Writing Wednesdays: About My Book

I'm feeling a little uninspired today, so I thought I'd steal a pseudo blog-hop idea from Leigh Covington called "About My Book." It's ten questions about - you guessed it - my novel! I've felt a little removed from Forever Friday just because I haven't worked on it in a while, so it's fun to remember what it's all about. So...here goes!

1) What is the name of your book?

Forever Friday

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

I had just decided I wanted to try my hand at YA, and the term "Girl Friday" popped into my head for no apparent reason. I LOVE a good play on words, and I somehow ended up at "Ghoul Friday," and then thinking about an undead girl named Friday.

3) In what genre would you classify your book?

This is kind of tricky, but it's either YA Paranormal or YA Urban Fantasy. Or Rural Fantasy, since it's set in Montana...

4) If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?

Friday: Saoirse Ronan

Craig: Zac Efron (circa "17 Again")

Scott: Paul Wesley

Kyle: Chace Crawford

5)  Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book.

When 17-year-old Friday Anderson discovers she's not only an immortal, but also the only one capable of killing another, she must leave everyone she loves behind or risk becoming a deadly weapon in the world's oldest blood feud.

6) Is your book already published/represented?

No. That's all I have to say about that.

7) How long did it take you to write your book?

Six weeks for the first draft (after a few weeks of outlining); six more months of editing to get it to its current condition.

8) What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?

I honestly can't think of a good comparison, which is annoying because I'd love to put that in a query letter. If anyone who's read it has any suggestions, please let me know!

9) Which authors inspired you to write this book? 

Up until the point where I wrote this novel, I had read hardly any YA, aside from the major players like Twilight and The Hunger Games.  The immortals in my novel were in part inspired by the characters in The Likeness, by Tana French, but Friday herself is sort of a teenage version of the current me. Since I wrote Friday, I've been very inspired by Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, particularly how she set her story in a foreign country, something I hope to do with my next novel.

10) Tell us anything that might pique our interest in this book?

When I decided to write paranormal, I knew I couldn't just write about vampires or werewolves or ghosts or fairies. And I didn't really want to. But I'm also not a zombie lover, so I decided to create my own mythology. It took a lot of work and plotting with my sister, Sarah, and friend, Erin, but I think it paid off. The Athanatos - the immortals in my novel - are totally unique. Eclipses also play an important role in my book, and instead of just making up dates and locations of total solar eclipses, every single one in the novel is based on an actual total solar eclipse. The next one is this November, and it will be a big part of Book Two if I ever get to write it!