Work in Progress blog hop - The Last Detail pique!

Greetings! And welcome to another blog hop! I'm following the fabulous Teena Stewart, who is one of my co-conspirators on Brave New Century, a historical novella collection from the Prism Book Group, coming...sometime!

Teena blogged on June 6.  But our book isn't the one I'm talking up today - this one is the latest I've been blessed to sign with Prism, all on my own.

 

What is the working title of your next book? It's called The Last Detail.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Several years ago I met a good friend half way between our homes for a weekend catch-up and getaway--this happened to be at Peru-LaSalle, Illinois, and one of the parks we visited was Starved Rock State Park. It had such a neat history, as well as the gruesome story of a murder in the 1950s. A local author wrote about this murder, and for me, the idea morphed into what would happen when people die who have no family to clean up after them? The fictional business The Last Detail was born. The story takes place in this area, in a fictional community, of course, called Fox Falls, and uses Starved Rock park often.

In what genre does your book fall?

 I hope it will be contemporary fiction.

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

 Ug - this is not something I think about. I'm terrible at this! I suppose a Ben Affleck-Amy Adams couple would work.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

 All Christian marriages should be perfect, right?

Who is publishing your book?

 The Prism Group. Thanks, Marcy!

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

 

About six weeks.

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

I think a little of Cynthia Ruchti's book, They Almost Always Come Home, which is also not a genre romance, but of rekindling what was lost. Contemporary is hard to categorize, because although there's love and romance in there, the story is more about keeping it alive after, and I think that's what makes for good conversation. Probably Jodi Picoult's books.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I wanted to talk about marriage--the way men and women perceive each other while they're getting to know each other; how we think we're doing God's will when He has other plans in mind; how even after we get what we want, it's hard, hard, hard work making marriage be the blessing it's meant to be. Sometimes we're so busy doing for God or following our own path, we forget to take time out for each other.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

 

The characters aren't based on my oldest son and his wife, but it was interesting that I was writing about a missionary who never planned to marry, which was something my son's wife had thought about in her life at one point, and a young woman who was very safe in her own little community, with no desire to change anything.

Find more news and more books on my website.
~Lisa Lickel

 

Follow along on our hop by visiting the fabulous Karla Akins next!