Thursday 17 January 2013

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Thank you so much to Lynn Schneider for tagging me - this is such fun.  I am currently reading Lynn’s novel Perigee Moon and really enjoying it, although at this stage I have no idea where it is going. 
As part of the Blog Hop I was asked to answer the following 10 questions about my current work in progress
  

  1. What is the working title of your book?
    A Fairy Tale (for Grownups)
    Definitely not ‘for adults’ because that has very different connotations these days although when I was growing up grownups and adults were synonyms.
  2. Where did the idea for the book come from? I have no idea – it just popped into my head (see question 9), though I do know people who found themselves in just this type of situation so it’s possible I had been pondering it subconsciously for some time.
  3. What is the genre of the book? Women’s Fiction, sub genre Baby Boomer Fiction (something I only discovered I was writing recently. I knew my books tended to have a main character in her fifties – I had heard the awful term ‘hen lit’ and the even worse ‘matron lit’ and was having none of those! Although I dislike labels I’d far rather be writing Baby Boomer Fiction than either if the alternatives.)
  4. Which actors would you choose to play the characters in a movie rendition? That was difficult because my characters go from teenagers to their fifties in the course of the story, however if Brad Pitt could do it backwards in Benjamin Button I have to assume that this way round can also be done (I didn’t fancy having young and old versions of each character as one sometimes sees). There are three main characters, a woman and two men. Two of the characters also had to be English and the main male character Scottish. So my choices are Elizabeth: Kate Winslet Image of Kate WinsletCharles would be played by Colin Firth Image of Colin Firth and Alastair (the Scottish one) by John Hannah John Hannah Picture(Sorry for large picture - can't seem to minimise it)
    And for Alastair’s father who else but Sean Connery? What about Maggie Smith as his mother? Oh, and Judi Dench for Charles’s mother. This is now becoming fun – I could go on and on with my all star cast!
  5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? It’s a story of teenage lovers reuniting after more than half a lifetime.
  6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency/publisher? Self published but if any agents or publishers out there are interested I’m open to offers!
  7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? I haven’t finished it yet. With my first three books I finished the first draft within about a month each but my fourth and fifth intentionally took much longer. It depends on whether I allow my writing to take over my whole life. I find it easy to be obsessive when writing but it’s not really fair on the family (and we have a new puppy who is quite demanding) so I plan to finish the first draft within three months, which I find quite possible with a daily routine and target. I’m afraid I’m one of those people who can only finish things when there’s a bit of pressure so If I set myself a deadline of say 12 months I’ll make excuses and only really get down to it during the last couple of months anyway
  8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?   I can’t really say that I have read books with similar stories although there was a television series some years back with a similar theme and there is a famous true story about an extremely well known and highly placed couple in Britain – can’t say more – my lips are sealed! I’m nothing if not a royalist.
  9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?   I was looking at a friend’s Facebook entry and saw a comment by a name I recognized from my youth – this triggered an idea for how a couple might meet again after many years.
  10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I believe the rise in websites devoted to linking people up with former school friends triggered a spate of such situations - couples dropping their current spouses to get back together with their high school sweethearts. This is one such fairy tale.
Now it is my turn.  I would like to tag Claude Nougat, author of Baby Boomer novel,  A Hook in the Sky.  Check out her blog at  http://claudenougat.blogspot.com/

Till next time :)

 

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Monday 14 January 2013

Happy New Year 2013

I'm back!  Actually we got back from a wonderful holiday (Singapore and Borneo) just over a week ago but we have workmen at the house and a new puppy and the combination is not conducive to getting on with anything normal.  I haven't written anything or done any exercise at all, apart from dog walking, for a whole month.

It's now Monday morning and I'm raring to go.  I intend starting my exercise program again (slowly this time as I have a bad track record of starting such things too fast and ending up so stiff and sore I can't move for the next few days.  It's very important that I get myself fit and in shape as I have a BIG school reunion - no I'm not telling which one - coming up in March) and getting back into my writing routine.  While I haven't written a word I have been pondering at odd times, so once I get going it should all run smoothly.  (That tapping sound was just me knocking on wood). 

It's a wonderful time of year here in Cape Town - this year we have not one but two open air Shakespeare productions - last Friday we went to see Cardenio, billed as Shakespeare's 'lost play' and supposedly a reworking of a collaboration between Shakespeare and Fletcher - well whoever it was we thoroughly enjoyed it, then next week Midsummer Night's Dream which is so well suited to the beautiful Maynardville setting.  It's also the season for the open air concerts at Kirstenbosch - just magnificent with the mountain backdrop.  Being summer before all of these it's picnic time, my favourite way of eating so I'm a very happy bunny, just not very productive at the moment.

2013!  Can you believe that we're already into the second half of the first quarter of the twenty first century?  It seems just the other day we were all worrying about the Millenium Bug destroying all our computers,  then this time last month so many thought we had only a week to go, but it seems the Mayans weren't infallible either and we soldier on.  Onwards and upwards, stopping to smell the roses on the way.

Till next time :)