Now that I’ve managed to cobble together a draft of the WiP I feel pretty proud of, I finally feel confident enough to answer questions about it! I was tagged for this forever ago, by the lovely Caroline, who borrowed them from Miss Snark!
(Also! I’m blogging about fun accessories to kick off a year of glorious reads at Bestie Megan’s lovely style blog today! Check it out if you dig reading and pretty things.)
Q&A
What’s the working title for your book? Uuuuugh I don’t know! The title I’ve been working with for more than a year is simply terrible. I need to work on the title and the query next… blerg! (Right now the working title on the draft is HATERS TO THE LEFT. I may stand by that.)
What is the one sentence synopsis for your book? A girl who can see auras uses her ability to start a matchmaking business at her high school, and in the process gains—and loses—more than she ever expected.
What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary YA
What other books would you compare your story to in your genre? This is sort of a nerve-wracking question! I’d say that books I emulated in tone or setting would be The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.
Where did the idea come from for your book? I was thinking of myth retellings, and I wondered how a modern-day Cupid would fare in love. The idea of a high-schooler who could tell what people were compatible raised all kinds of questions: What would they think about fate? How would they deal with the fact that incompatible people fall in love all the time? I took the idea from there and ran with it.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Ooh! Fun question. Creepily enough, I based my mental image of my main character Anya on these photobooth pics of Zooey Deschanel from high school—but Anya wears big glasses, like Zooey does now. However, until time machine casting becomes a very real and amazing thing, I’d have to say my favorite is always Kaya Scoledario, a.k.a. Effy from the BBC’s Skins.
For the love interest, Paul, casting would be a little tricky. Paul is half-Japanese, half-Italian. There aren’t a ton of actors I know of who fit that description (and I just got sucked into a rather dangerous NSFW internet wormhole searching for one). I have a friend who matches the description (but I’m not putting his picture here because awkward) and there are some similarities, strangely, to the not-Asian-at-all Garret Hedlund in that one specific picture–mostly Garrett’s fantastic hair. Paul definitely has the hair. If anyone has casting suggestions, please share!
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I plan on seeking agent representation for this book in the (very near) future, so my hope is to go that way. But never say never, right?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? May we see an intro? FOR-EV-ER. But really, about a year and a half. I had what I consider a “zero draft” (technically a complete manuscript, but so poor that it had to be completely rewritten) after about six months. The rest of that time was spent rewriting and revising my heart out.
As for an intro, here’s the first paragraph as it stands now (these things are always, always revised or scrapped completely but hey):
There are a couple dozen ways I’d prefer to heartbrokenly wallow after being dumped by world-class douchenozzle Shane Curran. They all involve eating Marianne’s horchata ice cream with my best friend Rainer. None, not a one, has me driving two hours inland to California’s Central Valley to help my mother arm a bunch of computer engineers with Segways and heavy polo mallets in the name of fledgling romance. And yet, here I am.
What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest? If you like stories about keeping Santa Cruz weird, high school rock bands, female friendships, dreamily witty nerd boys, or orange Vespas, (see also: this Pinterest board) I think you might enjoy my book!
And I’d love to pass the torch, so I’ll tag my ladies Kate Hart, Jessica Love, Jessica BS, and Linsdey Culli!
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I’m so excited for the Holiday Road Trips this week–check out the original 
