The Next Big Thing

Rules of the Next Big Thing
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.



Fellow author J.G Berger tagged me for the online game ‘The Next Big Thing’: A blog circle where authors have a chance to discuss their current works in progress/ what they’re currently working on now.

Next Big Thing:
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?
‘Aunt Tizzie’s Jubilee’

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The theme is something I often write about: women who suddenly discover that what they thought was true is not, and they have to do something about it, usually by changing their lives.
The idea came, as they so often do, slowly, over time. Several things drifted together in my mind: the old custom of St. Columba’s lambs; how families can pick on, cheat and deceive one member; the character of Tizzie who buzzed around in my head begging, in broad Yorkshire, for her story to be told after I’d been on a visit to old haunts in Yorkshire.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s set in 1887 so is historical. I didn’t think a contemporary Tizzie would gain reader sympathy, and I wanted readers to see how a woman can be trapped and rendered unable to act for herself by the way her family treat her. Readers know there were far more restrictions on a young woman in Victorian times and would be more tolerant of Tizzie’s struggles. Perhaps then they might take some of that understanding into modern day thinking.

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

Good heavens. I don’t know many film actors. I’d love the entire Royal Shakespeare Company to act a play version. I love the idea of Yorkshire dialogue enunciated by those well trained voices. I think Sean Bean, who is a Yorkshire man, would make a good villain.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A young woman, cheated out of her marriage and life away from home, learns to fight back when she finally discovers just what her brother and his wife have done.

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

If Writer’s Choice Co-operative accept it I will self publish it under their seal of approval. This means it will be edited, have a professional cover design, and be proof read to a high standard so that it can be called quality fiction.

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

Three years with much interruption.

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

There are not many writers who write straight historical novels without Royalty or Famous Persons having starring roles. Of those who do, I can’t think of a novel I’ve read that is similar enough to make a comparison.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I write because I have to, it’s like breathing. No real person or thing inspired me, but Tizzie’s voice in my head and her character popping in to my mind are what made me try to find her story.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Recipes, Tizzie’s daily life on a Yorkshire Dales’ farm, and details of traditional customs.