A short while ago I received an email from author Karen McCann inviting me to pass the torch for her in “The Next Big Thing”.  Karen is the author of Dancing in the Fountain, a fun book about living in and loving Spain. An American, who moved to Spain with her husband in 2004, this is her story of how she fell in love with Seville.  The book is light, informative and very amusing.
“The Next Big Thing” is all about what writers / bloggers are working on, what will be their next big project. The idea is that each week an author passes the torch on to five others for the following week’s “The Next Big Thing.”

So here goes :-

What is the working title of your book?

Santiago Tales

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Years ago I visited Santiago de Compostela and was fascinated by its history.  I was also intrigued by the idea of going on a pilgrimage.  In fact I never did do a pilgrimage but decided to send my characters on one instead.

What genre does your book fall under?

Women’s contemporary fiction

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Kate Winslett would make a wonderful Beth

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Multilingual and multi-national they come to Santiago de Compostela, hoping to find an answer to their problems, even Beth, who does not believe in miracles.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It’s too soon to say.  I have a publisher, who seems to be interested but if that comes to nothing, then I will self-publish it.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your book?

About three to four months.  Since then there have been numerous revisions.

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

It’s difficult to say because the book has a number of short stories within a main story.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I fancied writing a book along the lines of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, but wanted to put it in a modern setting.  The Camino de Santiago seemed an ideal place to set the action.

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

It is a very human story about a women who is at a low point in her life and it shows how she manages to overcome her problems and emerge, stronger than ever.  She meets a number of interesting people on her pilgrimage and each one has a tale to tell.

That’s all there is to the questions.  Now I list my five authors that have agreed to take up the torch from me.

They are:
JG HARLOND author of  the historical novels “The Chosen Man” and “The Magpie” .  Jane also writes English text books for the OUP, under the name Jane Arredondo.

ANN VICTORIA ROBERTS‘ latest book, “The Master’s Tale”, is the story of the ill-fated captain of the Titanic; she has also written a number of historical novels, including the best-seller, “Louisa Elliott”.

ANGELA CLARENCE has been a travel writer for the last twenty years.  Lately she has been turning her hand to writing romantic novels.

RICHARD TORNE is a journalist and editor of the English language newspaper Costa Almeria News.  He is also the author of “A Dedicated Maniac“, the story of film director David Lean’s right hand man Eddie Fowlie.

RICHARD DONOVAN is the author of the exciting novel “Cape Torment”.  Based on a true story about a horrific plane crash in Canada, this well researched book cleverly  reveals how a cold blooded killer was responsible for the death of crew and passengers of the Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 on

Many thanks to the wonderfully talented authors for taking part in this, please do go and visit their websites and read their books. (Click on their names to go directly to their websites.)