Carrie Coupland, Author of A Day at the Zoo!

Today we are interviewing Carrie Coupland  about the children's picture book "A Day at the Zoo!"

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My interest started when I was a little girl reading animal books. I had many pets growing up so I was inspired to write my own stories about them. 

Who do you think would most appreciate this book?
Anyone who likes colourful pictures and rhyme. Although the general consensus is around under 8 and the parents that enjoy reading to them!

What inspired you to write a rhyming book about animals at the zoo?
I enjoy writing rhymes and have always been good at it. I also love animals.

How did you balance writing rhyming prose that is suitable for reading aloud with describing the illustrations? Did you have prior experience with rhyming? 
I drew up a story board and wrote the rhymes before illustrating them. 

You’re also an illustrator. Did your interest in writing and illustrating develop alongside each other? Or did one develop first?
I always loved drawing as a child and when I could write I was writing books about my pets.

What medium do you use to do your illustrations?
I sketched them on a pad and redrew and coloured them on procreate.

What are some of the animals featured in the book?
A lion, a monkey, a hippo.

Do you have a favorite animal in the book?
The hippo, he’s funny

Is there an author that had a major influence on your writing style?
I grew up reading Dick King Smith and loved all his animal books! I also love A.A Milne.

How long have you been writing?
Since I was big enough to hold a pencil!

What are your goals as a writer for the next ten years?
To not give up and keep writing and drawing. As long as my daughter enjoys my books that’s all that matters.

How have your readers responded to the book so far?
My friends and family have just ordered their copies and they love them. It helps I know many people with small children!

Is there any aspect of writing you don't like?
Getting stuck at a point but not really a problem with short children’s books.

What is your favorite part of writing children’s books?
Hoping that a little boy or girl loves reading or getting read your book. And that my own little girl likes my book too.

Have you ever had writer's block? If yes, how'd you deal with it? If you have not had writer's block, why do you think you haven't?
I think all writers get blocks, you just have to put it down and come back to it. Meditate, go out in nature or anywhere that will inspire your book, will help for inspiration!

What do you have in mind for your next project?
Possibly more “days at”. I’m illustrating lots at the moment, so hopefully I can write a book based on an illustration I’m proud of. 

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book? 
Enjoy reading to your little ones. Time goes so fast. My book easy and enjoyable to read!

More Information
Buy the book on Amazon.

David Wardrop, Author of Long Walk Home

Book cover for "Long Walk Home"

Today we are interviewing David Wardrop about his speculative fiction novel "Long Walk Home."

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am thirty and live in Glasgow, Scotland. Consider myself an active citizen scientist and spent a lot of time doing volunteer work with various groups and organizations.

Describe the plot of your new book in a few sentences.
It is the end of the world (of sorts) the planet has run out of petroleum and while things are going crazy the main character decides to journey from the city to his parents house, hence the title Long Walk Home. 

Who do you think would most appreciate this book?
I think teens and young adults mostly.

What inspired you to write a novel about a guy who decides to take a long walk to his parents’ house during the apocalypse?
Think right from the start I knew I wanted this novel to be light hearted and also it looks at how the end of the world is not the end of the world and that things still go on amidst massive upheaval and change. 

Are there any authors who have influenced your writing style?
Not influencing but probably responsible for me being a writer is Philip K. Dick. This writer was my introduction to science fiction and I have read the majority of his works, a truly incredible mind the author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Man in the High Castle Ubik and Valis to name a few.

Author David Wardrop

How do you feel about the increasing popularity of ebooks?
Ebooks are a good chance for debut writers to make their work available. It really is printing for the masses, essentially writing by the people for the people.

Is there any aspect of writing you don't like?
Time restraints, be it the outside world, or time spent reading other works.

Have you ever had writer's block? If yes, how'd you deal with it? If you have not had writer's block, why do you think you haven't?
It is not writers block as such but a lack of focus. It is hard to sit down and write and write and write.

Do you write with a computer, typewriter, or pen and paper? Why do you use this tool?
I have a notepad and use it for taking notes like a list of characters or a more detailed plot outline but all the novel and short story writing is done on computer.

What do you have in mind for your next project?
A number of things, the one I like the most is the UK under a dictatorship but the twist is it would be a Green Party dictatorship with the environment put first.

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?
The main purpose of the novel is to make people look on the lighter side of things.
 
An excerpt from "Long Walk Home":

She said, “It is the end of days.” And then she started crying. It was so weird to see the boss cry but what was even weirder than that was when she jumped out the window seconds later.

I stood there a couple of minutes, maybe five I don’t know, before I fully registered what had happened. 

One minute she was standing there saying it was the end of days, whatever the chocolate fudge that meant, the next she dived out the window.

Another thing that was weird was that she could actually lift her feet off the ground in order to leap out the window.

My boss, Mrs Danton, is, was, a pretty heavy set woman but she leaped out the window like a gold medallist athlete.

More Information
Visit the "Long Walk Home" Lulu page
Find "Long Walk Home" on Smashwords
Check out David Wardrop's other work, "After"

Richard Titus, Author of The Gift of Quoxxel

Today we are interviewing Richard Titus about his YA fantasy novel The Gift of Quoxxel.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Your “basic, garden variety, introverted arts nerd” about sums it up.  My mother recalls that I was “always making something.”  With my dad’s tutelage, that included, among other things, assorted models (both wood and plastic), a crystal radio set, an eleven-foot sailboat (we never quite finished) and anything we could cut out on the jigsaw and hammer together in Dad’s basement workshop.  On our own, my siblings and I were often sprawled on the floor, hard at work with paper, pencils and crayons.

My interests were always in visual arts, music and language.  The language interest was first put to use when I received Russian language training in the Air Force.  Having seldom been outside of the Midwest, a three year tour in West Berlin was an education in of itself.

After the Air Force, I studied at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and worked a few years doing illustration and graphic design.  Fast forward a few years and I found myself in the lovely Garden State, close enough to experience Manhattan without having to be a full-time resident.

Language played a role in my life again about this time.  I met a Ukrainian couple who had, at that time, been in the States about two years.  We agreed to an “tutoring exchange” arrangement – they would help me learn more Russian and I would teach them English.  To give you the Reader’s Digest condensed version, I’ll just say that I met my wife Marina through this couple (who just happened to be her aunt and uncle).

There have been many extreme and convoluted happenings along the way but that is your basic freeze-dried, just add water condensed version of the art nerd from Michigan. 

Describe your new book in a few sentences.
King Norr of Nibb was not content.  He longed to know of the world beyond his tiny, island kingdom.  Why travel elsewhere, his people said. What place could possibly be more perfect than Nibb?

What frustrated Norr even more, outsiders never came to Nibb.  Foreign ships approached, hesitated, then sailed away.  Why was that?

And that wasn't the only mystery.

Who was the little girl who sang, but would not speak?

What kind of monster lurked in the bay?

Had Dr Hinkus been devoured by woolly drumbkins?

And most importantly, what’s for lunch?

Drearily perfect Nibb was about to turn upside down.  As King Norr often said, it's enough to give one "haddocks."

What inspired you to write this book?
This was the process of "writing a story backwards."  First, you start with an illustration and then write a story around it.

It all started with this painting -- The Return of the Quoxxel anticipated by the citizens of Nibb  --       a 16 x 20 inch oil painting on panel finished in 2005.

I had no idea of a story when I did this painting, yet, the image suggested it represented an event “somewhere."  Apparently, it was up to me to write about it. 

After much trial and error, I arrived at the end product -- The Gift of the Quoxxel.

Who was your favorite character to write?
They were equally fun but the most challenging had to be the pirate characters.  As they were based somewhat in historical reality, I researched The Golden Age of Pirates (approximately 1660-1730) for background details and jargon of the day.

What was the creative process like for you?
Trial and error.  That is, pursue one plot path, see where it leads.  Doggedly slogging through that jungle brings one finally to a rewarding end.

It says in your biography that you have written a lot of material, but never had it published. Do you intend to share this work in the future?
Most of what I have written is song lyrics for melodies I composed.

I read an interview with Judy Collins once where she expressed that song lyrics are not poetry.  This may be true for most pop music, but the approach I took was to write words that had their own value independent of music. 

That being said, I’m not highly trained in music theory, so I’m in the process of having a transcriber write the sheet music from recordings I provide her.  I hope to put all the songs into a collection if only to have a permanent record of them.

Is there an author that had a major influence on you while you were growing up?
I don’t recall any one author having a major influence on me.  It was adventure enough reading Mark Twain or the various books offered by our community “bookmobile.”  I recall the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift filling our home book shelves at one time.  There was always something interesting to read about the house.
   
What do you have in mind for your next project?
I’m sketching out another story set in Nibb.  Core characters will be back, new characters will show up.  Nibb, as it turns out, is a sort of Nexxus for weirdness.  And, as King Norr says, “If you like that sort of thing, then that’s the sort of thing you like.”

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?
I intend to add more illustrations and possibly some more music to “The Quoxxel” and the abilities of Kindle can be thanked for that.

I’m not sure how many people know that, once purchased, the Kindle book can be updated for free to receive a revised edition.  One need only contact customer service and request an “update” free of charge.  I’ll be posting on The Gift of the Quoxxel Facebook page when a revision is available at which time an owner of the book can call customer service and request the update.

With Kindle, we may have lost the homey, tactile quality of the paper book, but, we’ve gained other book qualities that were heretofore never imagined.

Book Excerpt
To read an excerpt of The Gift of Quoxxel, go to: http://www.richard-titus.com/GotQ-01.htm.

More Information
The Gift of Quoxxel Facebook page 
The author's website
The Gift of Quoxxel on Amazon