Be Inspired

Thanks so much to Suzanne Furness over at The Word Is . . . for passing this tag on to me!  It's such an honor to be chosen for these things!  To complete my responsibilities regarding this tag, I must answer some questions about my current writing project.

What is the name of your book?

For now, the working title of my current WIP is Prices Paid.  I know I've mentioned the project on this blog before. It's a short story collection, and my basic idea is to examine the prices that certain people pay when technology or knowledge changes the way we live our lives.

I'm open to new ideas regarding the title, but that's what it is for now. 

Where did the idea for your book come from?

Each story had its own inspiration. One story was done for a blogfest, and I got the idea for another when I realized that, though I love time travel stories, I almost never wrote them.  That seemed like a good enough reason to give one a try.  The other stories largely arose out of my determination to continue producing new work.

In what genre would you classify your book?  

Science fiction.

If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition who would you choose?

That's a tough question.  Since it's a short story collection, I have to choose one story in particular.  My characters don't appear in multiple stories (though now that I think of it, it might be fun to write a collection where all the stories take place in the same world and the same people come and go-I'll file that away for future reference).  As it is, I'll choose the Dream Reader from "The Absurdity."  Though the physical specs aren't quite the same, I keep picturing Wayne Alexander's voice when the Dream Reader speaks.  For those who don't know who that is, he played multiple roles for one of my all time favorite TV shows, Babylon 5.  That voice of his has always stuck with me for some weird reason, and I like his presence.

Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book?

With each change in society that benefits people, there are always the others who pay the price for those benefits.

Is your book already published?

Unfortunately not, but I hope to change that as soon as I can.  For the time being, I'm still writing it.  

How long did it take you to write your book?

So far, I've been working on it since May.  The first story I wrote that I want to include is titled "Nuance."  I wrote this for Cherie Reich's Flash Fiction Blogfest.  This was the first piece of flash fiction I ever wrote, and this experience inspired me to write more.  Another story I want to include in Prices Paid is "The Absurdity."  This was written as a series of flash pieces.  All in all, participating in that one blogfest is what motivated me to keep writing short fiction.  I'm hoping that it doesn't take much more than a couple of months to at least have the rough drafts done and well on the way through the editorial process.  I guess I'll see how it goes from here.

What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or readers of which books would enjoy yours?

That's a difficult question to answer.  Maybe that's because I don't have quite enough confidence in my writing to compare my short stories to some of the authors I admire most.  I'll say this: if you like science fiction and you enjoy a short story, it wouldn't hurt to give my book a try.

Which authors inspired you to write this book?

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, and he's written a few books of short stories.  I had the idea years ago that I might be able to do something like this, because he does it so well.  I also found inspiration from fellow bloggers Christine Rains and Cherie Reich.  They have been awesome about producing great writing and putting it out there for the world to see, and that's what I want to do.  It's my goal to self-publish my book and see how well I can do with it, and I made that decision because I've seen what my fellow writers have been able to do.

Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book?

My book is full of variety.  It will take you on a philosophical journey that will question the nature of reality itself, explore the depths of human greed as well as our capacity for compassion, and it will even challenge you to ask what it means to be human.

I know.  The fact that I was a philosophy major in college is showing.  I can't help that.

Now I's supposed to tag 5 more people.  I have no idea who has this and who doesn't.  I'm also lazy, though I try not to appear that way.  Instead of taking too much more time, I will choose 5 of the many bloggers who inspire me most.  This tag is my way of saying your blog inspires me. Whether you choose to pass it on or not is up to you.  Life is busy, after all.

1. Karen Elizabeth Brown
2. Cherie Reich
3. Christine Rains
4. Cassie Mae
5. Michael Offutt

There are many others who inspire me everyday, but I need to get back to my stories.  They're crying out for completion.  (Hopefully my strange phrasing there didn't offend everyone!)

Now that I am finished with this, I will return to my Thursday Tea Time!