AuthorTube Work In Progress Tag

I'm not actually on YouTube. I would absolutely love to have a BookTube/AuthorTube channel but I just don't know if I will ever actually set one up. Maybe in the future, who knows? This tag was originally created by Jessi from LifeOfATeenageWriter, I saw it on Lainey's channel (gingerreadslainey) and decided that I wanted to do it here on my blog...so here we are. 

There are ten questions in this tag to help you get to know my current project better, so let's just jump right in with...

QUESTION 1: WHAT IS THE WORKING TITLE OF YOUR NOVEL?

Right now, the book is called 'Prince of Blades' and is the first in a trilogy hopefully called 'The Esperanza Saga'. I don't think the book title is going to change now as it fits the story really well, but I'm still open to change if another one jumps out at me. 

QUESTION 2: WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE BOOK COME FROM?

I've touched briefly on this question before, but I'll go over it again here. Back in the summer of 2016, I began working on a writing project that had been simmering away in my brain for years. Actual years! I finally decided to dedicate my time to it and got around 27,000 words into the first draft...when I got a completely new idea. It was entirely different from the project I was working on, and I knew nothing about it - except that I NEEDED to write it. It began with the characters, I literally saw them walk into my head, and I immediately began exploring who they were. Prince of Blades was formed from that. 

QUESTION 3: WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?

My book is a young adult fantasy novel. 

QUESTION 4: WHICH ACTORS WOULD YOU CHOOSE IN A MOVIE ADAPTATION OF YOUR BOOK?

I find this question tricky, because I'm not the kind of person who pictures specific actors when creating my characters - especially looks wise. I do pull elements of inspiration from certain actors or characters I've seen in my own life, but the characters in my book are completely unique. I also don't like to necessarily tell the readers what the characters look like in anything other than the words on the page. I want them to be able to picture them in their own heads without restrictions. That being said, I do have a Pinterest board for Prince of Blades and have pulled a few pictures from that to represent a brief overview of the crew of the 'Esperanza'. I'm planning another post all about visual inspiration behind my writing, but here are a few little ideas: 

I also don't know who exactly all of these people are...

QUESTION 5: WHAT IS A ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BOOK?

I haven't yet started the query process so I haven't started working on a longer synopsis for my novel, let alone a one-sentence one. Let's have a go...

A rag-tag group crew of formidable female pirates must join forces with men of the king's guard to hunt down a stolen princess

Wow...that's very vague, but it works. So there you go. 

QUESTION 6: WILL YOUR BOOK BE SELF OR TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED? 

I think the self-publishing market has grown so much recently, but I will definitely be pursuing traditional publishing with Prince of Blades. I have always thought that I wanted to go down that route, and I just don't have the time, resources or money to really be successful in the self-publishing book market. 

QUESTION 7: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO WRITE YOUR FIRST DRAFT? 

It took a year. A whole year, for me to finish the first draft of this book. I could've done it sooooo much quicker, I know I'm able to - but I just didn't pressure myself and worked on the draft really slowly - probably too slowly. My first year of uni coincided with the writing of the first draft, and so definitely hindered the process, but I have no doubt that I can work quicker than I did. The second draft is already coming on so much faster. 

QUESTION 8: WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE YOUR BOOK TO?

There are lots of pirate books out there, but I haven't read many, and so can't really compare my book to those in that sense. In fact, when it comes to comp titles, it isn't books that come to mind it's movies and TV shows. So, I would say that Prince of Blades is:

Black Sails meets Sucker Punch

QUESTION 9: WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK?

If we are talking authors, then Sarah J. Maas is always a massive inspiration to me. Her passion and success is a driving force behind my own dreams and it was her that really inspired me to pursue my writing seriously. Also, more recently, Leigh Bardugo has inspired me to really work on this book and make the writing the best that it can be. I adore her books and they definitely inspire my own need to tell stories. 

In my own life, my Mum has been a huge inspiration behind this book. Right from day one she has been my biggest cheerleader, research partner, name-finder and general supporter. She is as excited about this book as I am and has never made me feel like writing is a silly career to pursue. 

QUESTION 10: WHAT OTHER THINGS IN YOUR BOOK MIGHT PEAK READER'S INTEREST? 

Okay, just like Eminem in 'Sick', I'm bout to rattle off some other reasons...

* Lots of diversity between races, ethnicities, class and sexuality

* Pirate life

* Spooky cliffs and the women who live in them

* An island made entirely of ship-wrecks

* A hate-to-love romance witnessed from afar

* Female friendship

* Humour

* Platonic male/female friendship

* Morally grey characters

* Death

* Destruction

* Mystery 

* A sweet and genuine blossoming romance

* Sword-fighting

* Sea battles

... and copious amounts of wine 

So there we have it, that was my take on the Work In Progress Tag, I hope you liked it and it gave you some more insight into my novel Prince of Blades. I'm currently ALMOST half-way through the first round of edits and I'm really happy with how it's going. I'll check back in here soon with some more Prince of Blades teasers

oooooooo

Lauren 

(all pictures taken from Google or Pinterest unless stated otherwise)