Q&A - The Ice Marathon
Tonight, I will answer questions about my new book, The Ice Marathon. It is a novella, which will be released later this week, for Kindle.
What was the one thing that made you decide The Ice Marathon would be your next book? (from David Wailing, London)
I wanted to write something that suited the frosty season. After the silliness of Pompomberry House, I felt like writing something a bit more sombre. The Ice Marathon is full of cold weather, personal struggles and drama, with an injection of festive warmth - much like winter.
What genre best describes your book? (From Therese, Devon)
It's a psychological thriller, with a romantic element.
Which of your previous stories does it compare to? (from Ed, Cornwall)
Also... I have read and enjoyed Seesaw. Which story from that book is The Ice Marathon closest to and why? (from Jonathan Hill, Manchester)
The Ice Marathon is very similar in style to The Other Daughter from my Seesaw collection. Both are psychological thrillers that centre around an absent child. They both deal with some very serious issues and made me cry when I wrote the first draft. There's a touch of On the Rocks in there too.
Was it autobiographical? Who or what inspired you to write it? What was the biggest challenge writing it? (from Tamara, London)
Emma, like most of my protagonists, is based on some aspects of me. The story explores some of my own fears about motherhood as well as some derivative hypotheticals. She has red hair like me, but that's just because I'm running out of hair colours that I haven't used for female leads.
I was inspired by my own hysteria, as mentioned above, and by a girl who took up running to finish a marathon for a brother who died during the previous year's race. The two stories seemed to blend nicely because of the shared link to heart disease.
The impacts of heart disease are also the reason that I blogged about S.O.S. Royal Brompton Children's Cardiac Services.
The biggest challenge was getting through the redrafts. I like redrafting comedy because I get to add jokes, but these psychological dramas can be very draining to work on for long periods of time, particularly when there is a personal element.
Did you have the plot outline prepared from the start, or just waited to see where the plot took you? (from Esther, Devon)
I worked out the plot before I started. I used to make stories up as I went along but I found I snookered myself too often. I have many unfinished projects from my 'reckless' days.
When you start out on a new work, at what stage do you decide whether the idea has the legs to run to a novel, a novella or a short story? (from B J Burton, Devon)
When I started writing The Ice Marathon, it was supposed to be a short story. The journey is a relatively straight forward. However, when I started writing, I realised that the characters needed a lot more development in order for the climax to have the impact that I'm hoping for. I first realised it was going to be a novella when I glanced down at the word count and saw that it had passed 30,000.
Where do you write? (from Richard, Cornwall)
Often, I write in cafes because I like to get away from the housework and the internet. Trains have a similar effect but the cakes aren't as good.
Are you going to redesign the cover to match your other ones? (from Joo)
Following the advice of some wise people, I decided that it was more important to make a cover work for a specific book than adhere to a heavy branding strategy.
What's next? A sequel? Or something entirely different? (from Zach, Cornwall)
The story doesn't really lend itself to a sequel. It's about a specific journey and that journey has been completed. I'm hoping to work on a comedy series next - I need some light relief.
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