The ‘Next Big Thing’. Ten questions about Miss Homicide Plays the Flute

I was tagged in this “Next Big Thing” thing by my talented train-loving friend David Rix.

The objective of the game is simple – answer 10 questions, then pass them on to other people you think are of interest.

1) What is the title of your next book?

I am not sure exactly what my next book will be, as I have two forthcoming, The Metanatural Adventures of Dr. Black and Miss Homicide Plays the Flute, and the exact publication dates are not yet set for either. For the purposes of this exercise though, I will use Miss Homicide Plays the Flute.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I have no idea really. Occasionally I am inspired to write, but more often than not I simply write. I mean, yes, I think of stories before hand, but it is not as if they usually come in a sudden flash. Usually if I think of something I write it down, and if it seems interesting I finish it.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Are there genres? If so, I want nothing to do with them. The idea reminds me of teenagers banding together into groups of “punks”, “metalheads”, and so forth and then knifing each other on the high school football field at midnight. I suppose some marketing genius thought up this idea at one point—the “genres” not the “knifings”. I wonder where Dante would have put him?

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I would go and find a group of homeless alcoholics and film them with my i-phone and then dub their voices in using aged and out of work porn actors, preferably German.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

This book was written, now it shall be read by the will of God.

6) When will the book be published?

In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013. In 2013.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Well, the way I write, there is basically just one draft. After that some small things might need tidying up, but very little is changed. This one took a long time though. Or maybe not. I can’t remember. Part of the problem is I usually work on a few things at once and a book can sit there untouched and unfinished for a while, then maybe I add some pages, or maybe finish it.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Within my genre a bird sang, I loved the sound of its sweet sweet twang, sort of like a great and purple big bang. I wouldn’t compare it to any books. If someone else wants to, they can. I don’t. Or maybe they will compare their book to mine?

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Isn’t this like question 2? Yes, it is question 2, rephrased to make question 9. Probably the same Who or What inspired me that inspired this question to be asked. The Great Absolute.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Nothing about this book will pique anyone’s interest. People of good taste will read it and be disgusted but admit that there are some good lines in it. People who like horror will shudder and talk about wilting flowers. The great critics probably won’t read it. Lovers of Young Adult Literature will hate it. It will be labeled as trash. Some people will scour the internet for signed copies. Others will abandon their copies on trains or give them to their perverted 19 year old cousins.

 

Now – time for me to send this onwards and find a few more people.  Who can I shift it upon? 

• Rhys Hughes, who if you have never heard of, well you probably have not read a short story in the last twenty or thirty years, and if you have heard of, you will hear again, in a clear and sonorous voice.
  
• Ben Peek, known by those who know as one of the finest writers in the entire Southern Hemisphere.