The Next Big Thing

The Green Wizard was invited to join in with 'My Next Big Thing' (started by Andy Duncan, author of The Badger-Boy Brouhaha)by his sorceror's apprentice and dear friend, Ngaire Victoria Elder, who writes cutting edge illustrated children's stories and is currently working on her third book somewhere in deepest Spain. Near a big mountain.

http://adventuresofceciliaspark.blogspot.co.uk/

Now, for me, the next big thing is er, not writing a book for about six months as I'm bolloxed. So bear that in mind when you read this.

___________________

What is the working title of your book?
Currently not writing a new book until I've sold a few of the six I've already written. You can find all six to your right as you look. Click on them if you fancy a further look on Amazon. 

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I wrote six books in just over three and a half years, including five in a year and I think the world has seen enough of my work so far. I need to recharge my batteries. I get my ideas mostly when running.

What genre does your book fall under
I write fiction novels. Pure and simple. They have no genre. Genres erect illusory and limiting boundaries between authors and provide a dumbed-down, one-dimensional landscape for the reader. If you just read romance, YA, or erotica, then it is likely that you and I have little to say to each other and I wish you all the best.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I wrote the first draft of my 60k football hooligan novel "Ultra Violence" in  18 days. I wrote the majority of "Carla", my best reviewed book, over a weekend in late April 2012. Professional writers should be able to do this. Literature is full of similar stories. The 2.5k per day grinders are okay, but I need inspiration and a free playing field. I need to fly.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Lots of different ones.

Who or What inspired you to write this book
The knowledge that I was rapidly becoming unemployable in the modern gel haired, crocodile skin loafer, hundred and thirty pound per tie minor professional labour market was a major influence in my decision to form Green Wizard and write the six books.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
If readers enjoy innovation, being challenged, old fashioned writing - with prologues, purple descriptions, necessary exposition and a complete  lack of trendy but boring Chucky P influenced skeleton writing - then they will like Green Wizard. My books are generally well reviewed. Readers in Nottingham and Southwell are well catered for.

And now, I'll pass the baton to 3 writers who kindly agreed to participate in the blog-chain ... stay tuned to read about their Next Big Thing.


Mary Ann Bernal -  www,maryannbernal.com

Brenda Perlin - http://www.homewreckerthebook.com/

Bathsheba Dailey - http://newbeginnings-bathsheba.blogspot.co.uk/

Mark Barry - http://greenwizardcarla.blogspot.co.uk/



Good luck everyone!

An Interview with Bathsheba Dailey

Bathsheba Dailey

By great fortune, I was introduced at the last minute to Bathsheba Dailey, poet and advertising guru, and with no preparation, and despite never having heard of Wizards and Cauldrons and such, she agreed to have a chat with me over the Wizphone, somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Your Wizard is a huge fan of poetry and his mien brightened when he found out that the resident of West Virginia was indeed an Odesmith. 

And extremely pleasant too. I caught up with her on a lake where she was fishing and here's what she had to say!

Hi Bathsheba.

Hi Wiz. Nice to meet you.

The feeling is mutual. Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? Where do you live? Do you write full time? How do you come to be here?

I am a 35 year old single mother of three girls and I am pursuing my degree in business. I am the author of  the "Hearts and Souls poetry book" and the upcoming poetry book "The Unhidden reflections of the heart".

http://www.facebook.com/bathshebadailey

I am also pursuing a venture which advertises other authors and businesses.

http://www.facebook.com/NewBeginningsAdvertising

I have walked a long road of failures and I have decided that I will chase many dreams at once to ensure that one comes true. Life is only what we make it, so make it the best that you can. 

My favorite hobby other than doing things with my girls is writing and fishing. 

Fishing:West Virginia Style!

Sounds of the water calm me when everything seems to be going in the wrong direction. I live in a small town in West Virginia where everyone knows everyone - and they are pretty sure they know those people better than they do themselves! Hahaha.

John Denver - West Virginia's Finest

  I try to write as much as I can but with three girls, school and all the household things that need doing, it is sometimes hard to find time to just be me and write.

I've been singing the John Denver song all morning, Bathsheba hahaha.

It's very catchy isn't it, haha.

It is, yes. Grew up with that song. How long have you been writing poetry?  

I have written since I was a young child. I had a very hard and abusive life until the age of fourteen when I  was finally placed with the greatest parents a girl could have. My foster dad who was to me my real father passed away last week and this has been the hardest and most unbearable time of my life even after a tormented childhood. 

I have always said in my case "water is indeed thicker than blood". I follow any writer or style that heart and soul can be reflected in. 

 Give us an example...

The Empty Quill

The ink in my quill has

started to dry with the

words I no longer want

to share with a world so

full of hate and self

loathing egotism.

I try to see the world

with a clear mind and

an opened heart but the

tales of life's bittersweet

anger is forever stepping

in my way of a worlds

deepest emotion being

that one of hate.

exquisiteness surrounds

us everyday with just the

opening of our eyes and

the air that we so enjoy

to intake.The flowers are

abloom with a beauty we

so deny,too worried are we

of our own sinful thoughts

that we no longer care

about human life unless it

is in the words that commit

their distraught.

That's a lovely poem, Bathsheba. Thank you for sharing. So, tell us about your current projects?

I am currently getting together my alter ego's poetry book "at at no names yet" I have kept her a secret for a year and a half and only very close friends know who she is. 

Latest work

You have an alter ego?

It's a secret, Wiz! Not telling you yet! I am also writing two novels. One about my alter ego, which will tell her fictional biography of why she turned to a world of darkness and a romance novel that is in the setting of times past when raising cattle was how you ate. I am writing my true story biography of who I really am and how I ended up as a state ward. I have also nearly finished with my third poetry book.

 The Baltimore Ravens, under pressure from the City, decide to emulate the Colts in 1983 and do a moonlight flit. You are taken hostage for a month to help the Mayor to see sense. A henchman is sent out to supply you with three books to pass the time. What would they be?

Magnificent Cover for ancient Mitchell
Bodice and Butler classic

Three books hmmmm. That would have to be "Gone With The Wind". The second would be the sequel to "Gone With The Wind" which is called "Scarlet", after whom I named my third daughter, and the third would be "The Killing Fields".

How does an author of Independently Published Fiction get known out there? It seems like a thankless and impossible task. Have you any tips for our readers?

A great way to improve awareness is to join as many groups as you can, even though it can get tiring at times and make sure you have looked into as many online outlets as possible. 

Some of the best would be Goodreads, Blogs, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and tons more. I have to say this, though, it does not matter how many places you find to promote yourself; if you forget who you are you will fail. 

Thanks for that sound advice! What would be on the menu at a meal chez Bathsheba?

My favorite meal is of course a country meal; Fried chicken, homemade chicken gravy on mash potatoes, corn and fresh green beans and then for desert brownie cupcakes.

Country Meal - I'm off to the cafe!

I've been to West Virginia. Visited Charlestown Races!

One of the world's finest and cheapest
buffets at Charlestown Races.

Have you? It's beautiful, isn't it.

It certainly is! What do fans of Bathsheba Dailey have to look forward to in the coming year? 

The coming year I hope to have all my books done but we can never guarantee what life will throw our way so I just have to take one day at a time!  There are two quotes that I wrote and I try to live by them both;

"A new beginning is better than an old ending" and "Never forget who you are or where you have come from, while in the process of being found by others"  

If you forget who you are so will everyone else!

Bathsheba, it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you and I wish you all the best in the future!

Thank you, Wiz! You too...

Contact:

http://beth-frommyheart.blogspot.com/

http://newbeginnings-bathsheba.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/Bathsheba15

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearts-and-Souls-poetry-group-fan-page/264286140248737