Monday, October 8, 2012

MY NEXT BIG THING

Novelist, Katia Raina tagged me in a work-in-progress meme called The Next Big Thing.  (read about Katia's forthcoming novel here).  I'm accepting the challenge and answering some questions regarding the book I'm working on. 

What is the working title of your book?   TRAMPER  (think hobo, world traveler etc.)

Where did the idea for the book come from?  You know that panicky sensation you get when you realize you'll never live long enough or write fast enough to write every story you care about? Basically I got that feeling, followed by this wacko idea to combine several stories into one big family saga.  It was easy to find a common thread (German-American history) and I realized that these various stories I loved could happen to different people in one family line.


One-to two-sentence synopsis of the book:  TRAMPER is five individual stories that build to tell one larger German-American family history. The first character is born to German immigrants in the U.S in 1889. The in-between characters live through German-American tensions of the World Wars and the Cold War. The final character is on hand for the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

What else about this book might peak the readers’ interest?  Romance. I mean you can't produce the next generation if young people don't fall in love.  So, several romances.  And some high drama history - think escape plans, protest marches, and secret police. 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I can't imagine everself-publishing because I don't want the responsibility. Not to mention, I need to work with an editor!

I'm interested in pursuing an agent but oh my, that means polishing up my marketing skills! Any writer friends want to recommend me?    ; )

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? Hmmm - 2 years and counting... But then again, during those 2 years I took chunks of time off for family needs and also to work on another manuscript. I've spent probably a year focusing on just TRAMPER.  But I'm not finished researching or writing.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Oh, boy, anything I say would just sound pretentious. And honestly, I don't even know. I have yet to read Alan Gratz' THE BROOKLYN NINE but I've read that it covers nine generations within one family and that each story represents the next generation. I guess in terms of generational stories it's something like that.

TRAMPER is a verse novel so I could perhaps compare it to BORROWED NAMES by Jeannine Atkins which uses free verse to tell the stories of three famous mother-daughter pairs. (It's terrific!)

My dream would be to convey history with the soul of Jennifer Roy's YELLOW STAR (a holocaust story told in free verse).

What characters would you choose to play a movie rendition?
Ha!  This question is so out of my league.  But some German actors would be lovely!

I sure hope that TRAMPER is my next big thing! 

What about you, Carol Baldwin, Rosi Hollinbeck, Marcia Hoehne, Clara Gillow Clark, and Vijaya Bodach.

IF, you're so inclined, use the same questions to tell us what your next big thing is. And if you're not so inclined, just keep on writing. The children will thank you!

8 comments:

  1. Sounds good, Joyce. Ich freue mich darauf, das Buch zu lesen!

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  2. I do love family and generational stories ... so will look forward to when it hits the shelves.

    Joyce, thank you for tagging me. I played ... here's the link: http://www.vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-next-big-thing.html

    It's sandwiched between conference postings (and pictures).

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  3. Thanks for tagging me, Joyce. I guess this will have to be my next blog!
    I loved reading this--particularly since I'm fortunate enough to read this as it is in progress!

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  4. Interesting to hear what you're up to. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. So happy for a glimpse into your NEXT BIG THING, Joyce! My best to you as you complete the process. Looking forward to holding the book in my hands and absorbing another Joyce Moyer Hostetter good read!

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  6. Well, I see that blogger has failed to notify me of comments. So I am catching up in one huge community hug.

    Thanks Alex, I hope you will not be disappointed.

    Vijaya, I'm heading right over to read your post. Hope the others do too.

    Carol, your input is invaluable. Thanks so very much. And thanks for accepting the meme.

    Absolutely, you are welcome, Linda. Hope to see you in a few weeks.

    Ah Peggy, I love hearing from you. And I owe you some feedback. I think I finally have some time to put my thoughts on paper.

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  7. Joyce, I'm giggling. I just posted on this yesterday, and *I* tagged *you.*

    I'm so with you on not wanting the responsibility of self-publishing. And my ancestors are German, so I'm highly interested in your subject.

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  8. Guten Tag, Marcia - ha - I notice I tagged Vijaya who had already played and tagged you so I guess it was meant to be, eh? Good thing we can laugh about it. I'll read your post for sure. I'm a little behind in all things bloggie!

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