Big things are often big because they wallop you without warning. Sometimes, though, you can be made aware with a little advance notice, like a tornado warning. That's what The Next Big Thing is all about: it's nascent notification of a global blog tour that originates in Australia, designed to put a spotlight on authors and illustrators and their latest work -- hoping it will be THE NEXT BIG THING! Wowza! My lovely and talented writing colleague and friend, Cynthia Cotten, tagged me, so now I'm IT, as the ol' game goes. Thank you, Cyndy for thinking of me!
Below are answers to the questions posed by The Next Big Thing, related to my newest book. I've tagged an author colleague below, too, who will then tag a couple of authors as well, and so on and so on. Fun!
So THIS is My Next Big Thing!
1.
What is the working title of your new book?
My newest book is MISS SWITCH AND THE VILE VILLAINS, with a short little follow-up book, MISS SWITCH’S BATHSHEBA AND THE CAT CAPER, featuring Miss Switch’s cat -- probably the only feline in the book world who flies a broomstick on her own. Miss Switch, of course, is not only a witch, but a very popular teacher of fifth and sixth grade in an elementary school. How she gets there is learned in the first Miss Switch book, THE TROUBLE WITH MISS SWITCH, followed by MISS SWITCH TO THE RESCUE, and MISS SWITCH ONLINE.
My newest book is MISS SWITCH AND THE VILE VILLAINS, with a short little follow-up book, MISS SWITCH’S BATHSHEBA AND THE CAT CAPER, featuring Miss Switch’s cat -- probably the only feline in the book world who flies a broomstick on her own. Miss Switch, of course, is not only a witch, but a very popular teacher of fifth and sixth grade in an elementary school. How she gets there is learned in the first Miss Switch book, THE TROUBLE WITH MISS SWITCH, followed by MISS SWITCH TO THE RESCUE, and MISS SWITCH ONLINE.
2. Where did the idea come from for the
book?
I
had this idea floating around about MISS SWITCH & THE CLASSICS. I brought
it up to my publisher and they loved the idea. With a little refinement, I honed
the idea more and came up with the plot for the new book, which puts Miss
Switch and her student, Rupert, in a literal page-turning adventure. They must
escape some of literature’s most notorious vile villains!
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Probably
fantasy, and I use the word “probably” because I have never thought of this
story as fantasy. The
setting of the elementary school and the characters all seem quite real to me.
But with the likes of Peter Pan and others joining the tale, I imagine this
adventure would fall into the fantasy genre for sure.
4. What actors would you choose to play
the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
With
the first novel, my dream would be for Carol Burnett to play Miss Switch! The story has lots of humor, and she
would be perfect! (Carol Burnett,
by the way, is a “notable” graduate of UCLA. So am I, wonder of wonders. Fancy that!) For the latest book, I think Tina Fey or Amy Poehler would be fabulous. They’d bring great attitude to the part. For
Rupert, maybe Romeo Beckham, the son of David and Victoria Beckham. Romeo’s got
a mischievous look and a cocky confidence about him that would really work for
the role of Rupert.
5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your
book?
Rupert gets caught up in an adventure with Miss
Switch that propels him into classic stories, where the evil witch Saturna
devises a way to make sure that Rupert and his unlucky classmates meet the same
terrible ends as the vile villains who’ve gone missing within their respective
tales.
6. Who is publishing your book?
7. How long did it take you to write the
first draft of the manuscript?
This
is embarrassing. I wrote the first
draft in just a week! It was all
in my head and I just had to get it down in a huge hurry. So I did. Of course, the whole process
took a little longer because of revisions and such.
8. What other books would you compare this
story to within your genre?
Can’t
think of any. Apparently it was
original enough for ABC Television to take notice. They made THE TROUBLE WITH MISS SWITCH into a TV show for
their Weekend Specials. When it became the highest rated of the series, they
asked me for another MISS SWITCH story.
So I wrote MISS SWITCH TO THE RESCUE for them, and it joined book one as
the other highest rated of the series. We’re developing the book series for
entertainment again, as there’s a whole new world of kids out there!
9. Who or what inspired you to write this
book?
My
agents told me not to write the first book, so I guess I can only say I
inspired myself. Is that
possible? Must be! But the latest
book was at the request of my publisher. They think there’s an eager market for
this kind of classic tale, so who am I to disagree?
10. What else about the book might pique the
reader’s interest?
The
story is original, a little suspenseful, only a tiny bit scary, and pretty
funny. Miss Switch is an
enormously popular teacher at Pepperdine Elementary School, and I would like to
think she would be enormously popular with anyone who reads about her! Witch though Miss Switch may be, this
is definitely NOT just a story for Halloween. Halloween hardly enters into it. In fact, it isn’t even Halloween when Miss Switch arrives on
the scene. Or if it is, nobody
mentioned it to ME!
Here is the cover and link to the Next Big Thing in the world of stories about witches -- and the only stories about a witch who's a teacher!
Okay, now to stir the kettle and thicken the binary brew: pixel, mix well, conjure up the hex well! Here's a link to Hamish De'Lamet's blog, where he will tell you about his Next Best Thing!
