The Next Big Thing!
If you’re here, chances are you’ve come from author Jill Hughey’s blog where she gave you juicy details on her work in progress.
http://jillhughey.blogspot.com/ If you’ve stopped by by chance or because you’ve subscribed to my blog, then please check out Jill’s link and the links at the end. There are some really great books in the making!
Do you know I celebrate each new book in print with champagne and cheesecake? I do. My friends come over and we pop corks and slice cheesecake and toast the newest launch. Sipping the champagne is so much better than smashing the bottle over the prow! I love my friends and adore my family for acknowledging the work involved. It’s sort of like passing out pink or blue cigars.
Artistic manifestation is pure imagination given form and substance. Novels, paintings, sculptures, etc take form and grow in our minds and are fed on our psyche and emotions. What begins with our active participation ends when our creation takes on a life of its own. There’s nothing to do at this point except release it to the world. And that process is akin to giving birth. Believe me. I’ve done that twice. 😀
In that small measure of human time on earth, in that smaller measure of time I’ve been around, and in the nanosecond I’ve been writing, I’ve written twenty-one books. My brood consists of three in print, three coming to print very soon, five to be rewritten, seven to rethink, one that is forever trapped in a broken flashdrive, and the last I regretfully deleted in a writer’s hissy fit.
My good friend, author Jane Leopold Quinn said something profound to me the other day. Quote collector that I am, her words struck a chord. I’ve been thinking about them since:
To be able to write a story and publish it means we join the centuries-long family of authors. It seems like there are a lot of us, but our percentage is so small compared with the whole of the world’s populace. How many people do you know who say “I could write a book” but don’t?
How true. We humans have a long tradition of writing our thoughts down. Jane inadvertently put the ancient Libraries in my mind — the Library at Alexandria, The Imperial Library of Constantinople, The Library of Celsus, The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. I envision the scrolls, codex’s, and parchments and realize I have twelve books to finish!
Here’s my latest brainstorm:
What is your working title of your book?
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo * a two-part novel
Blurb:
What does an immortal Native American shaman do when the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity disappears under urban development?
His purpose of guarding his wife’s burial mound gone, Ashkewheteasu seeks to end his immortal existence. In his despair, he assumes the form of a wolf and steps in front of a moving car and into the life of Dr. Olivia “Livie” Rosalini. The veterinarian saves the animal’s life, and in the process saves the man within. Unbeknownst to Livie, the dog she’s taken into her home and grows to love is a magical being seeking to win her heart as a man. While Ash is learning a new world filled with new love, friendship, and happiness, an old menace makes plans to steal it all away; just as he had 3000 years before.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Several years ago while taking a much touted artists tour, I wandered into a barn converted into an artist studio and found a new author sitting beside a stack of books. This curious book with its B-movie cover was all about the Wisconsin werewolf. At the time, I was less fascinated by werewolves than I was by anyone who’d actually managed to get published. In the days before email submissions, eBook publishers, Indy publishers, and self-publishing, I’d spent a considerable sum printing manuscripts to mail in their entirety to the major NY Publishers, and tasted confidence-shattering disappointment as rejection letters came in.
Needless to say, I saw opportunity to learn so I talked to this author. Of course, after picking her brain as best I could, I bought the book. It seemed only right that I do. While my husband drove us from art studio to art studio, I read passages to him. The story was pretty farfetched but entertaining. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a wolf walking like a man. We well knew the areas mentioned in the book, and some of the sightings of this weird creature had supposedly taken place over decades. Back home, I went digging for more. Apparently the Ojibwe legends in the Great Lakes region mention a magical wolf or dog that guards burials.
That caught my attention. Legends of grave guardians around the world often take the form of wolves or dogs. There’s that jackal-headed Anubis from ancient Egypt for example. Wasn’t he the Lord of the Dead? Beyond that, Wisconsin was covered in ancient Native American burial and effigy mounds. Coincidentally, one of the accounts in that book went back to the 1930’s and took place on top of a burial mound. Needing more information, we took the Great Mound Tour across Wisconsin into Iowa. I saw these effigies and burials for myself, what was left of them. And my imagination went wild!
What genre does your book fall under?
Romance and the sub-genres are erotic and paranormal
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh wow, that has honestly NEVER crossed my mind. To answer this question, I went searching through images online. I couldn’t find names without too much digging on a day with too little time for digging (and if any of the people depicted here see this, please leave a message and I will amend) There aren’t many Native American actors out there, even fewer younger men. I did find a handsome Native American models though. Visually this man could play my hero Ashkewheteasu (Ash). He’s almost what I envisioned. As for Olivia (Livie) I think Bryce Dallas Howard might do well enough with her “sky eyes” and “fox-colored hair”.
John and Cora Redleaf are secondary but necessary characters. They could be portrayed by this handsome guy and this woman who might be Ashley Judd.
While I’m at it, this guy could portray Elluwilussit aka Eli. Handsome and deadly.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
An immortal Native American shaman seeks to end his life upon discovering the grave he’s sworn to watch over for all eternity has been destroyed, but instead finds a new world filled with love and happiness, unaware that an old menace makes plans to steal it all away; exactly as he had 3000 years before.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I have two agency-represented books out now as well as one recently self-published. Self-publishing was surprisingly easy. I’ll be doing it again for this novel.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
About a month and a half. My books tend to write themselves. Now if only they’d edit themselves.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’ve never seen another like it. I have nothing to compare it to
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The Wisconsin werewolf captured my imagination. People swear it’s true — people of upstanding character, well-regarded in their communities. Now that’s something to think about!
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I live about twenty minutes away from the area where these modern sightings have been reported. The urban legend gets even more intriguing because similar sightings show up in the Native American legends from my area — and they go back who knows how far. What’s more, the early French explorer accounts of the Great Lakes in the last 300 years mention them too. They called these grave guardians Witchy Wolves (English translation for magic wolves) and Loup Garou (wolf man) respectively. Wisconsin once had over 10,000 ancient Native American burial mounds and some are in effigy. In fact, some effigy mounds are in the shape of a wolf standing upright like a man. Talk about tickling a writer’s fancy! How could I NOT write it?
Thank you for stopping by my blog to read The Next Big Thing. I have high hopes The Witchy Wolf and The Wendigo will be exactly that. 🙂
Here are fellow authors in alphabetical order. Check out their next big things.
Edward Collins: http://edwardcollinsauthor.wordpress.com/
Rachel Cray: http://www.rachelcray.com/general/the-next-big-thing/
Sam Crescent: http://samcrescent.wordpress.com/
Crystal Drake: http://www.CrystalDrakeBooks.com/
Loc Glin: http://locglin.com/
Allyson Young: http://yourdarkersideoflove.blogspot.ca/
>>>>oOo<<<<
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All titles on sale now!
http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson/e/B004XDGWL6
And…
During the week of December 9th, I’m participating in The Romance Reviews’ big Year End Splash Party! Join me and more than 300 authors and publishers for a month of goodies. There are hundreds of excerpts (you just might find that perfect read for a cold winter’s night) And there are over 300 prizes too! Like I said, I’m there the week of December 9th. To see my part in the whole thing, I need to send you to my satellite blog: Rose Anderson’s Satellite blog on blogspot.com There you’ll find an excerpt of my newest release Loving Leonardo.
The week of December 9th my question will be posted on The Romance Reviews site. Simply find my name on the participant list. Follow the link given to my excerpt posted on my satellite blog, read it, then go back to answer my multiple choice question on The Romance Reviews site. Play the other games and amass more points and you’ll have a pretty good chance to win an ebook copy for yourself!
Coming soon…
Did I mention busy? lol
calliopeswritingtablet.com 
hi Rose!! BOOKS LOOK AWESOME!
hey thanks!
Hi Rose. It’s a lovely idea. In the UK we have our own real life grave guardian, Grey Friars Bobby, who, when his master died, refused to leave his grave and mounted guard over it for the rest of his life.
Hi Jenny. Thanks. I’ve heard of Grey Friars Bobby. A sad and touching tale. Isn’t it odd that these wolves, dogs, and jackals are associated with graves around the world?
Wonderful blog Rose
Have you heard of McKenzie’s dog? He’s a legend in New Zealand there’s even a bronze statue of him in Tekapo. Mckenzie was a Scot and found a fabulous place to graze sheep in a huge uninhabited basin in New Zealand’s South Island high countey. He had a Border collie and he’d send the collie out and it would theive mobs of sheep and bring them home to what is now known as the McKenzie basin. It;s the only dog in New Zealand that has ever been tried and sentenced in a court of law for sheep stealing.
Mckenzie was jailed andthe dog was ordered to be put down but a petition was got up that saved the dog’s life. That dog is immortalised by a bronze statue near the Church Of The Good Shepherd in Tekapo.