The Next BIG Thing (or the Next Best Thing)

Before I tackle The Next BIG Thing quiz sent to me by Mr. M. L. Swift, creator of Monty Tucker and all-round nice guy even though he's over forty, let me tell you a little story.

Once there was a woman who cut her hair short, bound her chest, stained her skin with furniture polish, and began to walk funny, all so she could join the British army as a war reporter.

This woman fell in love with her comrade, who, believing she was a man, thought the woman was just a friendly kind of guy with a squeaky kind of voice.

During one especially trying day on the battle field, the woman was mortally wounded. The object of her affection carried her to shelter and attended to her wounds, only to discover - SHOCK HORROR - she was a woman!

Needless to say, the two ran away, got married and lived happily ever after. (Note: The story above is fiction. The real story of Dorothy Lawrence aka Denis Smith is very different and a great deal more tragic.)

So, what does this badly told story have to do with the Next Big Thing? Absolutely nothing unless it triggers a fabulous idea in your brain and you go on to write something wonderful.

But before I answer the questions posed to me by the excellent Mike Swift, I would like to say that I have noticed that some people in cyberworld seem to think I have a penis.

I can assure you, I don't.

(Having said that, a number of my college buddies accused me of harbouring penis envy, but that's another story altogether.)



Okay, so now that's out of the way, let's move on.

I have two W'sIP. Both I consider 'practice novels' and neither represent the genre I ultimately see myself writing. A waste of time? Perhaps, like training for a marathon by jumping on a trampoline, but I am enjoying myself immensely and learning rapidly.

I have applied the questions to my Wrimo attempt: A Tent Called Simba.


1. What is the working title of your book?
I changed it from Travels With Ro: Namibia to A Tent Called Simba, because the original concept was too simple, and I expanded the story to include escapades in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania. I'm hoping my sister (and sake when we meet up in Japan next month) will help me come up with a GOOD title.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea to write simple came from the challenge of NaNoWriMo. Also, I had just finished reading Bill Bryson and a travelogue seemed like a fine idea at the time. Silly, silly me.

3.  What genre does your book fall under?
Travel Memoir, Creative Non-fiction.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Cool question. At last I can be better looking than I really am. If the movie was shot ten years ago, or with a good make-up artist, or even a bad one, I would nominate Toni Collette and Claudia Karvan, both fine, Australian actresses. The obligatory boy actors? No idea, but it's fun thinking about it.


Claudia Karvan
photo source: Courier Mail

Toni Collette
photo source: The Daily Telegraph

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When many young women are thinking about settling down and starting a family, sisters, Erica and Ro embark on a road trip through Namibia: no GPS, no internet, no idea. With a tent called Simba and a nose for adventure, the sisters discover the different faces of southern Africa, and learn a thing or two about each other, and about themselves.

(DERT - fail. That's two sentences.)

6. If you plan to publish, will your book be self-published or published traditionally?
I'm not sure how marketable my efforts are, but I might consider self-publishing, just so I have something to keep my daughter busy when she asks what I got up to before she was born. (That might be how 'the next best thing' got into my head.)

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Twenty-eight days. I suspect plugging the gaps will take much longer.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I have not yet read African Journal by Bill Bryson, but if my story is one-tenth the style of Notes From a Small Island (with a dash of chickie talk), I will be happy.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My older sister, Ro. She has lived (and does live) a darn interesting life and can tell a great yarn. I am urging her to inject her wit into the story, but so far she been too busy on her quest to conquer the world.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
I consider the story to be about breaking out of comfort zones, taking opportunities when they present themselves, and getting stuck into life, even when you have no clue of what you're doing, in fact, especially when you have no clue of what you're doing, because then you are stupidly fearless.

If I leave in the personal stuff, some might even consider it chick-lit (whatever that is). It talks about love lost, freedom found, and tent farts. And what's not interesting about tent farts?


So that's me. Thanks, Mike, for pushing me closer to... something.



Now I kick The Next Big Thing grid iron ball over to Rob Akers, a man with a mission and a hootin' tootin' story to tell.

And, if he's up for it, the word magician himself, Joseph Schwartz, author of The Crossover Test.



The rules are simple: answer the quiz so us nosey people know what you're up to, and then hand the baton to other writers who sound like they're onto something that might just be The Next BIG Thing.