Andrew Q. Gordon

Tag I’m It. 😯

Being new to a group is an interesting time. Everything is fresh, unknown and you get the chance to poke around and discover new things.  But for the not so bright – insert befuddled picture of me here – here’s a bit of advice. When you see something new and shiny that looks interesting – do NOT raise your hand and say ‘yeah, I’m in.”

The ‘Next Big Thing’ blog hop was one of the ‘new and shiny’ things I discovered when I got my spiffy new ‘admit one’ ticket to the Dreamspinner Press author group. Before the rational side of my brain had a chance to realize what was happening, the ‘ohhh lookie, shiny’ side of my brain kicked in. With the pending release of my new book – The Last Grand Master –  on February 1, my brain thought it would be a great idea – and I found myself typing -‘count me in’ and hitting send before I could stop myself.

Most of the souls took pity on the newbie, patted me gently on the head and told me to sit back and observe for a bit before I dove right in. But one evil soul – [not really, but it does make the story work jusssstttt a bit better when told this way] missed the memo on not hazing the newcomers and took me up on my offer.

What’s so bad about linking myself to the chain/train of all the other, more well known authors? Nothing except I’m expected to keep the chain moving. – 😯  Being the caboose on the train, there was no one left to pass on the torch, but I’ve managed to find two people outside the DsP universe to tag, thus preventing a meteor from landing on my house and wiping me and my family from existence.

Seriously, Lily Grace tagged me, so please take a moment and go check out what she is working on.  She’s a wonderful person who – despite what I said above – did NOT take advantage of the new dullard.  She’s also quite talented, so check out her Next Big Thing post on her blog, maybe buy her current book, and then come back and let me fill you in on my next big thing.

AQG

AQG’s Next Big Thing:

1.    What is the working title of your book? 

Purpose. This is more than a working title. It will be the actual title.

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

The idea came from a number of places.  The concept for the story – human host for a non-corporeal spirit, seeks vengeance on the guilty to feed the spirit – was something kicking around for a while.  The image of the MC – Gar/Will came from the first Highlander movie – I see him as looking a lot like Christopher Lambert in that movie.  Of course that was 25 years ago, so I’m guessing Lambert doesn’t look like Gar anymore.  The staccato voice Gar speaks in was inspired by Rorschach from the movie Watchmen. So there are a lot of different inspirations that lead to the end result.

3.   What is the genre of the book?

Paranormal with a touch of romance tossed in for flavor.

4.   Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I totally see Christopher Lambert from the Highlander era as the perfect Gar.  That, however, was 1986 so he couldn’t do it today, but when they did the Highlander, he was exactly how I see Gar. Aloof, a bit dark, a bit of a loner.

Since we’re talking about now, I had to do a bit of scouring of the internet to come up with someone else.  Alex Pettyfer in his more ‘rough’ look is probably a good current choice.  This picture is close to how I see Gar/Will.

The other MC is Ryan – he’s about 23-24. I have to confess, I watch so little television and get to so few movies, that I had to go on line and search for  someone who looked like what I envision Ryan looking like.  I don’t know if this is a great match or not, but it’s close.

Jeremy Sumpter – no idea who this is or what he’s played so if this isn’t what he really looks like, then go with this image as what I see.

There are other characters – two in particular that would need to be addressed but for now this is enough.

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

After saving a young man from certain death, Gar, the human host of an ancient spirit of vengeance finds himself confronting the humanity he thought he buried long ago.

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

Dreamspinner Press has purchased the book and will publish it in late May or June.

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

The writing took about a year, but it was interrupted for a time by the birth of my daughter.  I had to step away from writing for a while as I adjusted to life as a parent with a newborn and the duties of being the stay at home dad for four months.

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

I really don’t know that I can think of any. It’s not a shifter story, not a vampire, wizard, magician etc. Gar is something of a hero, but only in the Batman or Ghostrider vigilante type of way.

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

John O. [I’ll keep his last name private.] He befriended me on the Gay Author’s website and after he read the prologue – which doesn’t exist anymore – he pushed me to write this story. He was one of my beta readers for this and one of my biggest supporters for finishing Purpose.

10.  What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The best way to describe this – and where the title comes from – is the spirit is power with a purpose.  It doesn’t communicate with Gar directly, but Gar knows what he needs to do. The spirit gives him what we’d call super powers; he is super strong and fast. nearly invulnerable, heals very quickly, and has enhanced mental abilities – both in terms of intellect and ability to read and/or cloud minds.

Gar is about 67 years old when the story begins, but looks about 25 which was how old he was when the spirit took him as its host. There are quite a few references to the 60’s and 70’s that Will [Gar’s real name] uses as he re-emerges from hiding for the last 40 years or so.

So there you go. That’s what’s next from me.  There are a few other things kicking around inside my head, but they’ll have to wait for the next, Next Big Thing post.

As part of the chain, I’m tagging two others.  Cheryl Headford a.k.a Nephylim and Larry Benjamin.

Nephylim and I met about two and a half years ago on the Gay Authors Website. She is a very talented writer who is also amazingly prolific.  Her books are a bit dark, and there are so many twists and turns you’ll get whiplash, but her characters are so real that you get sucked in without meaning to.  She’ll be posting her next big thing next week so remind yourself to check her out HERE.

Larry is the author of What Binds Us. I absolutely fell in love with his book and took the chance and emailed him to say how much I enjoyed his work. He replied and he is just as wonderful as his characters.  He’s working on a new book – his third – and has agreed to take the time to tell us what it is about. He’ll be posting his answers next week as well so make sure to go visit him HERE.

Thanks for reading and remember to go check out the others who either tagged me or were tagged.

AQG