Hi, thanks to
David for asking me to introduce myself. My name is Vickie and I like to write
books, which sounds like an introduction at a Writers Anonymous Help meeting
(WAH for short!). My favourite things include the colour blue, Milky Bar, Baileys,
dancing like an eejit, rain (it smells green), The Walking Dead, Buffy, Pride & Prejudice, Fantastic Mr Fox, Hans
Christian Anderson, the sea, rock
music, birdsong and animals. I love writing, but my biggest flaw is laziness. I
never used to finish anything. Discovering self-publishing in 2011 and online
writers’ groups changed all that. Since then I’ve written 11 books. They are 13
in all, and I’m now writing a zombie one. Munch.
Animals have
inspired my writing. They are my big love. We always had pets in our house when
I was young, to the point that I think we could have charged an entry fee as a
petting zoo.From The Ugly Duckling to Fantastic
Mr Fox, human characters didn’t get a look in when I was choosing a book as
a kid. To me, they weren’t as interesting as animals, especially ones that
could speak. When I was a little girl I thought I could communicate to birds by
winking! And, nope, they never answered back, or at least I could never
decipher their chirps. I even wanted to marry Bugs Bunny at one point,
not realising him being an animal and a cartoon would be a setback.
As a kid, I
wrote a lot, but I seemed to lose this as I got older. The earliest story I can
remember was about Miss Pepperpot. My
teacher asked us to write our own versions and I put my classmates in mine. It
was read out and I remember going bright red. I even managed to finish a
detective story and a romance around the age of 14, although I don’t have them
anymore. From the age of 16, I was writing poetry, inspired by a female English
teacher, who liked them, astonishingly. My main problem was laziness, along
with a big lack of confidence. From university, my social life and work took
over. I’d start stories and not finish them, but I wrote a lot of poetry
because they took about five or ten minutes – great for my limited attention
span.
The first book
I ever finished was Kiwi in Cat City
in 2002 (in my 30s!). I didn’t show the book to anyone except one publisher,
who rejected it without comment, and I forgot about it. I never
submitted it again, thinking it was rubbish. Around Christmas 2011, my
boyfriend read about kindle self-publishing. I dug out Kiwi, typed it up, edited it, found a cover and published it. I
think this is one of the most fulfilling things I ever did. I thought to
myself, even if no one reads this, I’ve fulfilled my dream, which was to
publish a book. The first reviewer liked it and I was overwhelmed. I then met a
lot of authors who were just as crazy about books as me, and I’ve written 11
since, inspired by them. To me this is a miracle.
My first dog was called Glen. I immortalised him in 3 Heads & A Tail, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo. I think every
writer should try this at least once – it’s very freeing. My attempt was a
seat-of-the-pants job and I wasn’t sure if the story would make sense to
anyone, never mind make them laugh, for it’s a comedy romance and the hero is a
dog called Glen. He is the central character, around whom everyone else
revolves. He’s emotional, intelligent, a bit eccentric and in love with the
cutest dog in the park, Mimi. He also swears a lot. Sigh.
I’ve published three books of poetry, which I love writing, even though
I know my readers are few.
The Sea Inside is my newest book, which I published in
May 2013. It is a fantasy adventure that revolves around a sixteen-year-old
girl called Jayne, who wakes from a coma to find herself in hospital with
life-changing injuries. Visited by a mysterious woman, she receives a gift that
opens a portal to a mystical realm. I started writing this book in 2009, and
kept getting stuck. I always write without an outline and I couldn’t think of where
to take the plot, so the story got abandoned for a while. I added bits over the
years, eventually finishing it this year. Horrah! For the first time I had
three beta readers, because I was not sure about this book and their comments
gave me the confidence to publish it.
I wrote the comedy horror Day
of the Living Pizza for The Gage Project book, published by Inknbeans
Press, which is raising money for children’s charities. The book came about
because a friend’s son, Gage Bailey, was due to go into hospital for a scary
operation. Jo of Inknbeans organised the book for him, which is an anthology of
stories, poems and jokes. I made the ebook version free on Amazon US in a bid
to promote the bigger charity book, which also contains some other work of
mine. When writing the story, I asked Gage’s mother what his favourite things
were. She said The Walking Dead,
chicken, pizza and rock music. All of these things worked their way into the
book and pizza zombies were born. Detective Smarts and Officer Dewdrop are a
bit bungling, in Carry on Screaming
style, and everything about Crazy Name Town is just silly.
What I love
about writing for youngsters is the escapism and freedom of creating fantasy
worlds, and throwing in some magic because we all love to believe it’s possible.
I try to make the language simple to understand, without dumbing it down. Kids
are intelligent after all, and learning new words is good. I think they see
things that we don’t see. In my books, the animals have the same rights as
humans and wish to be treated with respect. I think that learning is important.
We all learn things as we grow up, and often through making mistakes. We learn
what is good and what is bad, and we learn how to trust in ourselves. Good deeds
are rewarded and bad ones are not.
I treasure reviews,
but especially from children. It’s wonderful to hear what they think. It almost
feels like they’ve read the book with me or stepped into it, running with Kiwi
and turning into a kitten to go on an adventure. Then I’m reminded of being
nine again and escaping into a novel, tucked up in bed. Kids are savvy and open
to new things. They are the new generation of discoverers, eager to embark on
their own journeys. And some will grow up to write stories that remind them of
their childhood dreams.
My advice to anyone writing a book is...
Vickie lives in London, UK, and works as a freelance layout sub editor. Her first book, Kiwi in Cat City, was written in 2002, and she has scribbled stories and poetry all her life. Since the beginning of 2011, Vickie has written eleven books and is currently working on some new ideas. Her loves include cats, reading, films, travelling, rock music, Castle, The Walking Dead, tea, the sea, sleeping and Milky Bar.
Vickie has self-published the following books:
Kaleidoscope (poetry); Travelling Light (poetry); Life’s Rhythms (haiku); 3 Heads and a Tail (comedy romance); Kiwi in Cat City (magical cat series for middle grade readers); Kiwi and the Missing Magic; Kiwi and the Living Nightmare; Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle; Kiwi in the Realm of Ra; Kiwi’s Christmas Tail; Day of the Living Pizza (comedy detective series for middle grade readers), Day of the Pesky Shadow and The Sea Inside. The Kiwi Series has illustrations by Nikki McBroom.
Contact / book links
Blog:
Twitter:
Kiwi Series website:
FB author page:
FB Kiwi Series page:
FB poetry page:
FB editing service page:
Amazon US page:
Amazon UK page:
Smashwords page:
B&N page:
Kobo:
Goodreads:
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