My Next Big Thing.

My friend and fellow word slinger James Swallow has been taking part in this “talk about your Next Big Thing” meme (read his entry here), and he tagged me to keep the ball rolling.

The idea, as the title suggests, is to talk about your Next Big Thing. I’ve already babbled briefly about my current Big Project, but I’ll see how much more I can divulge without giving away too much. After all, I need a few secrets to keep between now and when the book’s published, right? So, with that in mind, here’s what my NBT entry looks like:

What is the title of your new project?
From History’s Shadow, a Star Trek novel set in the time frame of the original series.

Where did the idea come from for the project?
From me. I pitched the idea to my editor at Pocket Books, and after a few helpful tweak suggestions to my proposal, the project was approved, contracts signed, part of an advance paid, and we were off.

What genre does your project fall under?
Science fiction. More specifically, the “Star Trek” flavor of science fiction.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, etc. all circa 1968. Along with Teri Garr from the same period, James G. MacDonald circa 1995, and Danny DeVito circa 1997.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your project?
“Set in the Original Series universe, this standalone story utilizes 1950s UFO paranoia, the Cold War, and the escalating “space race” of the 1960s as a backdrop for a Star Trek tale in a vein similar to that of The New York Times bestselling Eugenics Wars duology.”

(Thank you, Pocket Books sales and marketing office.)

Will your project be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Publication date currently is set for on or about July 30th, 2013.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Five months: August 1st-December 31st, 2012.

What other projects would you compare this story to within your genre?
The aforementioned Eugenics Wars duology. There’s perhaps a bit of inspiration from the mini-series Taken and the television series Dark Skies.

Who or what inspired you to write this project?
Several years ago, I wrote a short story called “The Aliens Are Coming!” which touches on similar themes. I’ve always wanted to take a longer look at some of the ideas I put forth in that story. Consider this novel to be something of a prequel as well as an updating/reinterpretation of the events from that original short tale.

What else about your project might pique the reader’s interest?
An alien will eat bacon, and he will like it.

According to the meme “rules,” I have to tag five more writers so that they might blog about their Next Big Thing. There are too many people from whom to choose, so I’m just going to leave this hanging and let anyone who’s feeling froggy step up to the plate. Anybody who wants to play is invited to play. Traditional, small-press, self-published, writing for fun/love of it, whatever: Do your thing, then post a link to it here in the comments.