The Next Big Thing...

I’m chuffed to have been tagged in a meme entitled 'The Next Big Thing' by the poet Elizabeth Darcy Jones. Elizabeth is an innovative poet and is Britain's Tea Poet. She is currently working on an exciting project for Mothers Day. This blog tag demands that I tell you about my next book so here I go!

What is the working title of your next book?
The Perrys at The Berries is a fictionalised account of a family of four, Sophie and James, mum and dad, and their children Izzy, 5, and Seb, 4, who decide to change their lives by moving from London to rural Shropshire. To be fair, I'm not sure of the title yet, it was born out of the blog The Archers at The Larches which is, as you know, factual not fictional.

What genre does your book fall under?
It is a romantic comedy though some of it is rather black.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Wow, really hard question. Rosamund Pike would be perfect for Sophie. Her characterisation of Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice was so endearing.

In my mind James looks like the actor Scott Speedman. James, thirty-something, needs to be vulnerable yet manly.... Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Moving house from London to Shropshire may have been just 150 miles by car, but to the Perry family, it was a whole new rural world.


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I will be represented by an agency for this book though my children's ebook Nancy, Peggy and Susan - First Freedom was self published under the pseudonym Pandora Butterfield and is sold through Amazon, Barnes and Nobel's Nook and Lulu in various formats.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft only took 1 month. I enrolled on the NaNoWriMo challenge (National Novel Writing Month) in November 2010 and sat in my kitchen, close to the log burner, writing the 50,000 words required to complete the challenge. I loved it and would repeat it tomorrow if allowed! My family did not love it: There was scant housework done, pre-cooked dinners were the norm and it would be fair to say I was a little distracted.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I was approached by an New York agent to write this book, she had read my blog and thought a twist to a real life memoir could be a fictional account of the situation. I loved the idea and eagerly began to write.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Hopefully it will be a fun read with a good amount of self help information on how to start a smallholding; manage land, grow fruit, veg and flowers and keep sheep, chickens and the like. If the readership of my blog is anything to go by there are an awful lot of city-folk and Londoners in particular, who would love to do exactly what Sophie and James attempt to do.

Look out for The Perrys at The Berries and live vicariously through my book.

Now it's my turn to pass on a Next Best Thing recommendation: I met the most marvelous woman at a New Year party. I am in awe of her life, it's not often someone tells you that they are off to spend a stint in the Amazon as a photographer. Sue Flood has taken stunning wildlife photographs all over the world. She has worked in cold climes taking pictures of penguins, polar bears and more. She has worked for the BBC, The Discovery Channel and has supported David Attenborough in his wildlife programmes. She has swum with humpback whales and told me that once, a baby whale, (sill the size of a school bus,) managed to thwack her with his tail, knocking the camera from her grasp!

She is awesome and I envy her adventures. He wonderful book Cold Places is available through her website here. Check out her blog when she continues this meme.

  

Published.

The weather has been dreadful, but then I'm sure you know that. The sproglets have had both their sports days monsooned off and this Thursday heralds the start of the summer holidays. I'm wondering whether we'll see any sun this July or August, I suspect not!

After a period of not reading to the sprogs at night, something I've done forever, I have resumed the tradition. I think we stopped because often, we're not home till 6:30pm and then there's lambs and dinner and ... blah, blah, blah, poor excuse really. I'm reading The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland, an Arthurian legend that spans the interest of the 9yo as well as mine though the 7yo is unconvinced so he and I read Horrid Henry. (I'm less thrilled by this, although I amuse myself trying to emulate Miranda Richardson's voice, as she reads the audiobooks brilliantly.)

I love stories, good ones stick in your head. One of the earliest books I can remember was a Ladybird book called The Discontented Pony.

I'm rather hoping my own book will be as well loved. Take a look at my tale of three little girls; Nancy, Peggy and Susan as they get their first taste of freedom at boarding school

Available as an ebook from Lulu.com, this book is a traditional story for modern times of school friends, growing up and difficult relationships. Aimed at 7-11 year old readers. I do hope you'll consider buying a copy.

***

Recently I've taken to reading several books at the same time. I've no idea why, maybe I'm trying to read all the books before I shuffle off.... Or maybe I like the challenge of making my brain remember which character is in which book.... who knows.

I've just finished The Report by Jessica Francis Kane. This is a novel fictionalising a true story of a disaster in 1943, when 173 people died descending steps into a tube station on their way to shelter from an air raid that never materialises. Easy to read and fascinating though the fine line between the fact that the book is fictional yet based on fact opens a whole can of worms and leaves you asking 'Was that true or did the writer make that up?'

As a story, ignoring the need for factual accuracy, I was rather taken by some of the offered reasons for the disaster, one racism in the country at that time. I'd never really considered racism during World War II, my attention has always been taken by the media coverage concerning Europe, but as late as 1968 Enoch Powell was confident enough to make the Rivers of Blood speech. Sad to think that, 70 years on, and the debate still rages.

I also just finished No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Hea-veee. Depressingly macho, a book made for film, [and indeed that film was made.] A series of drug related murders and a old school sheriff, this book does not have a happy ending. I can forgive Mr McCarthy almost anything, thanks to his stunning writing talent but I preferred The Road, in fact The Road is probably one of my all time favourite books which surprises me.... it not being very jolly either.

I'd heard Mariella Frostrup talk about Jean Auel and her huge following of readers obsessed by the author's portrayal of Ayla, a Cro-Magnon female  At age five, she is orphaned by a cataclysmic earthquake, and is taken into the Clan of the Cave Bear, a clan of Neanderthal people.

I started this chunky book The Clan of the Cave Bear, the first book in a series of three or four, with a huge amount of snobbery and disdain. I'm not usually so judgemental but I knew this wasn't going to be my kind of fiction. The two reasons I had chosen the book was 1. I was intrigued by the cult following of the books and 2. I had acres of painting and decorating to do and this book is 20 hours and 7 minutes long as an audiobook. [High brow eh?]

I immediately hated it; the over egged description, the bloody liberty of it all.Suspend disbelief? I had to throttle it! And then, and hour or so into the book I was hooked. Nonsense, but great to paint to.

I also listened to Salmon Fishing in The Yemen by Paul Torday and could see why it was made into a film. It helped to have such esteemed characters as John Sessions, Andrew Sachs, Andrew Marr and Samantha Bond to narrate it. Thus the painting was painless.

Anyhoo, off to bed now... check out my children's book if you get the chance. Night, night.
xx