The Next Big Thing

Author Kate Jackson Bedford who writes pocket novels and is a prolific short story writer for D C Thomson's People's Friend has invited me to take part in THE NEXT BIG THING blog event. This asks a series of questions about what is coming next in our writing life. So, here goes..... What is the title of your book? Yikes I don't have one yet! One will come to me, probably out of nowhere. Singapore will probably appear somewhere in the title as that's where the book is set. How did you come by the idea? I like books that pitch opposites together. My lady detective, Jessica is no nonsense, kick arse and likes to break the rules. Her new Singaporean partner, the rather gorgeous Danny plays by the rules and does his best to keep her under control - a difficult task. What genre does your book fall under? Definitely crime but with some romance to spice it up. Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie? That's a difficult one because Danny's Chinese and I don't know many Chinese actors. If I want to feel inspired though, I'll always think of Ryan Gosling, so here's a totally gratuitous photo of him! Sandra Bullock would play Jessica really well. Will your book be self-published or traditional? I'm aiming it at a traditional publisher but whether they'll accept it, who knows? How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? It's a work in progress that I started for National Novel Writing Month at the beginning of November. It's going too slow to be completed by the end of the month but I hope perhaps to have it half done by then. Who or What inspired you to write this book? A trip to Singapore to see my husband who was working out there made me fall in love with the place. It's an ultra modern city which has somewhat engulfed the past. But I like history and much of the book is set around the older parts of Singapore, in the shophouses of Chinatown. I also loved the stray Singapore cats, all very well behaved and clean and tidy like the rest of Singapore. They have the most curious fan shaped tails and my hero Danny has saved a lovely one upon which he dotes. I shall now be passing THE NEXT BIG THING baton on for 27 November to Hywela Lyn who writes for the Wild Rose Press and to romance writer P D Strange both of whom I met at the Festival of Romance. Over to you ladies....