Today, I'm pleased to be hosting Madeleine Maddocks from Scribble & Edit. Join me in congratulating Madeleine on the release of Ultimate Sacrifice. Madeleine will answer some questions to do with her writing journey as part of her Bombshell Launch.
1.
What do you think influenced you most ? Other
authors, family, school, friends?
I have always enjoyed writing as a means of expressing myself and made books and stories from the moment I could make words, so I guess my family probably encouraged my writing initially. I also used to have great feedback from my teachers at school who often read out my stories as examples of good writing. Naturally I was chuffed to bits!
I have always enjoyed writing as a means of expressing myself and made books and stories from the moment I could make words, so I guess my family probably encouraged my writing initially. I also used to have great feedback from my teachers at school who often read out my stories as examples of good writing. Naturally I was chuffed to bits!
2. How
did your journey lead to writing your latest book?
I stopped writing for many years due to life commitments and confidence issues and then because writing is in my blood I decided to take it up again and took a 9 month course in creative writing. I realised it was only the beginning. I still had lots more to learn. I started reading lots more and buying writing magazines and learned that these days having a blog is important so 2 years ago (almost) I started one of those as well. I feel the blog writing, challenges and the feedback and support from fellow writerly bloggers has made my writing mature exponentially. I have been trying to cut my teeth on short stories, though they are the hardest to get right and happened upon the idea for Ultimate Sacrifice in a magazine. That ‘What If’ moment struck me and formed the basis for my story.
3. Tell us about your chosen genre(s) Where
did the idea come from for latest work?
How long did it take for you to write ? Did you have to do any research?
How long did it take for you to write ? Did you have to do any research?
I have dabbled in various genres, including children’s historical, crime, but I guess I prefer realistic fiction/ romance/ chick lit; YA; short stories, flash fiction, poetry & haiku. I guess, my fascination with behavioural psychology influences how I develop my characters. I have also produced my own magazines for my cloth figure making and the Cats Protection charity I support.
4. How did you choose your title and was it your
first choice?
No it wasn’t my first choice, but rapidly became the favourite. In fact I can’t remember what I called it initially. I read a wonderful; pdf on the Mslexia website about titles which made me re-evaluate the title. I realised my story was very much about sacrifice and I asked myself, who in this story has made the ultimate sacrifice?
No it wasn’t my first choice, but rapidly became the favourite. In fact I can’t remember what I called it initially. I read a wonderful; pdf on the Mslexia website about titles which made me re-evaluate the title. I realised my story was very much about sacrifice and I asked myself, who in this story has made the ultimate sacrifice?
5.
How
much time a day do you spend on: Blogs? On Facebook? On Twitter?
Madeleine at her desk |
Not enough. I don’t have time to Tweet; I find Facebook difficult to follow (silly as most other software programmes are fine) Blogging is a full-time commitment to be done well, but at the end of the day, as Neil Gaiman advises if the blogging & emails takes up more time than the actual writing then stop them and get back to your writing.
6.
Do
you also work for a living or is writing your sole occupation?
I have recently been
appointed as part-time Communications Tutor in a special school for
behaviourally challenged adolescents. It’s exciting and scary and will
certainly take up some of my writing/ blogging time.
7.
How many books have you had published to date?
I have had flash fiction, haiku and the opening 250 words of a story accepted for various competitions by magazines and online groups for publication.
Ultimate Sacrifice will be my first short story/ novella of just under 7,000 words. My realistic fiction/ suspense story is a WIP that I would want to send out to publishing houses, rather than take it down the self publishing route.
Bless you Joy. Thanks for the wonderful interview post.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a red, white, and blue cover. It's more patriotic than the olympic jackets our teams are wearing on the podium when they win medals!
ReplyDeleteNo worries, Madeleine.
ReplyDeleteMike, I guess the cover captures the theme of the story pretty well. I should be paying more attention to the Olympics.
Congrats on publishing your work, Madeleine. The Cover is eye-catching. I'll hop over to your blog.
ReplyDeleteThree Cheers to Madeleine for reaching this publication milestone :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the interview, and especially loved that she finds fb confusing to follow. Me too!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Madeleine! I didn't realize this book was out already :)
ReplyDeleteIt was great reading about Madeleine's writing journey here. Congrats to her.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Madeleine! The title is gripping. I'm also Facebook challenged...
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy. Thanks Madeleine. Always a little more to learn about our blogger buddies!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for joining Madeleine here.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Madeleine! It always stinks when we have to take a time out because of life. I bet it was worth it though!
ReplyDeleteFabulous interview, Joy.
ReplyDeleteYay to Madeleine. It's great to get to know a little more about you. I'm glad you didn't give up writing.
Thanks for dropping in, guys. Appreciate the visit.
ReplyDeleteI heard on NPR today that all of Jamaica is in celebration of their 50th Independence and along with that, in celebration of all the gold medals won by world class sprinters like Usain Bolt and the female counterpart (whose name escapes me at the moment). So congratulations on being a part of such a small island that shakes the world at the Olympics!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. Thanks. We had a blast here yesterday. Hope they continue to do well.
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