The Next Big Thing Round 2

It's March! It's March!

To celebrate the first day of March, I'm finally going to post my second entry for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. My lovely writing pals Myrna Foster, Christa Desir and SJ Kincaid all tagged me, and I agreed to play. Even though I've already done one of these for my contemporary YA Under Dark Water, I have another WiP, too. So ... round 2.



1. What is the working title of your book?
Red Butterfly

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

A friend’s parents were having trouble adopting their two Chinese daughters and, since I’d been through the fire with our adoption, my friend asked for advice. Their story chipped away at my heart. I started thinking about all the children who are kept from fully belonging to people who love them because of red tape and restrictions. This book was born from that heart-heavy concern for my friend's family.

3: What genre does your book come under?
Middle grade verse

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Are verse novels ever made into movies? Name one that has been and I’ll answer this question. ;)

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Twelve-year-old Kara is Chinese, living in China with American parents; but when she discovers she was never legally adopted and that her parents face repatriation, her life goes through a drastic metamorphosis.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

My lovely agent will hopefully start submitting to editors sometime this month. (Eek!)

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

The very first draft? Oh man, this book has been through SO MANY DRAFTS, I can’t remember the first one. It started life as a YA over a year ago and has been completely rewritten four times, and then revised extensively after that. So yeah, no idea. Seriously.

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

I really hate doing this because people might think I’m saying my book is as good as these books. So, if I answer this question, please don’t think I’m cocky. The two books that come to mind are HOME OF THE BRAVE by Katherine Applegate and INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai. (Both amazing and I highly recommend them.)

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

I was inspired by adopting families who so often have to face insane hardships to see their adoptions go through. This book is for them. I was also inspired by my Chinese daughter, Olivia. If this novel ever sees the light of publication day, I’m dedicating it to her.

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

It’s set mostly in Tianjin, China. If you like novels in verse, you might like it. And Kara has a minor disability—she has only one finger on her right hand. 

I'm not going to tag anyone this time (I know, I know -- hand slap!). But honestly, if you haven't done this yet and you'd like to, let me know in the comments and I'll do a separate post later to direct people to your blog. How's that for a great deal? 

And even if you don't feel like answering all ten questions, tell me in the comments what you're working on. I'd love to know!