The Next Big Thing

My writing friend Leah Fleming encouraged me to do this, Leah@leahfleming.co.uk to take part in a blog chain which authors pass on to one another to flag up their latest work. Her wonderful book, The Captain's Daughter was published this year to great acclaim. Her next book is The Girl Under the Olive Tree. 

What is the working title of your book?

It's finished and is coming out in February. Miss Appleby's Academy, published by Quercus Books.

Where did the idea come from?

Partly from Leah Fleming when I went to stay and she suggested that since I had been at school in New England many years ago I might write something about America and the North East of England .

What genre does your book fall under?

It's a saga, a historical novel set partly in New England and mostly here in the North.

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

I think Gywnneth Paltrow would make a lovely Miss Appleby, she's just about the right age!

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

It's about a woman of forty who runs away when her family tries to marry her off to an older man, comes to a pit village in the North East and sets up a dame school.

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

My agent is Judith Murdoch.

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

I don't do first drafts, I just go round and round and round like a dog trying to make a bed and somehow from the mess I get a book.

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

I don't know. It's different.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My love of the village where I was brought up, my interest in education and my firm feminist beliefs.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

I like dealing with big issues like failing relationships, how medicine has improved people's lives, addiction, obsession and class.

Next week  my friends, Sylvia Broady   http://sylviabroady.blogspot.co.uk  who writes for Hale  and Janet Warburton, whose latest novel is Joanna   www.janwarburton.blogspot.com  will be writing in the new slot on Tuesday. Look out for these.