I got tagged by Janine Southard to participate in The Next Big Thing bloghop. This blog hop gives authors the chance to discuss their current projects, and then tag five others for the following week. I don’t have anyone to tag, so if you want to participate, feel free to hop on the bandwagon!

What is the working title of your book?

Leaves Kick Grass – but honestly, that is just something I came up with because I didn’t want to save it as “Untitled”. IF it ever gets published, I am certain it will have a different title.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I am extremely sensitive to light – I feel energized when there is a lot of sunshine and almost instantly start to droop if it becomes overcast. I’ve often joked about being part plant, and when I decided to try a turn at fiction, I thought it would be interesting to explore what it might feel like if a human actually could photosynthesize. I also wanted to investigate what it means to be “other” in a very different kind of way.

In addition to that, I’m constantly interrogating what it means to be human – even if that human is modified in some way. There is a queer couple who are central to the story, but I am so tired of the tropes that I wanted a story that a) wasn’t about coming out and b) didn’t have horrible things happen to the queer people (i.e. where they die or end up alone) and c) the queer people could be the heroes.

What genre does your book fall under?

Post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I honestly have no idea. The three main characters don’t look like any of the women I’ve seen in movies. Two of them are butch, which is almost never portrayed on screens of any size.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

What happens when your life depends on sunlight and you become trapped underground?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have no idea if it will ever even see the light of day (ha!). IF it does, I was thinking I would like an agent, although with my understanding of the publishing industry at the moment, I’m not entirely closed to self-publishing.

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

About a year, although it was written in spurts. If I subtract the months I didn’t write at all, I’d say six months. I STILL need to edit it and fix some parts of the story. No idea how long this process will take.

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

You know how they say to write the stories you want to read? Well, that’s why I wrote this one. I can’t think of any, but then, perhaps I haven’t read wide enough. If you know of any that sound familiar, let me know.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Inspiration is a tricky word for me. I will just say that I have wanted to write for a long time. I asked for some help and support and got amazing encouragement from Nicola Griffith and Kelley Eskridge.

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

It’s about women kicking ass. And collaboration. And long-term relationships. And queers.