The Next Big Thing

My thanks to Delinda Mccann http://delindalmccann.weebly.com/blog.html for inviting me to be a part of this week’s The Next Big Thing blog posting group.

The Next Big Thing is a meme that is creating an ever-growing wave through the blogs of authors who write in a variety of genres, with each participant answering the same questions about either a work in progress or a work currently being marketed. Each author then chooses five other authors to keep the chain going. The following is my contribution:

What is the title of your book?

. . . And the Whippoorwill Sang

How did you come by the idea?

The idea for the title was originally, "And Then There were Five' but there was a book on Amazon with that title. I was writing the part in the book with the help of one of my daughters, about how much Noelle loved the illusive whippoorwill that sang happy songs in springtime and guttural dirges of sorrow in autumn when it had to fly south. My three younger girls tried in vain to find the nocturnal bird but only even caught sight of it's tail feathers. Noelle loved all birds and drew pictures of them. We researched the bird and found that legend has it that the whippoorwill helps carry the souls of the departed to Heaven--and then we knew we had our title.

What genre does your book fall under?

Non-fiction/family/memoir

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?

My grand kids think Glen Close or Susan Sarandon should play me and a young Christopher Plummer would be perfect for my husband as he was a "Sound of Music" dad. My six kids would have to have different actors for different years of their lives. The time period I wrote about would have had Michelle Phillips as my oldest daughter, Kimber, Valerie Bertonelli as Kelly, Jaqueline Smith as Noelle, Scott Baio as Dante, Cindy Nicholas as Nicole and a very young Tom selleck as Michael.

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

Happy times, a sunny, a driving drunk, eight lives forever changed.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?

Traditional- Lspdigital with publisher Linda Daly

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

This first half was finished about seven years (1988) after the tragedy, but then I ran into a memory block caused by the trauma, and two heart attacks , plus two open heart surgeries, the need to help my oldest daughter raise her young sons, and did not write the second half until 2006, helped by the memories of my other children.

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

It's definitely a book like, "Cheaper by the Dozen" with a sad, bittersweet, yet uplifting ending.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

This book is a death bed promise to my dying daughter that I would let the world know who she was and somehow make her death stop other DWI deaths. I will promote this book until the day I drop.

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

Readers love the comedic escapades, and "Erma Bombeck" style humor by me. They love the way I weave the historical happenings into the story. Most readers feel they have literally jumped into the story with my family and me and feel like a part of us--something that touches my heart.

The authors I’ve chosen to continue the chain are:

Patricia Guthrie: http://patriciaguthrie.blogspot.com/1.

2. Marta Merajver http://www.martamerajver.com.ar/marta/

www.pgs-patgarciaschaack.com3.

j.vasquez@sbcglobal.net

rosemaryadkins@extraordinaryireland.com

silver_love_@hotmail.com

raaniyorkca@aol.com