My Next Big Thing - sounds dramatic, eh? Well it kind of is. I guess I'm Miss Popular, because I have been tagged by two writers/bloggers who have asked me to take part in this piece of internet exposure,and I am more than willing. It's a brilliant way of advertising your books and, more importantly, yourself on this amazing internet invention.
The general concept is to answer a set of questions about your WIP (or work in progress) when you have been tagged to do so by another writer/blogger. Once you have answered the questions, you tag five more writer/bloggers who do the same. And so on, and so on. It's like one of those chain mail things, but without the threat of death if you don't complete it!
The general concept is to answer a set of questions about your WIP (or work in progress) when you have been tagged to do so by another writer/blogger. Once you have answered the questions, you tag five more writer/bloggers who do the same. And so on, and so on. It's like one of those chain mail things, but without the threat of death if you don't complete it!
First person to tag me is Louise Gibney (@MissWriteUK on Twitter), author of Girl Meets Boys, from Northamptonshire. Have a looksee at her Next Big Thing.
Second person to tag me is Jean Dorricott, author of Ruin of the Soul, from Norwich. Have a looksee at her Next Big Thing.
You can find out more about these two ladies via their websites. Check them out. You know you want to.
So I guess I should answer some questions about my next book, I mean My Next Big Thing.
*****
What is the working title of your next book?
Currently it's called Here We Find Ray. I wanted to use that as a tag line throughout the book, as though the narrator was setting the scene before the scene actually started. It was going to be a little narrative device, but I found it annoying after a while. So I may change the title of the book, or I may change my text to include the 'here we find Ray' line, as per my original idea. I don't know yet. Knowing me, I'll change my mind about the title a good handful of times before settling on something (and no doubt, I still won't like it). But for now this will do.
Where did the idea for the book come from?
I love writing from the perspective of male characters. As a creative writer, I like to push my skill as far as possible, and by writing as a male I get to see things through alien eyes. The general idea for the story kind of wrote itself. I knew I wanted it to end with ..., well I don't want to spoil it. But I had the ending written in my head first. I wanted this ending because it's something I've never written about before and I thought it would be quite fun.
What genre does your book fall under?
It's a sort of 'coming of age' thing crossed with a bit of a thriller, and I guess a bit of romance. I'm not sure what shelf they'd put it on in the book shop though!
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I've often thought about my books/stories as films, but I can never think of who I'd like to play my characters. All I know is that they're British (proper British, not Americans trying to do British - they can't), and I would want them to be unknown actors just so that they weren't associated with anything else.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of the book?
Ray loves Tina, but is his love for her purely innocent infatuation, or is it bordering on an unhealthy obsession?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Ideally, I would like all of my books to be traditionally published, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. I recently e-published a collection of Christmas short stories, 12 Days of Krista May Rose, on Smashwords and Amazon, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. So this might be an option that I'll consider again for future books.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your masterpiece?
I'm still writing it! Here We Find Ray is the result of the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Although I have written just over 50,000 words, I am nowhere near finished with the story, so it may take me a month and a half in total to finish the first draft. Then comes the months of editing!
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
To be honest, I've not read anything like this before. Not to say that it doesn't exist; it's just that I haven't come across it. Most books that I read are set in a very short period of time. However, Here We Find Ray spans from his early childhood to middle age. If anyone knows of any books similar to mine, please let me know. I'd love to read them.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
In the past year or so, I have read a number of books written in the male voice (Fatso by Lars Ramslie, Submarine by Joe Dunthorne, The Bird Room by Chris Killen), all with fairly dark undertones. I usually write lighthearted pieces, tinged with flecks of sadness. So this time I wanted to go for something deep and different.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
The main character of Ray is based, partially (not entirely), on me, so if you want to know a bit more about my childhood, you should read this book. I won't, however, tell you which bits are fact and which bits are fiction; I'll let you work that out for yourselves!*****
So that's My Next Big Thing (every time I type that, I have a big, booming voice saying those words in my head, with an echo effect). Thank you Louise and Jean for tagging me. I hope you'll all buy a copy of Here We Find Ray (or whatever it ends up being called) when it's eventually published.
And now it's over to you to answer these questions about Your Next Big Thing. I am going to pass the baton on to these lovely literary fellows ...
- Roselle Angwin (@QualiaBird on Twitter), author of All Missing The Names Of Love, from Devon. Have a looksee at Her Next Big Thing.
- Ruth Dugdall (@RuthDugdall on Twitter), author of The Woman Before Me, from Felixstowe. Have a looksee at Her Next Big Thing.
- Alan Reynolds (@AlanReynolds2 on Twitter), author of Flying With Kites, from Yorkshire.
- Nicky Peacock (@NickyP_author on Twitter), short story contributor to So Long And Thanks For All The Brains, from Northamptonshire. Have a looksee at Her Next Big Thing.
- Angela Marrero (@velvetjademuse on Twitter), from Illinois.
- Victoria J Smith (@Toryjsmith on Twitter), author of Alison Benson and the Realm of Wonders Union, from England.
(In my eagerness, I managed to tag six people - oops.)
No comments:
Post a Comment