The Next Big Thing

 

So for something a little different this morning with your first cup of coffee . . . .

 

Mystery author Barbara Fradkin invited me to participate in the Next Big Thing blog series, sort of a chain letter for authors with 10 questions about our work in progress. (You can read Barb's responses at her blogspot http://www.barbarafradkin.com/)

 

This blog series has been completed by many, many authors, so many in fact, that participants are having trouble finding authors to 'tag'. I've been fortunate to have two great fellow Ottawa authors joining me as we're all posting this morning and linking up. I'll give their links at the bottom of my post!

So, here goes - 10 questions about my work in progress:

 

Q1 What is your working title of your book?

Cold Mourning

 

Q2 Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea to have a young female Aboriginal cop working with an older male French Canadian detective came from my work in the federal government – I work on the Aboriginal files at the Department of Justice and read the daily news to stay current on the issues. A number of articles sparked ideas for themes and story lines.

 

Q3 What genre does your book fall under?

It’s the first in a police procedural/crime series.

 

Q4 Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie

rendition?

The Aboriginal Canadian actress Tamara Podemski and Robert De Niro would make a great detective team.

 

Q5 What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

An Ottawa businessman leaves for work early one morning a week before Christmas and disappears into thin air – Detectives Rouleau and Stonechild will spend the holiday season tracking a killer.

 

Q6 Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Dundurn will release Cold Mourning in fall 2013.

 

Q7 How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About a year, which is standard for every one of my full length books. The adult literacy novels usually take two to three months.

 

Q8 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I’m a big fan of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series as well as the Elizabeth George, John Harvey and Denise Mina mysteries – while my books are not copies of their work, I’ve taken pointers from their story-telling.

 

Q9 Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I began writing an opening scene about two young girls getting into a stranger’s van and the rest of the story flowed from this opening scene.

 

Q10 What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

The book not only has a murder puzzle to solve, but also delves into the psyches of the detectives and main characters. The book is set in Ottawa in the dead of winter so it's a chilling visit to Canada’s capital city.

 

Now, please read up on the latest projects currently underway by my two author buddies -

 

Michael J. McCann http://michaeljmccannsblog.blogspot.com

and Jeff Ross http://jeffrossbooks.com/