18.11.12
By Alison Ripley Cubitt, co-writing as Lambert Nagle
It’s day 18 of NaNoWriMo. There are ten left to go. Although I’m not writing at the Overlook Hotel and therefore not yet at the stage of Jack in The Shining, typing: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” over and over again, I’m not all that far off!
So I was very pleased when fellow author Sharon Robards, http://sharonrobards.blogspot.com.au was kind enough to tag me in the online game, The Next Big Thing: a blog circle where writers get the chance to let the world know about their current works in progress/what they’re currently working on now. So here it is:
Next Big Thing:
What is the working title of your book?
Nighthawks
What genre does your book fall under?
Conspiracy thriller
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a film version of your book?
Irish actor Colin Farrell as the protagonist and British actress Romola Garai as the antagonist. She was the young Briony Tallis in the Oscar nominated film, Atonement and is currently starring in the BBC drama, The Hour.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Whoever said crime doesn’t pay can’t have been doing it right.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It’s still very early days for Nighthawks. It won’t be sent out to agents until it has had input from beta readers and been copy edited and polished to perfection. Writing a book is relatively easy, writing a good one is hard!
The advice we received from a leading U.K. agent who read the manuscript of our debut indie-published political thriller, Revolution Earth,told us that it’s an even harder sell now to the big six publishers (five since the Random House-Penguin merger.) One of the things we learnt from our first novel was that what we thought was ‘finished’, in needed considerable refining and polishing. I come from a screenwriting background and I’m used to re-writing. Screenplays are made in the re-write and can go through umpteen drafts. I feel the same way about the novels we write. It might seem like a huge amount of thankless hard work, but in the end, submitting work too early does you no favours. A first novel has to be exceptionally well-written in order to be taken up by a U.K. agent, given the recent changes in the publishing industry. But the good news is that the agent who gave us this advice has invited us to submit Nighthawks.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I am hoping it will be completed in a year and the rewrites and edits will take another year. Revolution Earth took six years to write but that was because we moved house four times and country twice.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’m talking up our book here but a novel we would love to emulate is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A trip to Rome where we were the victims of two scams, one of which was so clever I couldn’t help but admire the blatant cheek of it. You’ll have to wait for the novel to find out what it is….
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Pity the poor cop up against a criminal in Italy. Poorly paid (compared with the criminal fraternity), the Italian police officer will have spent years gathering evidence only to see the case dragged out in the courts for so long that the case is dismissed. And the bad guy is free to enjoy his big house, his pool and drive around in his Maserati.
If you want to be tagged to join in the game, it’s not too late to play!
Message for the tagged authors and interested others:
Your post should be up by Tuesday of next week–(11/20) Tuesday 20th November. I hope you all have fun with this, and thanks for joining me. I’ve pasted the “rules” below: Please tune into these blogs the week of November Tuesday 20th and check out their posts!
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.
Rules of the Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
While you’re waiting for those new posts next week, be sure to visit Sharon Robards who tagged me, as well as any other participants in The Next Big Thing.
Have questions about our current work in progress, Nighthawks? Feel free to leave them in the comments!
lambert nagle 