The Next Big Thing: Much Ado About Miners

The 3rd book in the ♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥
series, Much Ado About Mavericks



The Next Big Thing -
week 9
by Jacquie Rogers

Here we go, blogging about The Next Big Thing, which, in my case is the fourth book in the ♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ series, Much Ado About Miners. This book is a long way from the market—I'm only on chapter 2, so 320 pages to write!  Yes, writing a book is daunting and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

How this works is there are ten interview questions.  I'll answer those for Much Ado About Miners and then tag five more authors.  They'll each tag five more, and off we go.  So here are the interview questions as applied to my book. Special thanks to Candy Ann Little who tagged me—check out her blog to see her Next Big Thing. :)

Ten Questions for

Much Ado About Miners

1. What is the working title of your book?

Much Ado About Miners (♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ #4)



The 2nd book in the ♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥
series, Much Ado About Madams

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

Readers have been asking for Iris Gardner's story since the first book in the series, Much Ado About Marshals.  The problem is that Iris is pretty unique, so it has taken quite a bit of thought to come up with a story (and hero) worthy of her.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Western Historical Romance.  My books are fast-paced and also have humor besides some good old-fashioned shoot-outs.  Not to mention drool-worthy cowboys. :)

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

Iris could be played by a twenty-something Reese Witherspoon because she can play just about any character.  Iris is 24 and independent.  The year is 1885 so that puts a a bit of a damper on her options, but not her spirit.  She has a head for business but that same head is also attractive, so businessmen tend to not take her seriously, which annoys her to no end.

Kade McKinnon is an adrenalin junkie.  He owns a business of guarding bullion transport, mostly wagons, and dozens of men work for him.  But the most dangerous jobs are his own — he has the skills of a killer, but he's also an animal-lover. 

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

I'm still plotting the story so not this sentence may or may not have anything to do with the final version, but here goes:

Someone is wreaking havoc with the McKinnon silver mine and it's up to Iris and Kade to bring the villain to justice—without wreaking havoc to their hearts.

First book in the ♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥
series, Much Ado About Marshals

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

Neither.  This book will be published through Mélange Publishing, an independent publisher owned by Norman W. Wilson, PhD.

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

It's not written yet, but it has taken me two months to get chapter one in the bag, mostly because I do a lot of pre-writing work. 

Before I start a book, my characters are fully formed, so even though I might not know what's going to happen with the plot, my characters are solid.  Then I also work out the bones of the story so I have destinations — the first turning point, midpoint, dark moment — all those are planned.  They might change along the way, but as long as I have a destination, I can put words on the page.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
.
Don't know.  The pacing and humor is similar to Maggie Osborne's books but I can't think of any recently published books that are comparable.
.

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

Let's go with "what."  And let's talk about the whole ♥ Hearts of Owyhee ♥ series.  Nearly every western historical romance novel I'd read was set either in Texas or Wyoming, with a few in Montana or Colorado.  Those states are east.  There's a whole lot of west past those states and a whole lot of history, too.  I've always been fascinated by local history and since I grew up in southwest Idaho, Silver City has drawn me like a marshmallow to the fire. 

Given that, I thought why not write a series set in Owyhee County?  It's home of Kitty Wilkins, the most successful horsetrader in US history, and Little Joe Monaghan, who pulled off a gender switch for forty years.  Then there's the cavalry, silver and gold mining, the cattle business — so much to write about and many stories waiting to be told.
.

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

I always have great fun with secondary characters, and in Much Ado About Miners, Kade's sidekick is a Shakespearean scholar who had been a prospector for forty years.  He has a mule named Verges and a burro named Juliet, and often expresses himself by quoting one of Shakespeare's characters.  He enjoys fine rotgut and slow women.  Every scene he's in makes me laugh, and I hope he makes you laugh, too.

Tag, You're It!

Peggy L Henderson
Paty Jager
Caroline Clemmons
Celia Yeary
Sarah McNeal

Rules

***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) ***

Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them. It’s that simple.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing

1. What is the working title of your book?
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
3. What genre does your book fall under?
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?