Next Big Thing: Resistance

Danie Ware very kindly tagged me for the Nov 14 round of the Next Big Thing meme, so here goes.

1) What is the working title of your next book?

Resistance. Though I find naming a file Resistance somehow makes it more difficult to type in it, so after consulting experts I’m naming the work-in-progress file Enthusiasm

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

It’s the follow-up book to Turbulence, my superhero novel that was published in India in 2010, in the UK this year, and is out in the US next year. I’m trying to make it as standalone as possible, though a lot of the characters from Turbulence will be in it, of course.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a superhero novel, so I don’t know. SF, I guess. Fantasy? Urban fantasy? Good books?

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I’ve spent a fair while trying to get a Bollywood adaptation done, with hilarious results. As of now, no one’s said no, but nothing’s moved forward. The script is with a large number of Bollywood superstars who claim to be reading it. So I guess the answer to this is ‘whoever’s reading-enabled friend reads it first and likes it.’

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

I’m pretending this question never happened. Broadly speaking, when I was starting out my plan was that if Turbulence was the Superman book, about the world being rearranged by the arrival of a new kind of human, then Resistance would be the Batman book, about ordinary people rising above themselves to face the challenges of a changed world. So I’ve told my characters this, but synopses and so on can only really be attempted after a book’s finished.

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

John Parker at Zeno agency. Titan Books in the UK and US. Haven’t signed up for the Indian edition yet, but Turbulence was published by Hachette India.

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

Still on it. I laugh bitterly.

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

I don’t really know. Moving across to comics, I think Turbulence owed a fair bit to the X-Men, Watchmen, Powers and The Authority.

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

Turbulence was written as an exploration of two questions: What would you do if you were given the power to change the world? How would you feel if you got what you really wanted?

Resistance is an exploration of how the world would react to a lot of people finding these answers.

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

Buying the book when it comes out will improve your sex life and cause you to lose weight if you want to.
Spreading the love now, I’m tagging Ben Aaronovitch, Sidin Vadukut and Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. I tried to also tag EJ Swift but she’s already done this, and David Tallerman is too busy to play! Suzanne McLeod beat me to the punch on this one, but go and read her entry, out today! I also want to tag Lavie Tidhar but he keeps winning big awards and I’m a bit scared to talk to him now.