Bershan trilogy) for these questions, as that’s going to be the first one published, but I might slip in a few bits about the others in this trilogy.  We all know I cheat outrageously on these sorts of things 😉

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

The idea for Bound, and really the whole trilogy, stems from a life-long interest in twins.  My mother was one of a set of identical twins, though her twin died at birth (long story).  Sometimes I think I wouldn’t have been half so fascinated by the very idea of twins if not for that, because it’s always lurked at the corner of my mind, but never been fully explored.  In any case, I was sitting there one day and I wondered what it might be like if there was a magical version of twins, someone who possessed the other half of your magic, with whom you could accomplish even more if you worked together than working apart. That unfolded into something much bigger, and more complicated, and I discovered Fay and Tavis along the way, and the whole story took shape around them.

3. What genre would your WIP fall under?

Definitely Adult Fantasy, there’s definitely a romance tinge to it.

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

I’ll be honest, I’ve never considered a movie rendition of this book, or the trilogy.  There’s one thing within it that was hard enough to convey in words.  There’s no way I can think of to accurately represent it in film, and it’s too central to change.  I suspect it would be impossible to bring these books to film, sadly.  Oh well, there will always be another story, as anyone who’s looked at my Project Status page will know.

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

I really hate doing these, much as I know they’re part of being a writer. :p

When Fay loses her mentor, her flight for help and the people she meets put her on a path that will challenge everything she’s ever believed about herself and the choice she’s made about partnering with another Magicia.

6. Is your WIP published or represented?

It’s neither yet.  I’m planning on self-publishing it.  The cover is done, and I’m in the process of getting the final round of feedback before sending it to be formatted, then out the door to be read and (hopefully) enjoyed.

7. How long did it take you to write?

I started Bound for NaNoWriMo 2011, but then had to junk the first draft and reimagine and rewrite it.  I learned a lot from the process.  The editing has been going on off and on for months, but it hasn’t been steady.  I always have a lot on the go, my personal substitute for the patience I’ve never possessed.

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

I think I’d be flattering myself with any name I picked, but I’d like to think that it’s a bit reminiscent of Carol Berg’s work, though she works in first person and I work in third.  I’ll leave it to others to judge that or confirm for themselves if I’m right (yes, I heartily recommend all of Berg’s books if you read fantasy at all or want to try the genre, as she’s fantastic).

9. Which authors inspired you to write this WIP?

See above.  Definitely Carol Berg inspires me to write, and to push myself to write better.  I tend to read her work and, in the back of my mind, think “I want to write this well, to tell such amazing stories.”  But that’s a general inspiration, not limited to this WIP.

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

Few of the players in this trilogy are exactly what they seem when you first meet them, and the web of secrets they keep from each other will change all of them by the end.  They learn unexpected things about themselves even that force them to re-examine who they thing they are to themselves.

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

4am Writer

Emily Potter

RK MacPherson

Wow, I think that’s the most detail I’ve given out about Bound to anyone, outside of my test readers.  Looking forward to what the others do for theirs.  Thanks again, jmmcdowell for the tag. 🙂