lynne
Author Interview at Novel Kicks
Lynne North is the author of two children’s books, Caution: Witch in Progress’ and ‘Zac’s Destiny.’ Lynne joins us today to chat about her latest book, her ideal dinner guests and her tips for new writers.
Can you tell us about your latest book, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress.’
Caution: Witch in Progress is a children’s humorous fantasy novel aimed at the eight years of age to young teen market. Gertie Grimthorpe comes from a long line of witches. Unfortunately, she hasn’t really got the hang of it. Being blonde-haired, blue-eyed and free of warts isn’t much of an advantage. Try as she might, Gertie’s spells fall flat. She manages to give her bat-headed umbrella the ability to talk, but then wishes she hadn’t when all he does is complain and insult people. Even finding an owl to be her Familiar doesn’t help. Then again, he is extremely shortsighted… Gertie is sent to The Academy to improve her spell casting skills and soon has a best friend in the form of Bertha Bobbit, a big girl, with a matching appetite. Add to that a Moat Monster with a flatulence problem, the weirdest array of witch’s Familiars possible, and a warlock determined to ruin Gertie’s chances of success, and the story unfolds. Not to mention the demon…
How much planning/research do you undertake?
I plan quite a lot. I’m a writer who always has pen and paper with me. Ideas can strike me at any time so I like to make a note of anything that springs to mind. My opinion is that it’s better to jot something down even if you might not use it, rather than lose the idea. Some of my best ideas come to me in the shower, but the pen and paper idea isn’t much use then… I do little research because I write fantasy, and fantasy is from personal imagination. Anything goes with fantasy! I did some research for ‘Caution’ where Gertie is learning about herbs and their uses in one of her classes, but my use of research is limited to small areas like this. I prefer to write from my mind.
What was your route to publication? Initially I was published by YouWriteOn, a Writer’s site sponsored by the British Arts Council. I continued to search for what I considered to be a ‘real’ publisher, and eventually came across Ghostly Publishing on Facebook and Twitter. I sent my work to Ghostly Publishing and was lucky enough to be taken on as one of their authors! That sounds quite a short and easy route. Believe me, it wasn’t. The process took years, lots of learning, lots of improving my writing skills, and lots of rejection. It all worked out in the end, which is what counts!
Is there a fictional character you’d like to meet? Is there one you’d like to swap with for a day? I would quite like to meet any of my characters. They gain a reality when writing about them, so to meet one in the flesh would be really something. I would also like to meet Terry Pratchett’s witches. They are so funny, maybe a bit silly, but strangely wise all at the same time. Terry has a way of making any character special. Maybe I would swap with Gertie from my book for a day. I would love to have a go at those spells, and be witchy enough to possibly achieve them!
What makes you laugh? Terry Pratchett. He always makes me laugh. He has a way of turning ordinary things and occurrences around to make them amusing, so I guess that’s what makes me laugh. I enjoy humour that seems to come naturally and easily, not forced. I even make myself laugh when writing my own humorous fantasy books!
Which three things would you need with you on a desert island? A ship would be nice for one, ready for when I tire of the solitude. A good shelter would be a must too. I guess I can’t take my computer…so let’s go for a book on DIY survival…
Ideal dinner guests? Diabetic vegetarians, perhaps? Yes, I know. They might be nightmare guests for some, but as that is what I am I would feel right at home while we struggle to decide what we can eat together!
Five tips for new writers? 1) Don’t give up. If your book means enough to you, keep at it.
2) Try not to take rejection too personally. It happens to the very best, often.
3) Bear in mind that having a good story to tell is not enough. A lot of the process in getting your book accepted by a publisher is to present it correctly. It needs to be well written and punctuated following the structure and rules that they all seem to expect these days. Research the net. There is so much on there to give advice about writing rules.
4) Proofread your work thoroughly, and if possible get someone else to do this too. The more the merrier. Potential publishers won’t even read through your manuscript if met with glaring errors. Presentation is everything. This is the ‘boring’ side to writing a book, but it has to be done if you are to have any chance of being noticed.
5) Research your audience, and your publishers. Which books do well out there? Who are you aiming it at? Which publishers publish your genre? Is it much longer, or shorter than the books they currently publish? All these points will help you on your way to becoming a published author. It takes time, sometimes a long time, but when you hold that first book in your hand, fresh off the press, it all becomes worth it.
Spot the book!
I promise you, it’s a good one…
Book Signing Event
Book signing event at Waterstones, 6 The Grand Arcade, Wigan on Saturday 22nd March from 12 to 3pm! Come along for a chat with me and maybe buy a signed copy of my children’s humorous fantasy book, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’. You can also meet ‘Granny Grimthorpe’ and have your photograph taken with her if you like! ‘Granny’ is one of the characters from my book, and she will be offering the kids free novelties from her cauldron. It will be a fun day out. Don’t miss it!
Author Interview on Me, My Books and I
December 12, 2013
Today I’m delighted to welcome Lynne North to Me, My Books and I:
I am a children’s author who lives in the north west of England and works as a data analyst for one of the local Health Authorities. I have been a prolific reader all my life, and for many years have spent most of my free time writing. As well as being educated up to degree level, I have completed courses and received diplomas from ‘The Writing School Ltd’ and ‘The Academy of Children’s Writers’.
My aim in life has always been to write, and I have had a sideline of freelance writing for more years than I like to admit to having lived. This has mainly involved published articles in such magazines as ‘Prediction’. I have also completed two children’s novels, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ and ‘Zac’s Destiny.’ ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ was published by Ghostly Publishing in 2013 and launched at Earl’s Court Book Fair. It is available in paperback and on kindle on Amazon worldwide.
I am currently working on a very different children’s humorous fantasy, ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, a fantasy novel for young adults titled ‘Dimensions’, and something completely different, a compilation of 13 macabre Twist in the Tale short stories, definitely NOT for children!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Lynne,
Where did the idea for Caution: Witch in Progress come from?
Hmm, that’s a hard one to start with because the idea for my children’s humorous fantasy ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ came from a lot of places. I love to write humour, and writing about the unexpected or unusual can often produce humour in almost any situation. I got a few ideas together about characters that could be humorous to write about, and from those characters ‘Caution’ developed. My lead character, Gertie Grimthorpe, was soon walking across the pages completely taking over the stage in her role as the witch who doesn’t even look the part, and certainly can’t act it. Witches are great characters to use in stories because of course with them come all the associated traits of magic, spells, riding broomsticks, strange creatures as their familiars…all too good to miss the opportunity of using. My books have a habit of turning the expected on its head, and you will see this right away even on the first few pages of ‘Caution’.
Who designed the cover and why did you go for that particular design?
The cover for ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ was designed by my very talented publisher, Neil Trigger. We discussed ideas and of course Neil had read the book from cover to cover several times during the process leading up to publication. I’m sure he knows the story almost as well as I do! We wanted a cover that doesn’t give too much away about the story, but that has more than a little touch of magic about it and implies humour just by looking at it. I think this is exactly what Neil achieved.
I agree! How do you decide on names for your characters?
I wanted unusual names that leant themselves perfectly to a world of witches, so I played around with many before jotting down the ones that appealed to me most. Gertie became the name of my main character because I could even make a play on words by using it.
‘ In truth, Gertie had been named Gertrude. She soon got it into her head however that she really didn’t like the rude bit, so she persuaded everyone to leave it out’
In this way, I had quite a few names ready before the characters even appeared in my book. Others came into the story as I went along and myself, or Gertie, decided what their names would be. My last sentence will only make perfect sense to you if you have read the book!
Which of your characters would you like to meet in person and why?
I would like to meet them all! I can’t imagine anything more enjoyable than walking around Vile Vale and saying hello to the wonderful characters that came to life when writing ‘Caution’. If I have to just pick a few, then of course Gertie would take priority because without her there would be no story. She became such a likeable character, and I love the way she developed through the story. Another of my favourites is Gertie’s gran, who has a heart of gold but keeps it well hidden. Gran quite takes over any scene that involves her, and certainly became one of the funniest characters in the book. I can’t leave this question without mentioning ‘Bat’ the talking umbrella. I would love to meet him as long as it could be in private, because in company he has the knack of embarrassing anyone he meets!
If you had to write it all over again, would you change anything?
I don’t think I would. If I changed anything then I feel that something important would be missing from the tale. If I had written more, then it would simply have been page filling and would not have added to the flow of the story. The book would also have been too long! I am very pleased to say I was delighted with the finished product, and to hold the published book in my hands was one of the proudest moments of my life.
Where is your favourite place to write?
I tend to write in my bedroom because it is comfortable, quiet, and houses my computer! I begin each chapter in free-hand sitting comfortably on my bed with pen and paper. At this stage I just throw the ideas down with little concern about handwriting, spelling or punctuation. This part is little more than idea flow. Once the chapter is complete, I then type it up on my computer making changes as I go along and taking care of all the necessary writing rules. This process might not appeal to everyone, but it works for me!
Do you follow a plan when you are writing or do you let the story guide you?
Yes and no. I usually know where I want my story to go, and often have the end in mind as I write the beginning. What happens in between however can start life as a free-for-all. My characters take over, go off at tangents, and several unexpected chapters emerge, as if by magic! I love to write this way, and sometimes surprise myself when I read back what I have just written. I don’t think a set plan would ever work for me. I like to let my imagination run riot from page to page.
Which of your books is your favourite and why?
I tend to think that whatever book I am writing at the time is my favourite. I think that you have to feel that way to give the latest book your very best and to think that you are learning and improving all the time as a writer. So, at present, my favourite book is ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, another children’s humorous fantasy that is currently being completed in its final draft. I’m hoping it will be out there before too long!
Are there any occupational hazards to being an author?
Being an author can be very disappointing and you have to have a thick skin. The writing part is wonderful, but then all authors go through the stages of rejection by publishers. This can make some wonder why they went to all the time of writing their wonderful book, but I never feel that way. If there is a book inside me then I believe it deserves to be written. If some publishers don’t want to take it on, then I try, try and try again. My advice to all writers is to have faith in yourself and in your work. There is someone out there waiting to see it. The hardest part is finding them…
FUN QUESTIONS
Paperback or eBook?
Paperback, every time.
Hot or cold?
Hot
Tea or coffee?
Tea
Telephone or face to face?
Face to face
Morning or night?
Night
Any last words for your readers?
I hope you enjoy reading ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ as much as I enjoyed writing it. If not, please let me know through my various contacts, and I will strive to do better next time! Any comments, good and bad, are a learning curve. We can’t please everyone all of the time, but I strive to give my readers value for money and a book they will want to read over and over again. I hope that is what I achieve!
Thank you so much for being here today Lynne, it was a pleasure to have you on my blog. I particularly enjoyed reading about how you decided on names for your characters!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now check out the book:
“Gertie Grimthorpe is born into a society of witches and grows up in Vile Vale, but there is something very wrong with her… she is beautiful and couldn’t be nasty if she tried. When she finds out that she is to attend a private academy for magical children, Gertie hopes to find her witchy way in the world. With a moat monster suffering from stomach ache, a short-sighted owl familiar and mishaps galore, Gertie’s adventures are hilarious and heartwarming. Join Gertie as she struggles with growing up (and longing to grow her first wart), learning magic and working out how to deal with a grumpy enchanted umbrella, named Bat.”
Caution: Witch in Progress is available now and can be purchased in Paperback or Kindle Edition.
Author Interview – Denna Holm
1. Do you write books as a career, or are you currently still juggling your author time with a full or part time job?
I’ve spent most of my life training and showing horses in Dressage. An injury forced me to retire about eight years ago and I needed something to help keep me busy. That’s when I took up writing on a full time basis and I’ve been going strong with it ever since. I consider myself lucky to be able to spend all my free time writing. I feel for those who are forced to juggle an outside job. Writing is a full time project in itself.
2. Have you always wanted to be an author, or did some time or event in your life set you on the path?
I would have to say I was born with a need to write. I remember writing my first science fiction short story while in the sixth grade. In the seventh grade I wrote my first novel, a story about a wild mustang. Though neither story was ever published I enjoyed the creative side of putting a story together. It wasn’t until my last injury with horses that I set out to learn how to do it right, taking an over the mail creative writing course with Stratford Career Institute. Once I finished with this, Stratford offered another course on learning to write a novel. Meredith Baxter, the editor who worked with me, was fantastic about keeping her criticism balanced with praise. I’m not sure I would’ve ever found the courage to take my writing to the next level and begin to query publishers without her excellent feedback.
3. Do you always write in the same genre, or do you sometimes like a change of theme? If you haven’t already, is there another genre you would like to write?
I’m most comfortable writing paranormal and science fiction romance. I’ve tried a couple of times to write in what I would consider more mainstream genres, but my heart just wasn’t in the stories. I couldn’t seem to get past the first couple of chapters. But I’ve always been a hopeless romantic so this is probably why I prefer to write in this genre. If the right story came to mind, I might try my hand at writing horror. I’ve always been a big fan of Stephen King.
4. As a writer, what is the best thing that has happened to you, and what is that most exciting thing that could happen to you?
The best thing that ever happened to me was getting positive feedback from my very first beta readers for Soul of a Warrior. A big piece of my heart and soul went into that first novel and I was terrified about what another person might think about it. It didn’t matter that my first readers were family and friends. I still worried they wouldn’t like it. The most exciting thing that could happen now would be to learn the general public enjoyed it as much as my family.
5. How do you view the promotion, book signings etc. Is it something you enjoy, or do you prefer the writing stage?
My novel was just released on October 30, 2013 so I haven’t had much time to get serious about promotion. I’m lucky to have many author friends with experience in this department and I’m sure I’ll be leaning heavily on them to help point me in the right direction. I’m a little nervous about the idea of book signings and public speaking, but I’m sure it will be like everything new that works to knock me out of my comfort zone. In time I’ll learn it’s not so scary. Though I think interacting with future fans will be a blast, I don’t know as it’ll ever beat my first love of creating the story.
6. Could you tell us something about your published books, and let us know what they are about?
My debut novel “Soul of a Warrior” is a science fiction romance. It follows Kimi Wicker as she and her two best friends are kidnapped and taken to a hostile new world. When they are abandoned in this strange land, Kimi and her friends must learn to rely on each other in order to survive. It is a story about learning to find and use the hidden strengths that live inside us all. We are all capable of doing so much more than we tend to give ourselves credit for. If someone is lacking in confidence and self-respect, it tends to make it difficult for others to feel the same respect. Before true love can be given to another person, it must first be found inside oneself. My prayer is for everyone to find both.
Thanks for your great answers, Denna. Best of luck with your book. I thoroughly enjoyed proofreading for you as the tale progressed!
“Soul of a Warrior” is available on all good online Book Distribution sites including Amazon.
Book Review
Follow the link to read a good and honest book review for my children’s humorous fantasy, ‘Caution, Witch in Progress’!
Lynne North Author Interview
Posted on October 23, 2013 by Dan Thompson. Author, Blogger and Avid Reader.
I’m extremely pleased to welcome popular children’s author, Lynne North today to talk about her book, Caution: Witch in Progress. Released at the beginning of the year, it chronicles Gertie’s tale of acceptance as she leaves Vile Vale to attend a private school and learn her new witchy powers. With Harry Potter infamous the world over, I was eager to find out what this book could add to the supernatural genre. Here is the blurb:
Gertie Grimthorpe is born into a society of witches and grows up in Vile Vale, but there is something very wrong with her… she is beautiful and couldn’t be nasty if she tried. When she finds out that she is to attend a private academy for magical children, Gertie hopes to find her witchy way in the world.
With a moat monster suffering from stomach ache, a short-sighted owl familiar and mishaps galore, Gertie’s adventures are hilarious and heartwarming.
Join Gertie as she struggles with growing up (and longing to grow her first wart), learning magic and working out how to deal with a grumpy enchanted umbrella, named Bat.
Lynne North is a children’s author who lives in the north west of England and works as a data analyst for one of the local Health Authorities. She has been a prolific reader all her life, and for many years, spent most of her free time writing. As well as being educated up to degree level, Lynne has completed courses and received diplomas from ‘The Writing School Ltd’ and ‘The Academy of Children’s Writers’.
Her aim in life has always been to write having completed two children’s novels, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ and ‘Zac’s Destiny.’ ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ was published by Ghostly Publishing in 2013 and launched at Earl’s Court Book Fair. It is available in paperback and on kindle on Amazon worldwide.
Your debut novel, Caution: Witch in Progress, sounds extremely original, with Gertie being a ‘beautiful’ witch, desperate to grow her first wart! Tell us a little about the book.
That’s kind of you to say, Dan, but I do agree, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ is very different, and never quite what you expect.
Gertie Grimthorpe, my main character, comes from a long line of witches. Unfortunately, she hasn’t really got the hang of it. Being blonde-haired, blue-eyed and free of warts isn’t much of an advantage. Try as she might, Gertie’s spells fall flat. She manages to give her bat-headed umbrella the ability to talk, but then wishes she hadn’t when all he does is complain and insult people. Even finding an owl to be her Familiar doesn’t help. Then again, he is extremely shortsighted…
Gertie is sent to The Academy to improve her spell casting skills and soon has a best friend in the form of Bertha Bobbit, a big girl, with a matching appetite.
Add to that a Moat Monster with a flatulence problem, the weirdest array of witch’s Familiars possible, and a warlock determined to ruin Gertie’s chances of success, and the story unfolds.
Not to mention the demon…
In a world where Harry Potter pretty much dominates the ‘wizard and witch’ market, how does this story stand out from the norm?
Believe it or not, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ was first written long before any of the Harry Potter books. The idea was formed many years ago, and a lot of rewrites later was published by Ghostly Publishing this year. Quite an appropriate year for a witchy book to be published, 2013! I’m sure it was meant to be.
Gertie is a humorous fantasy with very different characters to grab the attention. You won’t find too serious lessons or mighty powers in ‘Caution’. This book is a funny romp through Gertie’s life, building on the fact that Gertie doesn’t look at all like a witch, and seriously struggles to behave like one too. She wants to learn how to be a witch like her family expect her to be, but without losing herself in the process. I believe she manages this admirably. A far cry from Harry Potter, this is a humorous book that looks at growing up from a very different angle. We do see some funny witches, weird and wonderful characters, and lots of spells too, of course!
I’ve read that this story is about Gertie’s trying to find an identity amongst a group label. Was it important to have a central theme such as this, and what other themes do you think stand out?
Yes, I know which review you mean. Somehow, I didn’t set out with that as a particular aim, though I can see where the reviewer gets the idea. It’s strange really, but everyone who reads a book will view it from a different angle. The idea for my book was based on humour involving a pretty young witch who seems to have been born into the wrong family and village. If I had to pick a theme as an afterthought I think it would have to be that we are all individuals in our own right, and we have to find ourselves along the path’s our lives take. The world is made up of very different people, the ‘real’ world and Gertie’s witchy world. Gertie discovers a lot about other people, good and bad, and indeed about herself as the book progresses. All this is achieved in a humorous way that doesn’t appear to be covering serious values at all! ‘Caution’ aims to amuse, maintain interest, and keep the reader moving from page to page. I have been told that is what it does!
Does Gertie have any friends? Tell us a little about some of the more noticeable characters in Caution: Witch in Progress.
Gertie’s gran is one of my favourite characters. She is cantankerous, irritable, quick to anger, but has a heart of gold (which she tries to keep well hidden). Gran loves Gertie very much, and Gertie is probably the only one who gets away with anything when Granny is around!
Bertha Bobbit is a friend that Gertie meets at The Academy. Bertha is different from the other witches and warlocks too, which draws Gertie and Bertha together. Bertha is more ‘witchy’ than Gertie, but she is also overweight, greedy, and very clumsy and lazy. Bertha gave me a lot of scope for humour!
I will spill the beans on just one more character, Bat, the animated umbrella…Yes. I did say umbrella. Gerties tries her first animation spell on her bat-headed umbrella, only to find that Bat hates rain, getting wet, being left alone, dark wardrobes, and just about everything else, come to think of it. Bat is a very funny character who has to learn to get on with people much better as the book progresses.
What was it like writing a book for children? Did you find yourself refrained to stick within the boundaries of what is acceptable for younger readers?
I find that the genre I write best is children’s books. I might struggle to write for the very young, but I think I have found my niche in the approx 8 to 13 years age range. In all honesty, I don’t find myself restricted in any way writing for this age range. I don’t think I ever quite left my first childhood, so I find it easy to remember what I liked to read at that age. I genuinely don’t enjoy writing much about adult themes. I love fantasy, humour, colourful places and characters, things that won’t upset or frighten children any more than they do me! Children’s books are what I love to write, and they are the books that take up most of my time as a writer.
How did the idea for this book come about? Were you influenced by other stories, or did Gertie come from some other thought?
I’m not entirely sure where Gertie sprang from. I was looking for a subject that leant itself well to humour, and the idea of a witch who not only can’t get it right, but doesn’t look the part, sort of leapt into my mind. I think Gertie wanted her story to be told! Once the idea began to develop, the different scenes and settings came along naturally. It wasn’t long before Gertie took over the tale entirely, because I soon got to know what she definitely would or wouldn’t do. Gertie is a great, very likeable character, and I was quite sorry when I finished writing about her!
Is this the start of a potential series, or is this a standalone novel?
‘Caution’ is a standalone novel. I have since written a Sword and Sorcery fantasy due to be published by Ghostly Publishing during next year, and I am in the final draft of a completely different humorous fantasy. Neither of these books have any connection to Gertie. That isn’t to say I won’t return to Vile Vale one day. I think Gertie’s life gives a lot of scope for another potential book about her…
If you could be a witch for a day, what would you get up to with your witchy powers?
Oh, now wouldn’t that be something! I’m not sure I would be quite as kind a witch as Gertie! Haha. I don’t mean that really, but don’t you think that some people deserve to be given a wart or two? What I would love is to be able to be invisible for a day. Wouldn’t it be great to see and hear what other people are saying about you? Hmm…or would it…? I might have to rethink that one.
It would be wonderful to know some spells to cure horrible illnesses though, that would make for a very special day.
What was your last read?
Terry Pratchett’s ‘Snuff’. My favourite author of all time is Terry Pratchett. Terry can make humour out of almost anything, and he does it so well. If I could meet any author of my choice it would be him. I so hope he can manage to keep his alzheimer’s at arm’s length, he has such a wonderful imagination. If I could offer a cure for that during my day as a witch, I would jump at the chance.
Do you have any writing superstitions? Perhaps you have to always wear a pair of slippers to click your brain over into writing mode, or maybe you have to always start with a coffee in your favourite mug?
I don’t have any superstitions when in writing mode, but I do when in Book Signing mode. I have a Pandora bracelet that I am currently building up to represent my current life as a writer. For example, I have a ‘ghost’ charm for Ghostly Publishing, a witch for Gertie, a set of books for myself as an author, are you getting the picture? My next charm will be a treasure chest to represent my next book, ‘Zac’s Destiny’, and so it goes. If I went along to a book signing or any such event and forgot to wear my bracelet I would be mortified! I think I would have to turn around and go home for it. It is my lucky talisman, and always represents me in author mode.
If Gertie was up against Voldermort, how would she topple him?
With courage, naive belief in herself, common sense, innocent cunning, and just a bit of magic thrown in somewhere along the way…I’m sure Granny would come wading in with spells blazing too! Nothing would be allowed to happen to her Gertie!
Thank you for the thought-provoking questions, Dan. I enjoyed answering questions that were so tailor-made for my book. You provide great interviews!
I think this was a fantastic interview with Lynne. I love her responses, being so witty and funny! It really does create a great impression for the book. I’m so eager now to get stuck into this fun sounding adventure, especially to find out more about Bat, the talking umbrella!
Author Interview – Allan Bott
1) Do you write books as a career, or are you currently still juggling your author time with a full
or part time job?
I’m currently trying to write while working full time! It’s hard work! I was lucky enough to have a job that was quiet last year and enabled me to finish my first novel in record time. The sequel Is going much slower as my new job is really busy. It’s getting there though. Of course if the chance ever came to write full time – I’d do It In a heartbeat.
2) Have you always wanted to be an author, or did some time or event in your life set you on
the path?
I toyed with the idea when I was much younger, I wrote fan fiction for friends who I played games with online. We would joke about adventures our characters would have. It’s sad I know! But some of the ideas I came up with in those adventures made it to light in my first novel!
I didn’t start writing ‘James Knight and the Orb of Ziarn’ until late 2011. I was working away a lot and spent many a lonely night in a hotel, so without anything to do I started messing around with story ideas and plots. I wasn’t expecting to write a full novel.
3) Do you always write in the same genre, or do you sometimes like a change of theme? If you
haven’t already, is there another genre you would like to write?
I’ve never really tried! My fan fiction was always written in a fantasy style due to the nature of the games I played with friends. James Knight was always going to be a fantasy series as It was something I had experience in. I would like to try something else – who knows what will happen in the future?
4) As a writer, what is the best thing that has happened to you, and what is that most exciting
thing that could happen to you?
The best thing for me is actually being published! I was over the moon when Neil Trigger of Ghostly Publishing phoned me and offered me a contract. I jumped up and down for a few minutes!
As for the most exciting thing, there are many things I consider exciting – the book’s release, people reading it and loving what I’ve written and most of all, becoming a best seller!
5) Could you tell us something about your published book, and let us know what it is
about?
James Knight and the Orb of Ziarn is the first book of a planned trilogy, set in the fantasy world of Exoré. James Knight is magically whisked there by a steam powered airship, captained by the bold Valeria Flintlocke. With her guidance and friendship he is taken on a rollercoaster ride of magic, mystery and treachery where he meets many new people and is approached by the Crown Prince of the mighty Halandrian Empire to embark on a mission that could shake the very balance of this strange, yet fascinating world.
Santa meets his match in Granny Grimthorpe!
Wonderfully funny video to promote ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’!
Watch it Here!
http://youtu.be/lD126oIUZ3Q
Book Award Recommendation
I am delighted to say that my children’s humorous fantasy book, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress’ has been recommended for a book award!
I would really appreciate it if any of you feel that it is worthy of your vote!
Thanks very much.
Click here to vote!.