The Next Big Thing - Alyx Morgan

We here at Writers Who Kill have just been invited to take part in The Next Big Thing, a blog roll that’s been going on for several months now.  As an unpublished writer (at least traditionally, I do have one short story up on Amazon), I’m thrilled to be taking part in this.  It’s cool to be linked with so many published authors, and it’s a great way to garner some attention for my series.

So without further ado, here are my answers to the questions for The Next Big Thing:

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?  It's currently called "Reichenbach Fell" in homage to the famous scene where Sherlock Holmes supposedly met his untimely death when fighting with Professor Moriarty.  I've had mixed reviews on the title--mostly from people who aren't Holmes fans--so it might change, but as I plan to title all future books in the series in ways that pay homage to the titles of the Sherlock stories, I'm not sure how willing I'll be to change it.

Where did the idea come from for the book?  I'd been struggling with my writing for a while, and a friend suggested I write about a teenage detective who loved Sherlock Holmes (like me).  The moment I started writing her, things just clicked and fell into place.

What genre does your book fall under?  Young Adult (YA) mystery, though the shorts have been running toward the Middle Grade (MG) age so far.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  That's a tough one.  When I began writing about Tabitha (my protagonist), her spunk and attitude immediately put me in mind of Christina Ricci in her younger days.  But now, I don't think I've seen too many current young actresses who strike me as having the same personality.  For Stu (Tab's best friend), I kind of think of Gabriel Mann, though he's also too old, and too cute.  Hmmm, maybe I need to bone up on today's young actors.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  A series of thefts in Alameda causes high school sleuth Tabitha Patterson to suspect the owner of a used music store that opened up right as the burglaries began.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  I'm not sure.  I self-published the second short story involving Tab (the first can be found here on my website), but it's always a writer's dream to be published professionally, and to see your books on the shelves.  I don't take rejection very well, so that fear is making me lean toward self-publishing, but we'll see.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?  About a year.  It's the first time I had actually finished a full-length novel, and I was so proud of myself for that.  I have quite a few stories sitting in a filing cabinet that never made it past page 30, so this was a major accomplishment for me.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  It's kind of funny to have this question, because I recently wrote another blog about just that.  Until that blog, I hadn't found many current mysteries in the YA genre with female protagonists in them.  There's the Nancy Drew mysteries, of course, and someone else told me of Trixie Belden, which I still need to read.  There are quite a few great MG series that have female detectives in them.  The Sisters Grimm and Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator are two that I've read and truly enjoy.  I've since found a few series with YA female detectives, that I'm going to be checking out very soon.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?  As I said, a friend helped me come up with the series idea for Tab, but this particular mystery came about because I was trying to think of where the climactic scene (which I wanted to be similar to the one at the Reichenbach Falls) could take place here in Alameda.  Since it's a fairly flat island (nestled in the San Francisco Bay), my choices were limited.  But the USS Hornet (an old Naval carrier) is docked on the island and has been turned into a museum.  It's a HUGE ship, and I thought "A-HA!"  So I guess you could say I had my ending before I had the rest of the story.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?  Tabitha fancies herself a great detective, but in truth she doesn't always have the facts to back up her theories.  She's also not a "normal" teenager, in that she doesn't think about clothes, popularity or boys, which is why it knocks her for a loop when she finds out that her best friend, Stu, has feelings for her.  Tab's got an edge to her, and isn't always diplomatic, but since her hero is Sherlock Holmes, she doesn't see how that's a problem.