THE NEXT BIG THING TAG POSTS

 

Caroline Clemmons, http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/, a very talented author and one of my valued critique partners, has tagged me to answer ten questions about my Work in Progress, or WIP. I am excited to participate in this project and hope to give you a little insight into my book due out next year.

I'm developing a series called The Texan Code. I feel everyone needs a code they can live by like honor, justice and concience. These are not exclusive to Texas by any means, but every Texan should have at least one.



 

The following are my answers to the ten questions.

 


1. What is the working title of your book?

 

There have been several titles for this first book in my Texan Series, but currently it is, Code of Honor.

 

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

 

I thought about plane crashes, the one in particular that happened at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 1988. I wanted to know what happened in the aftermath to the families involved, from the pilots to the airlines to the antagonist.

 

I first went with mechanical failure in the aircraft which resulted in a pilot error charge from the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, though that plot isn't as relevant today with the improvements made in the airline industry. The revised plotline is taking a more personal tone. It centers around the Benning family, Graeme and Maggie overcoming obstacles on their path to forever after love, Maggie's four-year-old son, Andy, and the man bent on destroying them.

 

3. What genre does your book fall under?

 

Romantic Suspense. I believe in happy endings and I want to know from the get-go that's what I'll get. I also need a little intrigue throughout to spice it up, something to make me think, to make me work a little for that satisfying ending.

 

4. What actor would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

 

That question is both easy and hard. I use real people for the characters in my head, usually celebrities. So far I've been unable to gain permission to use these so I went shopping at, istockphotos.com, and purchased photos of models to use on a future cover or on blogs.

For my hero, Graeme McAlister, I have multiple pics of the 1990's Diet Coke guy, Lucky Vanous. Lucky is also an actor, so he's the natural choice to play that part.




Graeme McAlister

 

Maggie Benning, was patterned after Texas country music personality, Kelly Willis. In light of this recent purchase below, I think Maggie could be played by Mercedes Masohn, Isabel from The Finder. What do you think?

Maggie Benning

For Maggie's son, Andy, I like the young actor, Alex D. Linz, from the movie, One Fine Day. Or perhaps, my grandson. <G>



Andy Benning

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

 

Maggie Benning needs to clear her husbands name for her son's legacy and Graeme McAlister wants to help her find the truth so he can build a future with Maggie and Andy.

 

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

 

Probably self-published. A few of authors I know are close friends and critique partners. They have already gone the self-pub route so I have a great support system.

 

7. How long did it take you to write this book?

 

I have been writing this book and its siblings for a few years. My job and life took over for a while, but I am now retired and writing on a more regular schedule.

 

8. What other books would you compare it to in your genre?

 

It will probably follow the Silhouette Intimate Moments or Special Edition lines. 

 

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

 

 This answer is to the who was the inspiration. I started writing after reading Sandra Brown's Breakfast In Bed, I followed by every romance she wrote back then. Other authors who inspired me are Linda Lael Miller, Jayne Ann Krentz and Suzanne Brockman.

 

10. What else about this book might pique the reader's interest?

 

 Andrew and Bridey McTiernan Benning  wanted a houseful of their own children to love and to pass on the family ranch. With the realization they would have only one natural child, Wyatt, the Bennings became foster parents to Graeme, Elliott, Tony, Lawton and Kate. The Texan Code Series will follow each of the children Bridey and Andrew raised. In Code Of Honor, the first in the series, Graeme McAlister investigates the death and presumed suicide of, Wyatt, the Bennings only son and Maggie's husband.

 



                              

 

 

Graeme and Maggie investigate together and fall in love, only to uncover something that has the potential to ruin the family name and their future together.

 

Now it's my turn to tag five friends to post on September 22. 

 

 

Cheri Kay Clifton

 

Alison Bruce

 

 Ashley Kath-Bilsky

 

Gretchen Craig

 

Sharla Rae

 

 

The rules are to answer the ten questions about your current work in progress. Tag five other authors and add their links so we can hop over to meet them.

 

 

Thanks for joining me today.

 

Carra