Keri is the author of 'Dead Letter Day', a gripping thriller about a serial killer. Her debut novel was the runner up in the Rethink Press New Novels Award, 2012. You can find out more about Keri, 'Dead Letter Day' and her forthcoming novel and sequel, 'Dead Write' at keribeevis.com.
Thank you to Keri for giving me this opportunity to learn the blog tour process - let alone the writing process - here goes...
The blog tour has 4 questions about my writing process which I will attempt to answer below:
1. What am I working on?
I have recently completed the novel, 'Calling All Dentists', the second in a series of four, which is currently being edited and proofread. I hope it will be released by the end of February - maybe to coincide with my birthday!
Ooh, tricky question. I'm not sure that I even know what genre or genres my writing fits in to. I like to think that they are humorous stories primarily. I suspect that the second novel, 'Calling All Dentists' (CAD) fits in to the Chiclit catagory, more so than the first, although the title may state otherwise. I do hope that CAD has it all - humour, romance, horror (believe it or not) and a mini mystery thrown in for good measure.
I believe that the first two books in the series are possibly quite different to the norm as they have a medical theme running through them. However, the third and fourth books do not have this same line and are actually quite different from the first two. So maybe I should create a new genre titled something like 'Just when you thought it was safe to go out at night'.
3. Why do I write what I do?
My writing is the type that I would like to read. I have a wry sense of humour and find the funniest of things in the most mundane or banal situations. I suppose that my writing is a reflection of my own outlook on life. I enjoy the written word and therefore I'm able to express myself far easier through writing than I ever could verbally, due to my shy nature. That's simply why I write what I do - in a nutshell.
4. How does your writing process work?
The first stage of my writing process is to make a cup of tea and gather up a plate of biscuits for the long haul. I then turn off my laptop so that I do not get distracted by Twitter or Facebook.
I like to meet the main characters in some detail and will often be heard interviewing them whilst scribbling notes in to my faithful, hardbacked note book. I want to know what they look like, what their character traits are and how they roll. I then introduce them to each other if they will be crossing paths in the storyline. That way, I have a rough idea of how they will interact with each other. It can get very crowded in my office sometimes - particularly with 'Calling All Customers'.
My characters are of upmost importance to me - they help me write the story. I've been known to have conversations with them, arguments or even listen to their advice. I know that all sounds crazy but maybe you need to be a little mad to write humorous books - who knows.
I was driving home from work one day and passed a policewoman on a bicycle. I was just about to stop and say hello to her as I thought I knew her so well, believing that she was one of the police officers from 'Calling All Services', but luckily I came to my senses and realised that the person I thought she was, was indeed a fictional character. Oh dear!
Anyway, once my characters are firmly fixed in my head and practically living with me on a day to day basis, I begin to write.
I always have a rough outline of the story in my head and I've already worked out the opening line, so I let my fingers beat the keyboard while the characters depict the story.
Does that sound strange?
So that's the end of this blog tour and I can honestly say that I quite enjoyed it. So bring on those blog tours peeps!
This blog tour will continue next week with three wonderful and supportive author friends of mine.
Michael Linford
Michael was born in Boscombe in 1977 and throughout his life has shown a passion for 3 things, music, books and people. 10 years spent in music
retail allowed him to immerse himself in music all day long, before moving onto care work, where he has spent 8 years looking after people, all with stories to tell.
Having had aspirations of being a writer since very early in his life, he started to write poetry as an emotional outlet for various issues he’d
suffered from throughout the years. In 2011 he put over 400 poems online, before eventually releasing 2 small collections both as digital downloads and in paperback form.
In 2012, Michael combined his love for books, music and people, in the writing of his debut novel ‘Music for the end of the world’.Michael is currently working on his second novel, entitled‘As the wolf howls’.
Michael will have his blog up and running in time for his first blog tour on Monday 10th Feb. Therefore I have included a link to his Facebook page for further enquiries about his new blog site.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaeljameswriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cupidmagicpoet
Mackenzie Brown
The wonderfully talented and supportive Mackenzie Brown is a writer based in Merseyside, UK. His books 'The Shifting,' 'The Book Of Souls', 'Lost Boys' and 'Prince of the City: The Cat's Whiskers', are available worldwide in both paperback and on Kindle.
You can find Mackenzie at the following contact links:
Website: http://mackbrown.weebly.com/
Tumblr: http://mackenzie-brown.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MackBrownBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mackbrownbooks
David Mitchell
David Mitchell lives in Thornton Cleveleys near Blackpool and has been writing since retiring as a primary school Headteacher in 2009. He works for League Two side Fleetwood Town as part of the media team, writing
features and match reports and, more recently, commentating. David is currently working on his fourth book.
His first was about his own life as a teacher, and was self-published. This was followed by ghost-writing 'Big Hands Big Heart', the autobiography of Eric Nixon, the former Manchester City and Tranmere Rovers goalkeeper.
The next project was quite different as David and his wife Susan combined with Hannah Rose, a close friend of the family. Hannah was attacked by a virus at the age of 15 and paralysed from the neck down. 'Hannah, Same Both Ways' is a moving account of how she has battled this life-changing condition and subsequently inspired others.
David has returned to football for his current book, a look at the colourful
life of Ian Liversedge, a physiotherapist who has worked at every level
from non-league to international and with the likes of Kevin Keegan, Ian Wright and Gazza. This will be released in 2014.
'Hannah, Same Both Ways' and 'Big Hands Big Heart' are available on Amazon:
Hannah, Same Both Ways: http://amzn.to/15OB5jy
Big Hands Big Heart: http://amzn.to/GBy00L
You can find out more about David and his books at the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/d_mitch54
Blog: 'Ramblings from Retirement': http://dmitchblog.wordpress.com/
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I'm somewhat relieved and happy to say that I no longer fear those dreaded words, 'Blog Tour'. I now understand how it all works and they really aren't as scary as I first thought. Thank you to Keri Beevis for sowing the seeds of growth for me.