Author: blogespresso

Book: The Biscuits

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Q1. Hello Mam, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

Hi I’m Rachel I have been an artist / illustrator for 30 years I live on a farm near a small village in the Cotswolds. I spend my days doing art work and caring for my daughter who has a chronic illness. All of the proceeds from my art and these books goes to her fund. She was undiagnosed with a life threatening illness for 14 years. She is now 22 & has a poor quality of life because she became so poorly due to non diagnosis. I am hoping The Biscuits will become a thing so I may give her all of the medical treatments and medications she needs to make her well again, here is a link for more about Molly http://www.mollysmiracle.co.uk. I’m also mum to another 3 children Primrose poppy & Joshua & have a husband called Martin. We have lots of animals & live in a beautiful part of the world.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘The Biscuits’ book?

I came up with the idea of the Biscuits a long time ago… it came about as my son was dunking a Biscuit. Duncan Biscuit was born. The only challenges I found whilst writing this first book Mr Richard Tea was managing everything else around me. We were in lockdown at the time because of covid. As molly was clinically extremely vulnerable we were all very very worried & fearful for her. Other than that it was a great stress relief.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

I think Roahl Dahl has to be my most favourite author, his sense of humour and creative mind was just brilliant.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

I think our favourite spot in the country other than home has to be Cornwall. We visit Cornwall for our summer holidays as we have never been able to take Molly abroad. It has uch a beautiful cost line and the beaches are fantastic ( if of course the old British rain holds off)

Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

I normally illustrate books so have been doing the job for quite some time. I found that to invent all of the characters first was very helpful as I could see them in my mind when writing the story.

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Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘The Biscuits’ book?

It took about a year on and off mainly because the illustrations take so long. I also did a few too many illustrations which I have put on the website I know my page numbers now I’m writing book 2. My publisher was really good with the knowledge he has and so I’m glad to have him on board. I find it so much easier to write the story illustrate each page and then re write the story, this is how it all eventually comes together

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find ‘The Biscuits’ book to buy?

The Biscuits Mr Richard Tea is available on Amazon, in shops locally and will soon be ready to order from bookshops. It’s also available on the website http://www.thebiscuitsofcrumbleton.co.uk

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Biscuits’?

The cover is simply the character Mr Richard Tea. There are 20 books in the series I am currently working on Custard Queen. Each cover will have the character on the front as to who’s story it is

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I find so much inspiration from just general life really. There is always something going on here on the farm…. like my husband chasing an escaped horse down the lane, the sheep escaping & running loose all over the place. The cows once came in to my garden & dug up the new lawn… these things go on constantly and with my big family well they are always up to mischief too… I have so much material I’m sure I could write Biscuit books for the rest of my days

Book Is Available On Website And Amazon

Book: Bad Dreams

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Q1. Hello Maám, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

My name is Bethany, I grew up home-schooled and an only child ‘til I was 10. Then my little brother came along and he was better than being an only child. My Mum would read to me every day and my Dad told me stories every night before bed so I grew up telling myself stories and making people repeat themselves multiple times before I heard them from inside the book I was reading. One day I’d like a pet Aardvark. And otter. And lion. That’s not too much to ask from life right?

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Bad Dreams’ book?

Bad Dreams was a kids book so the main problem I had with it actually getting the whole story written. I tend to write a chunk of something down then write the rest in my head and never put it on paper.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

The Bible has wonderful language and expressions in it so I probably got my first appreciation for the English language from that. As a kid I loved, and continue to love, books like The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell, Seven Little Australians, Enid Blyton books, Narnia… anything that could pull me completely me into its world or had especially beautiful writing. Recently I discovered Tolkien and he’s probably had the biggest direct influence on my writing.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

Any beach. I think the beach is my favourite part of God’s creation. You can walk on it, sit beside it, explore, listen to it… It never gets boring.

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Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?

Yes and no. I have heaps of ideas that I’ll write down either in one of my writing books or my phone and that’s easy. But actually putting it into a proper story format takes a LOT longer because I don’t have a lot of spare time.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Bad Dreams’ book?

I can’t actually remember how long it took me to write it. I wrote it a few years ago and I wrote a couple of others pretty similar all around the same time. I probably wrote the main idea in one go and then came back a few times to edit it.

Q7. On what platforms can readers find ‘Bad Dreams’ book to buy?

It’s being sold on Book Depositary, Amazon, Ebay, from Austin Macauley, and BookTopia.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Bad Dreams’?

The book cover was mostly the illustrator. The only thing I’d really thought about was the lettering of the Title. I called it Bad Dreams because… that’s what the story was about. Looking back I would have called it something VERY different but, clearly I didn’t think creatively about my titles when I was younger.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I’ve never really had the problem of wondering how to keep things fresh for my readers. I’m still VERY new to this whole… author thing. Frankly I’d be quite happy to have that problem because that would mean I did HAVE some readers! I do worry about character development in the stories I have in my head, can I actually create individuals with their own personalities that will be realistic or am I just making boring cardboard copies?

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

I don’t know about secrets but the illustrators very kindly changed the dog in the book from a small dog to a big dog. We have a big dog and I thought it’d be nice if Liam’s dog was big too.

Book Is Available On Amazon

Bad Dreams