My friend and colleague Tina Glasneck has tagged me for a blog hop – The Next Big Thing. She’s got ten questions for me about my work in progress. The rules are asking me to answer these ten questions and then tag five other people. I am one of those horrible people who doesn’t generally tag other people (it feels chain-lettery, I don’t really know that many people, and to be honest, I should be progressing with the work in progress). So the only person I’m tagging is Tina. More about Tina below.

First, the Q and A:

1. What’s the working title of your book? Project NSA
2. Where did the idea for your book come from? I remember learning that the reason women can’t sleep around like men is because the hormone oxytocin, released into the female brain at the moment of orgasm, causes us to feel bonded to our sex partners. So even if we don’t care much about him beforehand, he’s going to matter to us afterwards. And I just thought that was the biggest biological RIP-OFF! I just thought we should have something to keep that from happening, and that’s the quest driving my hero.
3. What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary interracial erotic romance.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Believe it or not, I can answer this question for any of my works in progress except this one. My characters for Project NSA don’t really look like anyone working in Hollywood.
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Armed with the ability to enjoy sex without commitment, a headstrong playgirl will choose between her brainy best friend and her brawny fuck buddy.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Neither. Once I’m done, I’m going to start submitting it directly to publishers myself.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The very first draft? I did it in a little less than 30 days, for NaNoWriMo. It’s changed A LOT since then. But that very first draft was done by that Thanksgiving. Subsequent drafts have taken … a little longer.
8. What other books within your genre would you compare your book to? Oh, wow. I really don’t know. I try not to read too closely to what I’m writing while I’m writing, so the books that would be the answer to this question … are precisely the books I’ve got to avoid until I finish.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? This book is my big chance to right the immense biological wrong that is the oxytocin bond. And if some neuroscientist reads this one day and wants to correct the oxytocin rip-off in real life, then some part of my mission as a writer is complete.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The story definitely plays with the idea that smart is sexy. I think the story will appeal to readers who like their guys brainy … and to those who enjoy a nicely built alpha male.

And now for the tagging.

Tina’s uniquely disturbing take on suspense in Thou Shall Not is definitely worth your attention. It’s not like any suspense I’ve read before. If you’ve been following her blog, you probably already kind of know what I’m talking about. If not … why aren’t you?