Week #2 of THE NEXT BIG THING



Merit Jewel Range

THE NEXT BIG THING is a fun blog event of 10 questions. Laurie Hanan, author of the Louise Golden Mysteries http://westoftheequator.wordpress.com/ invited me to participate in the questionnaire. The event began here in Hawaii with our good friend Toby Neal, author of The Lei Crime Series http://www.tobyneal.net/

Here’s the plan:

***Answer ten questions about a current Work In Progress. (See below for full list of questions) ***Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers. It’s that simple.

I’ve chosen to answer one question per week with a goal of publishing the second novel in my Pepper Bibeau mystery series at the time I post the final question and answer.

Here is Question #2 of The Next Big Thing:

TNBT: Where did the idea for your novel, DIFFERENT IN DEGREE, come from?

GAIL: The idea for my second novel began to blossom while I edited the manuscript for my first novel. In one scene of FOR EVERY ACTION, Insurance Investigator Pepper Bibeau makes this comparison:

In my experience, genealogy research mirrors insurance investigation. Both require an interpretation of facts to fill in the gaps.

After re-reading those lines several times, I decided the second novel would include some of Pepper’s family members. Though Pepper was born in Hawaii, she moved to Wisconsin after the death of her father, an Army-Air Force pilot who dies in a plane crash when Pepper is four years old.

The adage, write what you know, applies here. Wisconsin is my home state, and I am most familiar with the towns settled along the shores of Lake Michigan. My niece once owned a farmhouse that had an old summer kitchen attached to the main kitchen. The floor was unfinished, a rickety wooden work table graced the center of the space, and cobwebs decorated a black cook stove against the back wall.

The disrepair of the room created in my mind a perfect final resting place for family skeletons. That thought sparked the idea for my next novel. Could deceit and murder be far behind?

And now, five awesome writers whose work you want to watch:

1. Stella Baker (Mystery) www.stellabaker.com

2. Maureen Gerber (Mystery/Suspense) http://mhgerberbooks.blogspot.com/

3. Ellen Stockdale Wolfe (Author and Artist) http://stockdalewolfe.myexpose.com

4. Erik Hanberg on Amazon (Mystery)

5. Michele Drier (Mystery/) http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 

The full questionnaire for THE NEXT BIG THING:

What is the title of your book?

Where did the idea for the book come from?

What genre would your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Is your book published or represented?
How long did it take you to write?
What other books within your genre would you compare it to?
Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Orchids-Crime-Series-ebook/dp/B006FBDHG2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1341460044&sr=1-2&keywords=Blood+Orchid