My Next Big Thing

Having been double-tagged recently for the Next Big Thing by Gilli Allan and Joanne Lambert, I couldn’t really refuse, so hang to your hats and settle down to read about what’s simmering on the back burner of creation for Kit Domino.

The game plan is I answer a stack of questions about what I’m currently working on and tag five other friends to take part. The questions are easy to deal with, what isn’t is the sad fact I haven’t got five friends left to tag (Billy No Mates Left, me!) as most, it seems, have been tagged already. But what the heck, I’ll do it anyway. If you want to take part in next week’s bundle feel free. Let me know and I’ll add you as an official tag. Of course, you can just go ahead and tell us about your next big thing anyway. So… here goes mine.

Ten Interview Questions: The Next Big Thing

What is the working title of your book?  I’m currently working on Whitestones. The book is finished and has been for some time but is in the process of being reworked and updated.

Where did the idea come from for the book? The story was inspired from hearing a particular piece of classical music  for the first time. I’m a great lover of classical music but this is not one of those frequently played on radio, but the sort of tune that once you’ve heard it, you can’t help falling in love with it. I came cross it by chance on a complication CD. I thought it so beautiful, so dreamy and romantic I had to use it, even to the point of obtaining the sheet music and teaching myself to play it on the piano, and so plays an integral part to the plot.

What genre does your book fall under? That’s a difficult one to answer. I would class it as a romantic mystery, but because it has paranormal elements it’s been classed (by others) as a paranormal.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? There are four central characters within Whitestones. Keria Knightly would be brilliant Penny, the lead heroine, alongside Anna Friel. The jury’s still out over the male roles but I would love Kevin Costner to play Harry, the lead male, failing that, Patrick Demsey, with George Cloney playing the professor.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A story of music and love that transcends the barriers of time.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? ThornBerry Publishing will be publishing the ebook, hopefully next year if I can pull my finger out.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Probably about 12 months. It’s had many rewrites already as it was first drafted many years ago, long before Every Step of the Way.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? There is a touch of Rebecca in the beginning, and think Nicholas Sparks and Barbara Erskine and you would be on the right track, but because Whitestones is cross-genre, and has a story line that is, I have been told by “those in the know”, quite different to anything else around, I can’t think of a single book I could compare it with.

Widden Hill House. Picture courtesy of David Harper

Who or What inspired you to write this book? There were two inspirations. The first, a large mansion in the Cotswolds near Chipping Sodbury where I lived once upon a time (pictured). The other, the fact that I’ve always been fascinated by the unexplained, paranormal events, ghosts and hauntings etc. It was whilst watching a series on TV some years ago that explored many of the locations around Britain that were reportedly haunted, I realised that many of these occurrences had a familiar theme. I began to question what was behind these stories, delving and digging deeper and reaching my own conclusions in seeking to find an explanation. This is explored in Whitestones. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Picture the scene: A lonely house overlooking the Severn valley on a stormy night during the wettest summer in recorded history, Penny alone inside. Cue music – making Penny think she’s left a radio on somewhere in the house. Okay, cut music. … I said CUT MUSIC! Oh, you have? Ah, now that really is a problem because Penny can still hear it. In her head, playing over and over again. Constantly playing, for days at a time, enough to drive her to the brink of insanity and headlong towards a breakdown. And so begins her and Harry’s journey to seek out the source and find answers. What they discover will astound them, and you.

Okay … now over to you.

(Read my recent interviews with Carol E Wyer   and Nicky Wells)

Fellow author at ThornBerry Publishing, Shirley Wright also talks about her Next Big Thing is too! Click here to read

36 thoughts

  2. I think your artistic streak means you appreciate ALL of the arts Kit and music is just another example. Play lists are so popular nowadays and it is interesting to hear about what goes through a writer’s mind as they plan a new book. Or in this case, pull it all together. This is another one I can’t wait to read!

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  5. Love novels that have music running through them to add so much atmosphere. In the past have enjoyed An Equal Music by Vikram Seth and Appassionata by Jilly Cooper, think they had a CD (or was it tape?!!) to go with the book. And with the connection to my Cotswolds roots I’m sure this will be one for me!! Plus – you LIVED in that mansion?!! Wow!

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    1. Hi Miriam. Haven’t read Appassionata by Jilly Cooper. Will hunt it out. Went back to see the house a few years ago, wished I hadn’t. The new owner had changed part of it and completely changed the garden. It wasn’t the same, although the views from it are still spectacular. For me, having grown in London right by Heathrow, living in the Cotswold countryside was heaven. X

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  7. Music is totally central to my writing, but must admit am not a classical fan. Currently putting together playlists for the new book to bring the scenes to life. You’ve teased us all with a taster for this new book, looking forward to reading it!

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    1. Ha ha Mission accomplished then.:) Thanks for tagging me in this Joanne. Looking forward to your next book too. So enjoyed Between Today and Yesterday. Hope it does well for you. X

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  9. I’ve had a piece of music in my head for days now, but it’s not mysterious. It’s just b***** annoying. Your answers to the Next Big Thing have really intrigued me. I can’t wait for the book to come out. Now I’m off to find one of those ‘complication’ CDs.

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    1. Hi Gilli. Thanks for tagging me. It was great fun to do and has made me all the more determined to hurry up and finish the rewrite. At the moment I can’t get the theme song from Tangled out of my head. It’s been there for weeks. Serves me right for watching kids films when I should be writing. All the best and a warm hug X

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  11. It’s official. I must be mad. Or possessed. I always have music in my head. And books, too. At the same time. GREAT post and Whitestones sounds really intriguing. Write on, my friend, write on. Will you be making the cover art again?? X

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  13. Wait, wait… You mean I’m NOT supposed to hear music in my head all the time?
    Uh, oh…

    Just kidding – very interesting post, though. Thanks for sharing this info – here’s hoping it drums up more sales when the book comes out!

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  14. Oh my goodness – what an exciting post. I have goosebumps reading your last answer – and so many questions too about what happens. Gosh, come on Kit, get you finger out and get Whitestones out there!

    Janice xx

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  15. Interesting that you first wrote Whitestones many years ago. and that it has been through a lot of re-writes. as the same applies to my book, Rough Cut, the first draft of which I wrote in 1996, 15 years before I finished it and published it! 🙂

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    1. Hello Owen. Lovely to see you here. And would you believe Whitestones wasn’t the first novel I’d written – there were two more before that! Me and my books go back a long way and are like firm friends.

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  16. Hi Kit
    The book sounds fascinating – also the setting – don’t think I recognise the house although I feel I should – so many great piles in these parts! By the way, the way you put it it sounds like you lived in it – well maybe you did!
    All the best with getting the book out there. Now off to do my own NBT!
    Ali B

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    1. Hi Alison. You can see the house from Chipping Sodbury Common, looking towards Horton, and from the golf course. Unless, that is, there’s trees around it now but it is very prominent. And yes, I did live in it for several years. Looking forward to hearing about your next big thing too! 🙂

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      1. Oh,Kit, what a lovely surprise to find you’ve bought my book. So glad you enjoyed it.
        Yes, I found your post very intriguing, and loved the photos , and the idea of the house… as you say, rather Rebecca -ish, and all the better for that too – I love those atmospherish sort of books – look forward to knowing more about yours

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