I’m not able to talk about it specifically for a while, and will be divulging more through my upcoming newsletters. But I can say it’s another Young Adult series, and will be a high fantasy ensemble story, centering on a teenage girl forced to become a hero when she doesn’t believe heroes exist. I’m having a great time writing it, and I’m very nervous/excited to publish it in the future. More info to come!
Uh…what’s a new sandbox?
It’s what I call any new project that I turn my attention to. Especially in early days, it feels like playing in a new sandbox where I can build or break anything I want. For now, this is how I’m referring to the new project that will be my next published work.
Will you write anything more in the RED QUEEN world?
No plans right now! I’m ready to play in new sandboxes.
What was the path to publishing RED QUEEN?
Here’s the basic timeline –
Spring 2012 – I was approaching college graduation and after writing several feature and television screenplays for school, I knew I wanted to write a novel, the first type of storytelling I ever loved. And was still really intimidated by.
May 2012 – I graduated, and I landed a general meeting at a management company. After pitching several feature and TV ideas, I told them I also had an idea for a young adult novel. I decided to pursue this.
July 2012-January 2013 – I moved home to Massachusetts and wrote the first draft of Red Queen, which I passed on to the manager I had been working with back in Los Angeles. He was no longer working as a manager but passed the manuscript on to New Leaf Literary, who he had worked with in the past. Agent Suzie Townsend reached out after reading the manuscript, and we discussed doing a first round of edits.
February 2013 – After going through a round of edits with Suzie, she signed me as her client.
April 2013 – Two weeks of submission, manuscript sold to HarperTeen at HarperCollins in a 3 book deal, film option sold to Universal Pictures
EDITS EDITS EDITS (I believe I went through 3 serious drafts of Red Queen, and ended up cutting about 40-50k words from the first draft to the final)
February 2015 – publication!
Can I be in the RED QUEEN adaptation?
Not my jurisdiction!
Will there be a RED QUEEN movie or television show?
Fingers crossed! This is a very slow process but I’m lucky to have a team as dedicated to the story as I am. We’re working on it as we speak!