Last week Carole Matthews tagged me on her blog, as part of a chain of book and author recommendations called THE NEXT BIG THING. Today it's my turn to reciprocate and to pass on the torch. I'm going to answer a bunch of questions below about my new novel, BRENDA AND EFFIE FOREVER! which is available right now in hardback and paperback from Snowbooks. Then I'm going to tag five more writers who will tell you about their new books next Wednesday.
• What is the working title
of your next book?
It’s out and published! And
it went through many working titles before it eventually became, ‘Brenda and
Effie Forever!’
• Where did the idea come
from for the book?
This is the sixth in a
series of novels, and this one in particular was all about drawing the threads
of the series together at last – answering some questions about the main characters’
pasts and giving some closure to a few major plot threads. I knew I definitely
wanted to involve the Bronte sisters in a Wartime flashback, the Hunchback of
Notre Dame during a Parisian interlude and a frightening adventure with many
tiny, ghostly mermaids.
• What genre does your book
fall under?
The Brenda and Effie novels
are what I call Comic Gothic Mysteries.
• What actors would you
choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
This changes all the time,
and readers have brilliant suggestions for who should play Brenda and Effie. At
the moment I’m picturing Victoria Wood and Julie Walters. Another day I might
say Elsa Lanchester and Bette Davis. Or Patricia Routledge and Annette Crosbie.
• What is the one sentence
synopsis of your book?
Hoping for a quiet
retirement running a B&B in Whitby, the Bride of Frankenstein and her
shrewish best friend Effie wind up embarking upon a series of spooky
investigations.
• Will your book be self-published
or represented by an agency?
The first five are
published by Headline and ‘Brenda and Effie Forever!’ has been published by the
lovely Snowbooks.
• How long did it take you
to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Six months.
• What other books would
you compare this story to within your genre?
The Brenda and Effie
Mysteries have been compared with other comic novels that blend genres – by
people like Jasper Fforde, Mark Gatiss, Terry Pratchett, and Malcolm Pryce. But
to me, they genre they belong to is comic cosy mystery and paranormal romance.
• Who or what inspired you
to write this book?
For me it’s always about
the characters. I want to find out where they’re going and what they’re going
to get up to next. This has taken me into some very peculiar places.
• What else about your book
might pique the reader’s interest?
It’s a book about origins
and destinies. Even though it’s the sixth about these characters, I’ve made it
a stepping-on point for the series. We get to find out more than we knew before
about both our heroines’ beginnings, and we get to learn what happens to them
right at the end. It’s a book filled with spooky secrets.
Stewart Sheargold - has just published his first collection of stories. He writes luscious magical realism. http://theoxygenfactory.com.au/the-blue-landscape/
Mark Morris - has written many horror and dark fantasy novels and stories, as well as tie-ins to Doctor Who, Torchwood and Hammer films. www.markmorriswriter1.blogspot.com
Thank you for that, Paul, and for tagging me.
ReplyDeleteTotally Annette Crosbie!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - Annette Crosbie! :