My Next Big Thing
Posted By: Isabella Connor | Posted Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Sunday 11th November, 2012
I was tagged by the lovely Choc Lit author, Mandy James, to tell you about my next big thing, which really does beat Christmas, my birthday, and any other 'routine' event - the publication in August of my debut nove, co-written with Valerie Olteanu, Beneath an Irish Sky, published by the fabulous Choc Lit, under our joint pen-name, Isabella Connor.
Thank you for asking me, Mandy, and good luck with your novel, A Stitch in Time, debuting in April 2013. You can read about Mandy's 'next big thing' here - http://mandykjameswrites.blogspot.co.uk/
BENEATH AN IRISH SKY
Where did the idea come from for the book?
In all honesty - I don't know. The main character was inspired by the actor Joe McFadden, who played a young Irishman in Debbie Horsfield's Sex Chips and Rock and Roll back in 1999, but the plot just landed in my brain.
What genre does your book fall under?
Contemporary Women's Fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
We originally ear-marked Sean Bean for the character of Jack, but we're thinking now of getting Daniel Craig. For Luke, though he was inspired by Joe McFadden, we've decided we'll have to travel to Ireland and audition young men with black hair and blue eyes. Hard job, but someone has to do it, and we would have to cope with that burden... Also in the mix are Julie Walters, Charles Dance, and Helen Mirren. Lucy Brown is perfect as a visual for our Irish heroine, but if she can't do the accent, she's out...we don't want any Tom Cruise type disasters in our movie!
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Different worlds collide with explosive results when a wealthy business man meets his hostile Irish Traveller son for the first time.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Neither - it's to be published by indie publishers, Choc Lit.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A couple of years. Originally,we wrote 240k words as we thought there was a minimum, not a maximum! We then had to re-write and lose half of it.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I can't think of any, but would love to hear If anyone else can. Would obviously be my kind of book.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I loved the character of Dallas in Sex Chips and Rock and Roll, and wanted to create a hero like him...cute but feisty!
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There are two romances, one dealing with young love, one a bit older. And there is a mix of cultures and class.
Have passed the baton on now to Lin Treadgold, whose debut novel Goodbye Henrietta Street is being published in July 2013,
