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

Holiday in Cornwall

View From our bedroom window

Polperro

Mediterranean weather in Fowey

Misty Padstow

Tregirls Beach

Towards Polperro

Towards Polruan

Lansallos

Lansallos

Front and Back cover of the paperback.

I was trying to find an image which conveyed the sense that you can never take anything for granted. Even the most inviting prospect may have hurdles and snags.

Re-launch of TORN.

If you follow my blog you will know I have been battling with a cover design for the launch of TORN in paper-back. (It was not actually the design which caused me the headache but formatting it correctly so that it would fit the template.) I am also using the same front cover for a brand new e-version of the book. Here's a sneak preview.

Launch date the 22nd September! Put the champagne on ice.

And another Five stars!

I won't quote all of J. Wilkins review but here are some highlights!

LIFE CLASS: "I loved it. Gilli Allan is such an accomplished writer, and she manages to combine everything I love about modern fiction....... Although her characters are instantly likable and recognizable, the plotting is not in the least predictable. Gilli Allan always manages to be original whilst remaining rooted in reality. ....These two aspects, character and plot, are tightly wound together in such a way that the motivation of both is completely believable.

She is equally masterful with description...... [and] knows her subject thoroughly and anyone with more than a passing interest in art and sculpture will not be disappointed with the depth of knowledge. It's a gentle and thoughtful, often humorous story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have no hesitation in awarding five stars."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B007XWFURQ/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

A New Review For LIFE CLASS

Lou Graham says: ....A lovely story exploring a group of people who are all from different walks of life but all joined together through their mutual interest in art.

There are lovely sub-story lines between the characters and I enjoyed how each of the chapters focused on one of the leading characters, yet you were not leaving the others behind. It is clear that each person is on a journey, whilst most don’t even realise it.

Well written with humour and emotion. It is a lovely gentle read. This book will engage you and you’ll want to turn the pages to reach the very satisfying ending.

http://lougrahamiiblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/life-class-gilli-alan/

I am halfway through preparing my book, TORN, for publication as a paperback, with Create Space. As you may or may not know, I enjoy art and design. I created my last two covers (LIFE CLASS with the aid of my son, TOM) and so felt I would like to have a go at it again.

In creating a cover for the paperback version of TORN, I have gone back to first principles and re-thought the whole thing. Create Space offer various templates, but these are limiting. If, like me, you want to do your own thing, creating a cover from scratch is a complicated process. It is not enough to come up with an image - as I did for e-publishing TORN and LIFE CLASS. Using the art programme on the computer you have to precisely calculate your sizes - front as well as back cover - incorporating a margin for trim and an extra margin for bleed. You also have to incorporate the spine width, which is a variable size according the number of pages. All this was a fairly tall order for someone like me, who is desperately untechie and wasn't even allowed to sit her Maths GCE. Add all that to the fact I was running in and out of the sitting room to keep tabs on team GB's progress in the Olympics!

However, by Friday night I though I'd cracked it. I'd produced a draft piece of artwork with front and back cover joined together. All I needed to do was finesse the final images (see above) and repeat the process.

Since then I've suffered failure after failure. I have my front cover. I have my back cover and spine. But I cannot stitch the two together. I create a template. I import my image and the template immediately shrinks, leaving not enough space to fit the second part of the puzzle - the front cover. I guess this is a sizing issue, and somewhere along the line I have got a calculation badly wrong. But I have checked and re-checked over and over again.

There is absolutely no guarantee that once I have succeeded in creating a single piece of art work, that Create Space will accept it, but until I have something to upload I can't check.

I've posted the covers images I've created for any comments. At the moment I'm in need of a bit of good cheer. I feel like I've been wasting my time - even more so than usual, as I have actually been working hard and actually trying to achieve something.