Amanda's Next Big Thing

 

Hello all,

 

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wow, 2012 just slipped past me. But I’m looking forward to fresh pages and new characters to introduce you guys to this year.

 

Secondly, I know that I’ve been a little lax lately in sharing with my Supernatural Underground family. But it wasn’t for naught.

 

A few of us here have put together an anthology of stories about vampires. Yep, this shifter girl is writing vampires now.

 

Kim Falconer did a great update on her next big thing and I’m un-abashedly going to steal her idea for this post.

1) What is the title of your next project?
“First Dates are Hell” is appearing the The Supernatural Underground anthology, Vampires Gone Wild, out February 12, 2013 at all e-book retailers

The book also features stories from: Kerrelyn Sparks, Pamela Palmer, and Kim Falconer

2) Where did the idea come from for the story?
We met the hero of “First Dates” Valiance in the third installment of the Diaries of an Urban Panther series. Valiance was a warrior prince for the vampire Clade in Dallas and when our heroine and werepanther Violet Jordan needed a little more help, Valiance pledged his sword to her cause.

I wanted to know what Valiance was doing now. How did he adjust being the only Vampire left in Dallas? What would Valiance do when left to his own devices?
What Violet would expect of this warrior in a time of peace?

3) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
This is an easy one. I made a Pinterest board for each new project, so casting the characters was the first thing that I did.

Michael Fassbender as Valiance          Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Esme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
It's been a hundred years since Valiance dated; it isn’t any easier now than it was back then.

5) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
It took me about a month to write the first draft. What was challenging about this project was that it was a short story, and even though there are fewer words, the characters still need to react and change during the story, so they needed to be the right words. Apparently, I think in epic story arcs, so I really needed to look at what I wanted to focus on, which was the one choice that Valiance would make.

6) What other projects would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hopefully it’s still in the same vein as Diaries, but I think this one is less snark and more emotions. I think that “First Dates” has elements of what has always influenced me as writer: the snappy snark of Shonda Rhimes, the emotional journeys of Alice Hoffman, and the paranormal world building of Charlaine Harris.

7) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
See the pictures of Michael Fassbender and tell me that you wouldn’t want to think about him non-stop for a month. My life is awesome.

8) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Fun Story time: I’ve always preached that you should write about what you know. For, Diaries, the main character needed to shoot a gun, so I went to a gun range. In the second, I needed to know about biker bars, so I went to a few around town.

For this story, the Vampires in my universe can only be killed by having their heads cut off by an iron sword, so all my vampires carry an iron sword. So, not to drop spoilers, but there is a sword fight in the story. Being a normal person, I don’t usually wield a sword, but like a normal person, I do have foam swords and a really great husband. So my husband and I choreographed the fight scenes so I could write about it. After a few bruises, we finally worked it out and voila, fight scene.

 

I hope that you have enjoyed this little update on my next big thing.

See you next month!

 

 

 

Amanda Arista

Diaries of an Urban Panther

www.amandaarista.com