What is the working title of your book?
Missing Since Tuesday
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Years ago, I saw a story on the news about a man who was found passed out on a beach somewhere in England. He was wearing a suit with no labels on it and when he woke up in hospital he didn’t know who he was and he didn’t talk, but when the doctors gave him a piece of paper and a pencil he drew a grand piano, so they took him to a piano and he played it with amazing skill. Even though they put him on the news, nobody knew who he was. I don’t know if he was ever claimed, but it got me thinking. I thought, how could someone, in this day and age, just appear on a beach out of nowhere and be completely unknown to anyone? I’ve always been fascinated with time travel so I got it into my head that this guy could be a time traveller, and because he was wearing a suit and could play the piano, I placed him somewhere in the forties. That man became my main character, who time travels through Wellington, New Zealand’s, own rocky beach from the forties to the present at the end of my story, so the story is built around what got him to that point.
What genre does your book fall under?
I’m not really sure… it has a lot of themes running through it, like adventure/thriller/ romance/science fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
That’s a tough one… I know who I would like to direct it. Peter Jackson, because I remember seeing the old New York set he built for King Kong not far from my home and I could imagine him doing the same for old Wellington. Now that I think about it, I reckon Jim Sturgess would make a good Arthur, my main character – not sure about the others though.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The sudden disappearance of a young man’s first love on Wellington’s (New Zealand) rocky south coast sets in motion a chain of events that sees five lives of the past and the present collide with devastating consequences in the midst of World War Two.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’m thinking self publishing is the way to go, then I might approach a few agencies if sales go well.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m still working on it! I don’t write in order… I just get seized by inspiration every now and then and write a random scene, so I have zillions of files with random scenes from all over the book. But over the last few months I’ve been putting it into an order that makes sense, so technically that’s my first draft but I’ve edited quite a lot already.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’m a big fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series – that’s what got me so interested in time travel – well, that and Back to the Future! I love how she’s made the time travel thing seem so possible and like it’s a normal thing that happens and then she’s woven so much history into the story. That’s what I’m aiming to do – write a good, meaningful story and weave it through Wellington then and now.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I inspired myself to write it because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I have so many friends and family members who love what I’ve written so far and give me awesome feedback so that inspires me to keep going.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The realities of war and the affect it had on every aspect of people’s lives, even in little ol’ New Zealand, is a major theme running through the book. I also want to portray the amazing sense of family and community we have in this country, something that hasn’t changed over the years since the wars, and it’s all a big test of the human spirit – I wanted to test just how much loss, grief and hardship a person can handle before it either breaks them or makes them.
So now I'm going to tag the fabulous Diony George, Kristy1504 from A Little Shelf of Heaven and Chelsey from Charming Chelsey's ..... have fun!
