Welcome to my blog. I am not a very regular blogger, but I try to keep this site updated with news and information. If there's none of the above I may just share my random ruminations.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

So what’s New? And could it be 'The Next Big Thing'?

....with thanks to Chris Longmuir, who invited me to take the baton.

What's new? Well, apart from holidaying in lovely Cornwall a couple of weeks ago and being blessed with a spell of rare and gorgeous weather, and even more recently spending a few days in equally sunny Cambridge (which is also very lovely in its own right), I have just accepted the Next Big Thing challenge. But true to my very awkward nature, I have decided to cheat a little with the spirit of the question.

Yes, mine is ‘a big thing’, and it is what’s happening ‘next’, but it's more of a revival than something new. My third book is about to be published in paperback, with Create Space. As I have designed a completely new cover for this edition, I have decided to re-launch the e-version of the book with the same, new, front cover image. This all happens on September 22nd. So, in answer to the questions....

1: What is the title of your book?

TORN (first published as an e-book, May 2011).

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

Torn grew from a momentary glimpse. I was the passenger on a car journey to Somerset. We passed a turning on the left - a narrow lane sloping steeply down to the huddled centre of a village. Though the road we travelled along was by no means a new road, it was apparent it had been built to by-pass the village.
As all this registered, the thought which sprang to mind was: "I bet those villagers were pleased to have the main road re-routed." But it was swiftly followed by the qualification: "Though I doubt the people who lived up here were so impressed!" I went on to reflect that real life is almost always a compromise between competing demands. Things are never black or white, with right or wrong answers. Although a disputed bypass was the initial ‘jumping off’ point for TORN, it was only one of many threads in the final story.

3: What genre does your book fall under?

Though I understand the need for labels, that doesn’t make it any easier to answer this question. I write contemporary women’s fiction but if you want to narrow me down any more than that, I'm afraid I am unable to identify a sub-genre. So I’ve invented my own - Reality Romance.

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

This is a really difficult question because I have such a strong visual image of my characters. No actor I can think of perfectly matches the picture in my mind’s eye. But the best I can come up with are as follows:

Jamie Cambell Bower will play Danny Bowman. Jess wakes to find him in her bed after a New Year's Eve party. What on earth has she done?
We need to hop back in time to cast Timothy Dalton, in his prime - at around the age of 35 - to play the part of widower James Warwick. James gave up his career in advertising to take on his late in-laws' farm. Danny is his farm worker.






I’m glad I’m not a casting director! Although Emma Watson is still too young, is probably too tall and has the wrong colour eyes, she will play Jess. Single mother, Jessica Avery, is in her early thirties. She's left her 'ex' and moved to the country to find peace and a simple life, and to concentrate on being a mother. But an abusive relationship isn't the only element of her past she's trying to escape.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

She may have escaped her past but can she ever escape herself?
[Jess believes she has put her old life behind her. In the country it will be easy to live a ‘good life’. But in the face of temptation old habits die hard and she is torn - between the suitable man and the unsuitable boy.]

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

After the demise of my first publisher I struggled for many years to find another or, failing that, to find an agent. I gave up in 2011.
So TORN is self-published, as an e-book http://www.amazon.co.uk/TORN-ebook/dp/B004UVR81Y and now as a paperback http://www.amazon.co.uk/Torn-Gilli-Allan/dp/1477517014#reader_B004U36DIG

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

Approximately a year.

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

I have no idea. I leave comparisons to my readers.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Inspiration is a strange beast - who knows what is going on in the subconscious? I have various answers to the “Are your stories autobiographical?” question. There are always a few autobiographical elements in my books. These may be tiny, hardly more than flicker, or they may be large, but that doesn’t make my stories autobiography. When writing fiction, the real is made unreal, not because you are trying to disguise something, but because the people, places and incidents from true life won’t fit the story you’re making up. They have to be re-imagined.
Hands up - there have been a couple of incidents in my life which have directly inspired a whole book, but usually I am already in the midst of the process when a memory springs up, and I think “Oh yes, I could use that.”
So, if you really want to know, I did draw on memories of an old boy friend when writing TORN. I also used a remembered incident I witnessed in Streatham High Road. Beyond that I am unwilling to go.....

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

TORN faces up to the complexities, messiness and absurdities in modern relationships. Life is not a fairy tale; it can be confusing and difficult. Sex is not always awesome, it can be awkward, embarrassing and it has consequences. You don't always fall for Mr Right, even if he falls for you. And realising you're in love is not always good news. It can make the future look daunting.

In a week’s time, on Wednesday 26th September, five writers will tell you about their own ‘Next Big Thing’.

Margaret James www.margaretjamesblog.blogspot.com
Paula Martin http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.co.uk/
Kit Domino http://kitdomino.wordpress.com/
Suzy Turner http://suzyturner.blogspot.co.uk/
Bea Davenport http://www.blog.beadavenport.com/#home



























































22 comments:

Sandra Nachlinger said...

I enjoyed reading your answers to the "Next Big Thing" questions, and I like your new cover for TORN too. Congratulations on the release of it in paperback!

Gilli Allan said...

Thank you so much, Sandy. I enjoyed doing it. I particularly enjoyed being casting director for the day, although I had to indulge in a bit of time shifting to do it. Gillix

Kit Domino said...

Love the "Reality Romance" genre, Gilli. You may just have something there. Great answers and thanks for throwing me the tag. Kit X

Gerry Skoyles said...

First, may I say reading of your visits to Cornwall and Cambridge ... my home city ... made me homesick. I live in a remote jungly area of north-east Thailand and haven't set foot in the UK for seven years.

Good luck with TORN. I have also just self-published an Ebook, an adaptation of one of my screenplays.

Suzy, The Grey Brunette said...

Reality Romance? It's really quite catchy, Gilli!
Good luck with the re-release of Torn. It sounds intriguing and I do love the cover. The colours really stand out!
I'm looking forward to my post next week!!

Carol E Wyer said...

Love the new cover and thank you for bringing back dear Timothy Dalton into the limelight!
Very enjoyable reading Gilli and I shall look forward to reading those from your tagged authors.

Chris Longmuir said...

A very worthy wielder of the baton. I enjoyed your answers.

Gilli Allan said...

Gosh! I go away for an hour and come back to loads of comments. Thank you so much, Chris, Carol and Kit. very pleased you like the cover. A special thank you to Gerry who's taken the trouble to read the blog and to comment from Thailand. Sorry I made you homesick. The English landscape is almost a character in TORN.

Gilli Allan said...

Sorry!!! AND Suzy! I'm in a state of shock. Can't keep a name in my head for 3 seconds. I really appreciate you all taking the trouble to leave a comment. x

Paula Martin said...

I really enjoyed your answers, Gilli, especially the original seed for your story. It's amazing what starts our minds working, isn't it?
Best of luck with your paperback version of Torn - and many thanks for tagging me. I'm looking forward to answering the questions next week!

Gilli Allan said...

Yes, it is curious isn't it, Paula? And the thought I would write that book stayed with me a very long time before I actually began it. And when I did write it, it grew into something quite different from the book I imagined I would write.
Good luck with the challenge next week. gx

Eileen Schuh: said...

What great answers, Gilli. And thanks for visiting my blog and commenting on my answers about The Next Best Thing.

Francine Howarth said...

Hi,

Great answers, and nice pics!

I've just done mine...http://francinehowarth.blogspot.com

best
F

Pauline Barclay said...

Great Gilli and I love your Genre, Reality Romance, I think we should market it!

Gilli Allan said...

Thanks peeps. Hopping over to look at Francine's answers now. gx

Kimberly Menozzi said...

"Life is not a fairy tale; it can be confusing and difficult. Sex is not always awesome, it can be awkward, embarrassing and it has consequences. You don't always fall for Mr Right, even if he falls for you. And realising you're in love is not always good news."

Now, this... THIS is something I adore, and sounds like the kind of book I want to read.

Gilli Allan said...

Thank you Kimberley. You've given me a warm glow! gx

Jenny Twist said...

I loved TORN, Gilli, and have Life Class in my TBR pile. Congrats on the paperback release. You deserve to sell a million!
xxxxx

Gilli Allan said...

Thanks Jenny. Hope you enjoy it. gx

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Came over from Suzi Turner's blog. Torn honestly sounds like an intriguing read.

Chris Stovell said...

I really enjoyed reading your answers, Gilli - I love your uncompromising stance. I feel like you about the 'who would play...' question - it's very difficult when you have your own clear impression of who your characters are to substitute them with someone pretending to be them!
All best wishes for The Net Big Thing

Gilli Allan said...

Thank you, Elizabeth and Chris.

The trouble with being uncompromising is that you end up with lumps all over your head from all those brick walls you've beaten it against!

xx