The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Release date: May 10th 2012
Ages: 12+Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?.
Guest Post: Andrew Fukuda on writing The Hunt.
My publishing journey with The Hunt began with a dare.
The dare was simple. It was from me, to me. I told myself that if I wrote 200 words a day – not a lot by any stretch of the imagination – after one year, I’d have a 73,000 word novel. I saw with sudden clarity what this boiled down to: exactly one year from the day, I could either have a completed novel … or not have one. It all came down to whether I was willing to commit to writing a measly 200 words a day.
I took on the challenge. There were good days, and a few not so good days. But what I found – and this surprised me –was that when the mind is fully committed to writing daily, it frees itself from equivocation (will I finish or not, should I quit now or not, etc.), and is able to instead focus its energies on the creative process more fully. Also, the slow, even plodding pace gave me ample time to mull over the narrative arch and storyline in the early going, and helped me avoid the trap of plunging too quickly into a less-than perfect plot. Over the ensuing months, the world of The Hunt grew and blossomed, and I became really caught up in it. In fact, as the novel came into its own, I began to wake up earlier and earlier to give myself more time to write. The 200-word quota was jettisoned because it was no longer a prop I needed. I was doing over a thousand words a day by this stage.
In the end, the completed novel came out at around 90,000 words. I spent a few weeks on revisions, then out went the query letter. Two weeks later, I had seven offers of representation. Two months later, St. Martin’s Press bought the book at auction. And it all came about in large part because I decided to take on the challenge of 200 words a day.
I feel blessed because I know getting published requires so much more than simply writing 200 words a day. Luck, gumption, talent, a great editor, a savvy agent – all, and much more, are needed, and many of these are beyond your control. But there are also things you do control, and 200 words a day is one of them. Now, when people ask me what it takes to get published, I say: start with 200 words a day. And anyone can do that.
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Thanks to Andrew for this inspirational guest post!
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In case of cover confusion. This is what The Hunt will look like in the US, where it releases tomorrow (May 8th) from St. Martin's Press.
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