The Next Big Thing Blog Hop, week 20

There are the books everyone talks about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.

This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags a few other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag some other authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.

I’d like to thank fellow author Michelle Renea Anderson for tagging me to participate. You can find more about Michelle on her blog, Amazon author page, or by following her on twitter (@MichelleRAnders). Her book, Shelby’s Plan, is available for purchase Amazon.

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my next book:

1: What is the working title of your book?

After going through the publication process with my first book, Espionage, I decided never to get attached to a title again. So I usually refer to it as book two, but I do have a list of about ten title suggestions. The publisher might pick one of them, or they might pick something else. I’m keeping my suggestions quiet, because there’s a good chance the publisher will come up with something completely different (that’s what happened with Espionage).

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

I was doing research on WWII Yugoslavia and found some information about the oil fields in Romania (planes returning from bombing missions in Romania often crashed in Yugoslavia). It got me thinking about Hitler’s largest oil supply and it went from there.

3: What genre does your book fall under?

historical suspense/action/LDS fiction

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

This is a fun question to answer. There are a few characters in my book that I got lazy with when I was describing them, so they’ve always looked like actors: I’d want Rupert Grint to play Private Daniel Fisher and Wesley Idol from P-90 Kenpo X (a work-out dvd) to play Major Wesley Baker, because that’s who those characters have always looked like in my head. And Tom Cruise for Colonel Eliade.

Then there are the characters who don’t look exactly like any of the actors I’ve seen (maybe I should watch more movies), but these actors might work:

Genevieve Olivier: Emmy Rossum

Iuliana Ionescu: Rachel Weisz

James Nelson: Jude Law

Krzysztof Zielinski: Sam Clafin or Matthew Lewis

Sergeant Moretti: Liev Schreiber

Constantin Condreanu: James Marsden

But what about my main character, Peter Eddy? Still not sure who I’d want to play him. Preferably an American actor, about five foot ten inches, with brown hair, brown eyes, and “girlie-thick” eyelashes. Those of you who’ve read Espionage, do you have any suggestions?

I realize if all the names on this list were in a single cast, there would be no money left for special effects. I’m not stuck on any of these actors—I’m sure there are many relatively unknown actors who could do a great job with these roles.

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

Peter Eddy was told his commando team’s assignment was to monitor Nazi oil coming from Romania, but he wasn’t told the whole story, and not everyone on the team wants the mission to succeed.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Neither. I work directly with my publisher, Covenant Communications.

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

About a year. I started pieces of it a couple years ago, but did the bulk of the first draft during 2011. Then I had to chop out roughly 20,000 words (more about that here), and that took about two months.

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

(Apology: I’ve answered this before and couldn’t come up with a different answer, so it’s a repeat from a previous post.) In the national market, books by Jack Higgins or Alistair MacLean. In the LDS market, books by Sandra Grey or Traci Hunter Abramson.

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

While swimming one day after I’d finished several drafts of the book that became Espionage, I started thinking about the characters. I’d planned on leaving them alone for a while, because they were kind of beat up by the end of the book. But then I thought more about the last year of WWII and came up with some new ideas.

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

It’s the second book in a group of three with these characters during WWII, but you can pick it up and read it without having read Espionage. Readers often have general expectations for the second book in a trilogy: it will be darker than the first and end in a cliffhanger. That’s not the case with this book. There are some cliffhangers at the end of chapters, but the end of the book wraps up nicely (I save the next cliffhanger for the beginning of book three). And it’s not all that dark. Of the three books, I’d say it’s the least likely to make readers cry.

Here’s a list of authors who will be joining the hop for week 21 on November 14^th. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author!

Stephanie Worlton

Stephanie’s book, Hope’s Journey, is available on Amazon. To learn more about Stephanie and her book please visit her blog, website, orFacebook page.

Charissa Stastny

Char writes a great blog, and her first book, Eyes of Light, is available on Amazon. You can connect with Char through her blog, Amazon author page, or Facebook page.

Rebecca Jamison

Rebecca has a blog, Amazon author page. and a Facebook page. You can purchase her first novel, Persuasion: A Latter-day Tale (yes, it’s based on the Jane Austen classic), through Amazon.

Kelly Nelson

When Kelly isn’t selling out the entire stock of her books at her local Costco (pretty cool, huh?), she can be found on her website, Amazon author page, Facebook page, or Twitter (@kellynelsonauth). Her debut novel, The Keeper’s Calling, is part of a series and can be purchased on Amazon.