SheWrites - The Next Big Thing blog tag

The lovely Jess Sturman-Coombs , author of the Poker face series has invited me to take part in the
promotional blog tag, which originated on the SheWrites site. Despite terrible
tech gremlins invading (again) I managed to meet the deadline. Here goes:



 
What is the working title of your book?




 Strange Worlds – Surreal Stories and Tainted Tales


 




 Where did the idea come from for the book?





 I have been writing short stories for a few years now . Whenever I get stuck on my novel length WIP (working title The Soul Bus) I outline a short story, it feels good to be able to finish something when you get to the point when you feel like you’ll never finish that novel! When I realised how many stories I had knocking about, begging to be polished up and read, I decided to start grouping them together and preparing them for publication.





 The first short story
collection was Strange Love – Short Stories and Twisted Tales shared the very
broad theme of love, this Strange Tales book will focus on the inner workings
of a person’s mind,  a view of the world
seen through another’s emotional weather. It also looks at what our world would
look like if it were ever so slightly different, if fairy tales were true, or
if zombies walked the earth and not just in our imaginations.



 What genre does your book fall under?










Do short stories count as a genre? Everything I write has a dark side, usually reflecting the darkness inside the human soul, and as ever, there will be traditional fairy tales that have been turned on their heads, twisted round and seen from a whole new viewpoint.






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


 





A difficult question to answer when talking about a short story collection, but I think I would have to go with completely unknown actors. When I am watching a movie and I recognise one of the actors but can’t remember what film they were in before, I find it very distracting. I would want the audience to be completely immersed, not suddenly yelling “Oh, he was in X-Men!” halfway through.
















What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?



A collection of short stories and tangled fairy tales, showing the world through fresh eyes.















Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?



This collection will be self-published. As far as I am aware it is very difficult for unknown short story writers to gain representation, so I haven’t started submitting work to agents or publishers yet (although that is the plan when The Soul Bus is ready).










Who or What inspired you to write this book?




The beautifully encouraging comments and reviews of my first short story collection made me think it was worth producing some more. Now I have visions of the Strange Tales Collections growing year by year. I hope I can pull it off!



What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?






 Each of these stories should open up your mind to a new perspective, make you ask questions. What is it like to be an unborn child, with no concept of the self? What happens after the zombie apocalypse, when all humans have been killed or turned? Why do rich, privaledged people with little talent gain positions of influence while talented poor children end up stacking shelves in the supermarket? What if sleeping beauty was to wake in the 21st century?

 


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?


 
Some of these stories have taken years of writing and rewriting, editing and screwing up and throwing away, re writing again. Others seemed to stroll into my mind fully formed and demand to be written. One story in particular must have come to me in a dream because as soon as I woke up that morning I sat down with my notebook and parker pen and didn’t stop scribbling until it was done. Of course it wasn’t perfect at that point, but it was almost as close as I could make it and I was very pleased. I was quite worried that I may have just regurgitated something I had read years before and forgotten; it came so easily. Having shown it to a few trusty betas now, I am fairly sure it is original after all, and I am tickled pink by it.


 
 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?















That is a difficult one, but I do much admire Neil Gaiman’s short story telling prowess, and his Smoke and Mirrors collection explores similar themes to my work.



     Tag! You're it!  The five Lovely ladies I have tagged in for next week are:  






Karen Heard


Misa Buckley

 




 

Karen Leigh


 Dr Emma Briant










 and last but by no means least
Heather Smith (who hasn't got a blog, so shall be returning here to guest - link to follow )

 


 
Looking forward to reading your entries ladies, have fun :~)