The Next Big Thing: Leviathan Rises

I've been tagged for The Next Big Thing bloghop by the very talented YA horror writer Robin Moran, whose blog you should go visit to learn about her creepy YA ghost story Lapse.

The idea of this bloghop is to highlight the writing you're currently working on, so I'm covering my Camp NaNo story about seamonsters. How excited am I to get the chance to blether on bout my work-in-progress stories? VERY. VERY EXCITED.

What is the working title of your book?

LEVIATHAN RISES.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The lovely UK publisher Fox Spirit had an open-call for short stories that was well-recommended by friend and fellow writer Rob Haines. They've currently got a submission call on for their Fox Pockets series, a series of pocket-sized books containing around a dozen short stories.

Leviathan Rises started out as a short story for their 'Under the Waves' prompt, and after it was done I still had more left to write about that world, so I kept on going...

What genre does your book fall under?

YA (Young Adult) Urban Fantasy.

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

I almost never cast actors for my characters, preferring to draw designs for them when I can, but for Leviathan Rises I wanted to have a strong image of my characters. The main female character came to mind relatively easy -- an older version of Amandla Stenberg, who plays Rue in The Hunger Games.

Left: amandlastenberg.com. Centre and Right: Hunger Games Promo Images.

The main male character, the Leviathan in question, took a bit longer to find. I had to trawl through smartly-dressed male model images for hours. It was terrible. My life is so hard.

Eventually I found Torian, a model for Photogenics Media.  Here are some images from his portfolio for your enjoyment:

What's that look for? Leviathan's get shirtless a lot. You'd be surprised.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A runaway teenage girl and a seamonster on a mission from God team up to stop the world drowning in a biblical flood.

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

I'm hoping my agent will enjoy it when it's done. (Fingers crossed!)

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

I'm still working on it. Hoping to finish it next month during Camp NaNo. Wish me luck!

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

Hannah Moskowitz's "Teeth" for a similarly dark 'n gritty take on seamonsters.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

After watching Supernatural, I was unsatisfied with their take on Leviathans. Computer-generated teeth? Really? That's all you've got?

These big, biblical beasts have quite a backstory, and  their lore stretches back much further than just the 'seamonster with big teeth' from the show.

When I saw the 'Under the Waves' short story prompt, I saw a chance to create my own versions of humanoid Leviathans. And so the fun began...

And now to play TAG!

I'm really tempted to just invite all The Inkbots to give this a shot, because it's fun. But to name some specific names:

I'll tag the prolific fantasy writer K.C. Shaw, whose steampunk story recently kept me up half the night.
UPDATE: KC's next big thing is up over here.