About Me

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Mike Mehalek writes fast-paced lyrical books that can be enjoyed with one reading but have enough substance for re-reading. He brings stories to life that demand to be told, regardless of the hopes/dreams/fears/desires of his characters--the Story first--always the Story.

In 2008 Mike earned his masters degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University

Visit Mike on twitter @mikemehalek

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Blog Hop


Blog Hops

The Next Big Thing – Week 16 

First off a special thanks to Heidi Ruby Miller who’s not Just A Girl (@Heidirubymiller on Twitter) but one hell of a writer and personal friend for tagging me.  Check out her post then, hop over and visit these other talented writers.  They are an awesome mix of genre and literary writers  


What is the working title of your book?
ONLY HUMAN

Where did the idea come from for the book?
It started as a writing prompt: what would it be like for a dragon to have to live its life as a human? From there all sorts of social implications starting creeping in.  I really liked the concept of how something with complete power would cope (or not) when said power was removed.

What genre does your book fall under?
I would call it Urban Fantasy although it is light on the fantasy.  The fantasy mainly comes from world building of dragon society.  If I took out the dragons there wouldn’t be any other fantasy tropes in it—I guess that would make it...hmm an action/adventure coming of age story?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
It’s taken me so long to get to a point where I am proud of this story I had to change that a few times!

  








David Boreanaz as Vincent/Shylock


  Zac Efron as Kevin











Meryl Streep as (voice of) Spectre










Laurence Fishburn as (voice of) Bison



What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Love is human and never dies.

When a dragon is wrongly convicted for the murder of his mother and sister after losing control over his emotions, he must, for his punishment, spend the rest of his days as the most vile and irrationally emotional creature--a human


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

That is yet to be determined


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Well I thought it was 6 months.  It turned out that what I thought was my final draft was my first draft—that took two years.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  
While not necessarily in my genre, the books I’ve read that remind me of this include: Glen Duncan’s THE LAST WEREWOLF, Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas, or Bart Yates’ The Brothers Bishop

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I really fell in love with my main characters.  I loved the relationships they had with one another.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I wanted this to be a fast, fun thrill ride with a little sentimentality and gentleness to it but I wanted hints of literary tools to enhance it. They’re in there for people who are willing to look.  Tea was originally made from dragon scales. Dragon skeletons are made of cartilage.  If ONLY HUMAN were a song it’d be a rock ballad.  If it were a symbol, it’d be the double helix.





3 comments:

  1. David Boreanaz...swoon. :D

    Cool mythos in your book, Mike, and interesting concept. So glad I had a chance to see this one along its journey!

    :) Heidi

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  2. Thank you, Heidi. Your insights and tough questions made me re-think several key points and I feel the story's all the stronger as a result.

    Oh and yes--swoon! It was a close call "casting" him over Channing Tatum--lol

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  3. I'm a sucker for any sort of dragon tale - and this one sounds intriguing. As far as casting, the choice of David Boreanaz makes me all the more interested in the finished book! BTW, I was tagged for TNBT blog hop by Jennifer Allis Provost who also tagged Heidi Ruby Miller. I found you by blog hopping :-)

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