So, Azalea Moone tagged me in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. Here’s my contribution to the great conga line of writing.

What is the working title of your book?
Oddly enough, considering how much trouble I have with titles, this one has had the same title since the beginning. Bite Me Tender seemed right for it, because I wanted to tell the story of a werewolf bite that was driven by love, not by crazed bloodlust or non-consensual sadism.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I started writing this for an open call for Amber Allure for their Howling at the Moon collection. I don’t have any distinct memories of the actual idea coming to me, although I remember the first image in my head, of a werewolf reluctantly hunting his human lover on full moon night, because the lover wanted him to. A lot of random scribbling in my binder led to writing the first chapter, which was my way of figuring out who these two men were. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the human half of the pair was the more likely to act on his dominant impulses and that the wolf half liked it!

What is the genre of the book?
It’s an MM paranormal romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
A young Susan Sullivan (Castle’s mom) would have to play Gram, because I think she could carry it off. And she’s absolutely smokin’, isn’t she? This was her high school yearbook picture.

Colm Feore could play McCourt.

Alex Pettyfer would make a decent Glyn. Holy crap, they could be brothers!

 And Antony Starr, currently playing the ‘sheriff’ in Banshee, would make a pretty good Levi, I think.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Gak! Do you have any idea what a wordy broad I am? Ummm, ok, let’s see what I can come up with.

After a year of failing to change his boyfriend Glyn into a werewolf, and with the next full moon only days away, Levi the werewolf finds circumstances and his own doubts pushing them apart, while forces inside and outside the pack threaten to destroy everything he loves.

No the best one line synopsis, but I have very little talent for them. It is one heck of a run-on, though.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency/publisher?
Hopefully, Amber will accept it—I should hear sometime in February, once they’ve had a chance to go through all the submissions and decide which ones to keep. If they pass on it, I’ll probably try a few others before I consider self-pubbing. I’m not a terribly effective marketer, so that would be a choice of last resort.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
According to Liquid Story Binder, it took me 46 days. In reality, I lost two weeks in the middle of it to a job change, so 32 days is probably more accurate. But there was another 3 weeks of critiquing and beta-ing that came after that. And we just won’t talk about the wailing and gnashing of teeth…there comes a point in every story where you are convinced that you have no talent, that there’s no way you can fix all the places where you have broken this wonderful story and you should just give it up and go dig ditches. Or eat worms in the back yard. I would have been happy with either one, at several points in the process.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Possibly the With Caution series. I haven’t really stumbled across anything quite like this in my literary travels, nor have my betas, so it might be just a bit different, if you like that sort of thing.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Sheer snark. The whole ‘you smell right, we’re perfect for each other, we’ll never fight after you’ve conquered my inhibitions’ thing drives me wild, although I understand the appeal of the trope. I’m just a rebel, I guess. I wanted to write about two guys that looked like pre-destined mates, but show that it was actually a lot of effort on both their parts that got them there. They have regular date nights, they tolerate each other’s foibles, they make the effort not to drive the other one crazy.

If there is ever a prequel, we’ll get to see just how hard Levi was on Glyn in the beginning.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I suspect Glyn’s grandmother might entertain a few people. She’s a bit of an odd character that wasn’t supposed to play such a big role in the story, but very quickly developed her own personality and story arc. I doubt I’ll ever write the story of her and Glyn’s grandfather, though—I think that would make me cry too hard.

Next week, Heloise West and Genna Donaghy (I’ll get her information up as soon as I have the new address) will be posting about their stories. Check them out!