by S. L. Duncan
So,
nearly two months ago, Wendy Orr (NIM’S ISLAND, THE NIM STORIES) tagged me for
this sort of blog chain letter called The Next Big Thing. As I am a complete
slackass, I totally got tied up in the new job and have neglected all things
writerly.
But no
longer, I tells ya!
So, while
I object to the implication that what I’ve written might be ‘the next big
thing,’ I’ll play along. Here’s my
interview on how my first book, The Revelation Saga (Medallion Press, 2014) came to be!
Where did the idea come from for
the book?
I was
living in Birmingham and had graduated from college with this geographically useless film /
broadcasting degree that was tethered to an equally useless lack of ambition
and direction. Also, I was totally chickenshit when it came to the idea that I
may have to move to LA or New York to make my dreams come true.
Instead
of taking a leap of faith, I ended up in law school. In – no surprise here –
Birmingham. Something about the sterile nature of legal writing for the classes
I attended caused my creative inner self to revolt. At the same time, I was
having this moment where my religious upbringing didn’t match with what I
perceived in the real world. I began researching canonical and non-canonical
religious texts, trying to figure it all out, and just got inspired. Basically, I wondered what would happen
if the books of the Bible were compiled in error, and the one book that might
hold the key to surviving the second war between the angels and demons had been
purged by Constantine’s Rome in the homogenization of the religion. After
living in England for a semester abroad, Gabriel Adam’s story began to
materialize. Then it was just a matter of getting it down on paper.
In hindsight, I probably should have been studying Con Law or something.
What genre does your book fall
under?
It’s a
Young Adult Adventure / Thriller.
What actors would you choose to
play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I’m
going to go with Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin, Bindi Irwin, and Gerard Butler.
I promise I didn’t steal this answer from Wendy Orr.
What is the one-sentence synopsis
of your book?
Seventeen-year-old
Gabriel Adam learns he is the Archangel Gabriel born human and sent to stop the
second war between Heaven and Hell.
How long did it take you to write
the first draft of the manuscript?
Altogether,
probably a year. I false started a lot. These days, I’m running about four
months on a draft. The long hours come in editing.
Who or what inspired you to write
this book?
Really,
the experience inspired itself. It was fun, and that created a momentum until
that last day when I typed “The End.”
What else about the book might
pique the reader's interest?
My agent, John Rudolph of Dystel
& Goderich Literary Management pitched the book as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
meets some of the fantastical elements of HARRY POTTER.
Also, there may or may not be a
dragon in it.
_______
I'm tagging agency siblings Shandy Lawson (THE LOOP, Disney/Hyperion April 30th, 2013), Andrew Smith (WINGER, Simon & Schuster May 14th, 2013), and Rachele Alpine (CANARY, Medallion Press August 1st, 2013).
