Tuesday 29 January 2013

Author spotlight: Nadia Bashoo

I'm hoping to mix up the blog this year with a mix of guest posts by other authors and marketing tips.  I'm delighted to welcome Nadia Bashoo, author of The Hand of Destiny, reviewed as a great fantasy with fantastic characters, and a series akin to The Golden Compass.



Q:
What inspired you to become a writer?
A:
I’ve always loved to read and children’s fantasy was always my preference. I had a go at writing other genres but they never worked. Then I read an interview by an Author who said you should write what you read, and I’ve never looked back.

Q:
Can you describe your recent novel in a couple of sentences?
A:
The Hand of Destiny is the story of three teenagers set on a path to fight for their freedom and the personal demons they face along the way. It’s a tale of friendship, loyalty, adventure and magic.

Q:
How much of your novels do you have planned beforehand?
A:
I’m terrible at planning. I’ve tried to plan a book out beforehand and it always goes off on unforeseen tangents. Take Hand of Destiny, for example. It started off as a stand-alone novel, was meant to become a Trilogy but ended up becoming two books. I start off with a basic idea but then I just let my imagination take over. Although I always know how a book will end before I start. I think that’s important as it gives you something to work towards.

Q:
Where do you write?
A:
I write in my bedroom mostly, but I’ve also been known to write at work (not what I was being paid to do).

Q:
What’s your favourite book and why?
A:
That’s a difficult question to answer. I have so many. I think I’ll say JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series as it has everything: magic, adventure, humour, and above all, great characters.

Q:
Where do you find inspiration to write?
A: 
It can come from anything: a dream, something I’ve read about, a conversation with a friend. My inspiration for Hand of Destiny came about because I thought fantasy was becoming a bit predictable and I wanted to shake it up a bit. So we have a heroine who doesn’t get on with her mentor and a hero who doesn’t fall in love with the heroine.

Q:
How important are readers’ reviews to you?
A:
As I see it, writing is my business and readers are my customers. Customer satisfaction is important and so I always make a point of reading my reviews. I do think you need to be true to yourself though. I wouldn’t make an improvement if it didn’t feel write for the story. After all, what one person hates, another person loves. You can’t please everybody.

Q:
Any future projects in the offing?
A:
Several. I had three completely different ideas last year and none of them would leave me alone. I’ve nearly finished the first in a Trilogy set in Camelot during and after King Arthur’s reign. I’ve also begun work on a dystopian series where humans are infected with a disease which gives them vampire-like characteristics and they are treated with suspicion and hostility. Finally, I’m working on a fantasy set around the myth of Pandora’s box.

Q:
What advice would you give to other Authors going down the self-publishing route?
A:
Self-publishing literally means you’re on your own. There’s no one in your corner, so marketing a book is up to you. Getting an audience is hard. It requires patience and time. Also, you don’t need to pay through the nose. Amazon and Smashwords offer free publishing and distribution services.
Links:

http://www.nadiabashoo.com/my-books/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nadia-Bashoo/213607815396564
https://mobile.twitter.com/nadiabashoo
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4599074.Nadia_Bashoo


Thanks Nadia!

Friday 18 January 2013

Book Review: The Elephant Vanishes

I only began reading Murakami as of last year. My work mate brought into the office 'A Wild Sheep's Chase' and I was immediately intrigued by the quirky title. After being delighted by that book, I subsequently went on to buy most of Murakami's other books and each one exceeded my expectations. In The Elephant Vanishes, Murakami once again writes with such imagination and incredible prose that I was left in awe of undoubtedly one of literature's greatest writers.

I like the fact that all the emotions so many of us experience - love, death, jealousy, happiness - are so simply, yet beautifully, described by Murakami and reading his works, you know you aren't alone in what you've been through as someone you've never met can so elegantly describe our human emotions and life experiences.

I remember watching Lost, season 2, and in that season Desmond had a copy of one of Charles Dickens' novels. He had read all the others and wanted to save the last one for a very special moment. It's a bit like that now with me and Murakami, I don't want to finish reading all his books (I know he will release more) but I'd rather delay the ones I haven't read...perhaps for my distant retirement so I have something to look forward to aside from declining health, receding hair and bodily dysfunctions.




Some great news this week, made a surge of sales of the paperback issue of The Super Spud Trilogy, and made it as high as #19 in Fantasy fiction - amazing. Thank you to all who bought it.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Someone has my dream job already

Interesting piece in a British newspaper today called The Guardian. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jan/08/how-do-i-become-crisp-innovator?commentpage=1

It's one woman's job to not only check the quality of the crisps coming off the production line but to also think of new flavours!  I think reading The Super Spud Trilogy would be the perfect research and development for her.  Might just have to send her a copy of the book and suggest she gets working on steak and spinach flavours right away!