Fellow writer and University of Nebraska MFA alum David Atkinson kindly invited me to participate in the Next Big Thing interview, which has been getting around the internet and in which I answer the following questions. Here goes:
1) What is the working title of your next book?
Well, I’m not working on any next book right now, so I’ll just give you the title of my soon-to-be-released first book, due out March 1 from Red Hen Press. That title is Parnucklian for Chocolate.
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
A sentence just sort of popped into my head, “Josiah eats chocolate,” then another, “Nothing but chocolate,” and it just took off from there.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Literary fiction. It’s kind of a bildungsroman.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I think, if a movie were made, Justin Bieber should play all the parts, like Eddie Murphy in one of those movies where he played all the parts.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Parnucklian for Chocolate is a dark comedy about what it is to grow up an alien in your family and your own life.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The book will be published by Red Hen Press.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Right around three years.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Slaughterhouse Five, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird. Those are good books, right?
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I wrote much of the first draft while sitting through inanely tedious teacher-credentialing classes. So boredom, at first.
After that, I was inspired and encouraged by my lovely wife, Liz, and my MFA faculty mentors, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Jim Peterson, Kate Gale, and Amy Hassinger, all of whom made this book possible.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
Reading it may prevent premature balding.
And here are four other fabulous writers who may or may not be participating, and whom you should check out regardless:
Or anyone who wishes to join in can just answer the same questions on their blog and leave their link in a comment.
B.H. James 
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