About
a year and 8 months ago, I met a lovely woman by the name of Jemima
Pett, who lives in the U. K. We became acquaintances during the “A
to Z Challenge” of 2014 when we were on the same “Theme Reveal”
Team and were busily scratching our heads and working with Damyanti
G., Guilie, Samantha Geary-Jones, Vidya Sury, Anna Tan, Csenka,
(plus myself and Jemima, to make up the “7 Fair Ladies of I Forget”
because I'm typing like a fiend, as I am behind the 8-ball*, as per
usual) to get our Theme Reveal Post going and set by March 23rd
and trying to help all the newbies and it was just. . . Arrrrrghhh.
Everyone had questions, or rambled a lot and never found a question
in all the verbiage and we were ALL pulling our hair out.
*I
was in the hospital for 2 days this week; I tried to Scooby my way
out of it, but I was orthostatic and Tampa Fire-Rescue wasn't going
to let me skate. Then, at TGH, they got all boresome and insisted I
stay the night and the next day! More later on that whole fiasco. It
was more like Thurber's “The Night The Bed Fell”.
"I suppose that the high water-mark of my youth in Columbus, Ohio was the night the bed fell on my father." ~ James Thurber
What
started as a disparate group of women became a batch of friends,
forged in the heat of fire. Not the fire of Stalingrad, by any means,
but the fire of just the usual frustrations of stupid computers,
internet connections and storms half-way around the world that would
put us out of touch with one or another for a day or so. We have
continued to stay in touch and a bond of affection has developed
between us. When Jemima was looking for some folks for her book tour,
I jumped at the chance. I wasn't too sure she liked me at first, but
realized later, it is her way. She is a dear, dear lady and I really
enjoy her writing. I know you will too!
Fred, looking imperious on his wheelbarrow, I think.
She
writes of that fey creature, the guinea pig and Jemima is a
world-builder for them. I will say no more than that, but let her
interview tell you about what she has written and accomplished, and
share her pictures with you. After reading the excerpt, the
Spotlight, the Author Interview and the Character Interview, follow
the links provided for my reviews of the books! You will not be
disappointed! My thanks to Jemima Pett for allowing me to participate
in this tour and to her Tour Guide/Assistant Tonya for running a
flawless tour!
It is not preposterous, nor "soppy" (as Jemima has said) to build a world or write stories that feature animals in a series of settings that may seem anthropomorphic or counter to whatever we, as people would otherwise have them do. Richard Adams wrote a very successful barnburner of a suspense yarn about a bunch of rabbits called "Watership Down" and more ominously, George Orwell wrote "Animal Farm" a cautionary tale with a bitter ending about the risks of Capitalism. Pett's Guinea Pigs inhabit no such worlds, but they do face problems and solve them, and then are left with bigger problems to solve later on; a not un-life-like scenario. Let us enter her world and see what we can find. The first thing we hear is a rather braggadocios someone talking to someone else. . .
CHARACTER INTERVIEW
This
is Lord Mariusz of Hattan, who thinks he's a tough guy, and in
control of everything. He likes to think of himself as a more refined
type of gangster leader, but really he's a businessman carrying on
the Wozna Cola empire built up by his grandfather. He appears from a
side tunnel in mysterious circumstances in The
Princelings
of the East, then he narrates his own story in The Traveler in Black
and White (Book 4 of the series). And then, because he's simply
irrepressible, he turns up in book 6, Bravo Victor. And he's
scheduled for brief appearances in books 7 and 8, probably, too.
Where
are you from?
I
was born and raised in Castle Hattan, on the Isle of Hattan. It's a
busy Metropolis on the edge of the Great Ocean.
What
do you want from life?
When
I was young I wanted success, power and wealth. Now I'm successful,
powerful and wealthy, and I wish people would just stop messing with
that. It pains me to have to move some of them out of the way.
Could
you describe yourself to me?
I'm
tall, dark and built like a powerhouse – which of course I am. I
have black hair with a distinguished white bit that sticks up in
front. I call it a crest, I don't know what you'd call it.
If
you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for?
The
first would be to get the other two gangs to give up trying to mess
with my patch, and just knuckle down under my plans for them. I have
to waste security on my best guys when they want to walk the streets
of Hattan, on regular stuff like dining out, you know?
The
second would be for my science guru, Saku, to invent something to
move the stock by sea, very fast, so we could stop having pesky
franchises on the other side of the world.
My
third would be for a nice dame to come and visit me any night I
fancied without expecting diamonds and pearls as gifts before and
after. It's easy enough to ask for a bit of respect, isn't it?
In
your relationship with others, how are you different with family than
you are with friends? Why?
Family!
Load of good-for-nothings, most of them. Nephews, lounging around
instead of working their butts off like I had to. The womenfolk stay
in the lower levels, I don't know what they get up to. The kids, I
have to find work for them. They don't know how lucky they are. When
I was their age I was running errands, learning the ropes, working
day and night to keep the business ahead of the opposition. Never
time to make friends, although I reckon I count Saku as a friend.
Willow too, but he died. They are the sort of people you work with,
you know how they react, you can rely on them; they don't give you
trouble, you know? Yeah.
The
only decent nephew seems to have disappeared. Willoughby. He's got
talent, that one. He could be a contender for my successor. That's
what you have to do with family, keep an eye on them, work out who's
going to inherit, make sure he knows his job. Friends, they know the
score, you can rely on them.
How
do you fall in love? At first sight? Over a long period?
Love
is a waste of time. Playmates, fine, see someone you like, enjoy your
time together, move on and get on with business. You can't mix
business with pleasure.
Describe
your ideal mate.
Cute,
sassy and knows her place. Although I've met a couple in another
place entirely that could make excellent bosses of this castle. Hmm,
I wonder... but that would mess up the established line. Too much
trouble.
What
parts of loving come easy for you? Hard?
Easy
to charm them, have a good time; hard to deal with their demands when
you're in my position. Best keep to business arrangements – much
safer.
When
you walk into a room, what do you notice first? Second?
In
my business you don't just walk into a room and notice things. You
assess the situation before you open the door, so you know who's
there, where they are, and whether anyone is primed to spring a
surprise on you. Okay, it's not as bad as the old days, but old
habits die hard. On the other hand, when someone else walks into a
room the first thing he'd better notice is me.
What
really moves you, or touches you to the soul?
Genuine
kindness. For no other reason than wanting to help. It doesn't happen
much here, so it kinda wrong-foots me when I meet it on my travels.
Amazing that there can be places where people are kind to each other
and want nothing in return, no points scoring, no scores to be
settled.
Just
to be kind. Weird.
Thanks
for interviewing me. Have a sample of Wozna, the best cola in the
universe. Doesn't that taste good?
Mariusz
Lord
of Hattan
Victor, having a snack.
AUTHOR
BIO
I’ve
been writing since I was 8 years old. I still have a small booklet I
found in my mother’s box of treasures, written in a very childish
hand, entitled The Little Stream. It reads very much like the story
of Smetana’s Vltava, or The Moldau as it was called when I was
young, so I must have been into classical music at an early age (I
blame my brothers’ influence). My early fiction attempts failed for
want of suitable inspiration: I couldn’t get characters or plot
that seemed interesting, and my first attempts were derided by a
‘friend’. I had the bug for writing, though, and wrote articles
and event reports for newsletters and magazines whenever I got the
opportunity. My career in business and in environmental research kept
me chained to a desk for many years, but also gave me the opportunity
to write manuals, reports, science papers, blogs, journals, anything
and everything that kept the words flowing. Finally the characters
jumped into my head with stories that needed to be told…
I
now live in a village in Norfolk, UK, with my guinea pigs, the first
of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration
for the Princelings stories.
AUTHOR
FOLLOW LINKS
Hi Jemima,
Thank you for sitting down with
me today for an interview. Before we start though, I have to tell you
I was blown away by your website – how much information you have
provided about your younger years: when you began writing; why you
didn’t continue until later in life; your career; your guinea pig
pets (love the photo) and what you’re doing in the writing world
today!
Definitely an inspiring tale and I smiled my way through
everything, so thanks!
And, since your author website
contains practically everything a reader/fan might want to know about
you, I’d like to just focus on your writing.
1)
You mentioned in your bio that you first began writing when you were
eight. What prompted this? Did you, or your family, read extensively
and you just woke up one day thinking that you would write a story?
Had the desire to write been there all along, but you opted to wait
until you mastered cursive/penmanship so it would look neat and
pretty? (That’s actually a ‘page’ from my childhood). Or, was
it something entirely different?
I know I read a lot, so I expect
I just started writing because that seemed to be what happened. I
recall that writers were fairly common among the parents of kids in
the books I read, so the concept that someone had to write a book
took hold early on, and I did write to Enid Blyton (Famous Five,
Malory Towers, Noddy) to say how much I liked her books (the
Adventure series, early on) and got a typed postcard in reply. For
the record, the only other author I've ever written to is J K
Rowling, after Deathly Hallows, and yes, I got a reply from her, too!
I don't remember how it fit in
with the handwriting issue, but I did get a certificate for
handwriting that most people in my class entered, sponsored by the
chocolate makers, Cadbury. It's among my school certificates still!
2) As
a child, you wrote a book titled The Little Stream. You
compared it to the story of Smetana’s Vltava which, of course,
makes me wonder if you brought the ‘drama’ of the entire suite
into your story. The castle, the river, the spurned maiden, etc.? Or,
was it similar only to the river (Vltava) piece? Either way, was
there some form of ‘happily ever after?’
Well, it wasn't very long! I
think it's eight pages (sixteen sides) about the size of a digital
compact camera. It mostly concentrated on the passage of the river
through the landscape and its development from a babbling brook into
a wide estuary. Maybe there's a bit of Siddartha in it, but I only
learned about that in my late teens, and finally read it about 8
years ago.
3) Do
you ever regret that you didn’t write books sooner, due in part to
the unkind words from a ‘friend?’ What advice would you give to
new, or aspiring, authors should they wind up in a similar situation?
Yes. When I look back on the
amount of writing in other ways, particularly event reports for my
sport, I realise I was always telling stories. My sporting
achievements might have been greater had I not gone off into a
reverie of how I would write the report of this event while I was
halfway through it! I always had stories in my head. Most people have
imaginary friends, I don't know whether most people enact adventures
with them in quite the way I did. I also created lands, drew maps,
(one place had a railway timetable), and had a whole load of
adventures with my imaginary team of horses. So my advice to anyone
else in that situation is, don't keep it to yourself, write it down.
Of course, I was completely
untutored in writing. I think this is something where the craft can
come later; the creativity is important. There are parallels with
painting here. Who would teach a child to paint starting with the
colour wheel? Or maybe some people are and that's why so many
people believe they can't draw.
And my friend was right – the
book I had started to write was rubbish. But that's the whole point
of learning anything. Early attempts may well be rubbish. Very few
people are perfect at anything they do straight away. We all have to
hone our craft, skill, expertise... and learn more about the world
and life too, if we are writers and want to make our stories
believable.
4)
Your next phase of writing was articles and event reports for
newsletters (is that a newspaper?) and magazines. How did you get
accepted on as a writer for these publications? And what prompted
your desire to write them? Any absolute favorites that added to the
family photo album?
If in doubt, start your own
magazine ;) No, join a club. Writing event reports is something most
clubs and societies have trouble finding volunteers for. And many
clubs had newsletters that were circulated to the members to keep
them informed and involved. These days, some of those have gone
online as the website or facebook page, but most also have physical
(or pdf copies) of a magazine format for members who prefer to get
things by mail. So I wrote for, and edited, one newsletter off and on
for ten years (with other equally talented writers contributing too,
but often filling the gaps myself). Then there's the event reports
for the local newspaper, or the national sports magazine... I never
wrote fiction for newspapers or magazines... although a lot of the
event reports were somewhat fictional!
5)
Okay, so eventually, (to quote you) “the characters jumped into
myhead with stories that needed to be told…” Where were you in
life when this happened? What triggered the ‘release?’ Was it
some random experience? Maybe a dream – or a television program?
Your cute, furry, guinea pig pets?
Entirely the guinea pigs, Fred
and George, who were named after the Weasley twins, of course. I'd
changed jobs, moved home, and was self-employed again. I needed
company and I chose guinea pigs. I was fascinated with them, and
watched their behaviour and interactions with each other, wondering
about their personalities (I'd been in human resources before I'd
retrained for environmental research), and I dubbed them the
Philosopher (Fred) and the Engineer (George) way before the writing
started. Well, six months at least, which is a long time in a guinea
pig life. Then Hugo and Victor turned up, with totally different
personalities... and we were doing a silly story on the guinea pig
forum, writing one paragraph at a time, and somehow I just took that
off into a whole new area and decided they needed a book. Three
books, with the titles as they are today. And then I started writing
them.
6)
Alright, let’s talk about your Princelings books. I’ve
read the series ‘about’ and all the books look like they’ll be
a fun adventure read. (I even downloaded a free Amazon copy, yay)!
Can you provide a brief, series overview here for readers?
As one of my reviewers neatly
summed it up: we are in a feudal world with advanced technology
running on strawberry juice.... At first, there really isn't much in
the way of advanced technology, but due to the curious circumstances
of the first book, George gets the idea to develop a new power source
running on strawberry juice, which is a project that runs in the
background of the second and third books, and then promotes change
that occurs in society over the rest of the series. The series starts
with two innocents using their friendship and their brains to solve
problems, and the problems get bigger, and more acute as the series
goes on, with an ever-growing cast of characters, some of whom pop up
again in unexpected places. The big question, is how are they ever
going to deliver the promise made at the end of the first book, when
everything in their world is changing?
7)
Now, I could be wrong, but it does seem that you pulled some of your
own life experiences into these tales? How did you go about
incorporating your business and environmental wisdom into these books
while still ensuring they’re interesting reads? Are there any
messages within the pages that you hope readers will take away with
them?
Ah-hah! Well, I do try to show
how living within our own resources might lead to having a more
enjoyable life, but it isn't easy, especially when kids are so
bombarded with ways of spending money. In a way, I just write being
me, and the experiences I've had make me who I am. And they do say
'write what you know' even if it does have to be translated into
appropriate settings for younger readers at times. If there is a
message, I hope it is 'use your brains, and work with your friends'.
8)
Let’s focus now on one specific book:The Princelings of the
East.Again, can you provide us with a teeny synopsis? What was
your inspiration for this book? When you were done with the writing –
did the manuscript match your initial vision or had it changed? I
imagine if your characters embodied some of your pets’
personalities they might have given you some ‘attitude’ and just
done their own thing. *chuckle*
Two young princelings (of the
royal line but unlikely to inherit any titles) realise there is a
problem with energy disappearing when it's most needed, so they set
out to find what to do about it. They encounter strange businessmen,
princes and barkeepers, and have to work out who of these powerful
people are allies, who are not, and how to solve a nationwide
problem. Both trust and time are of the essence!
The inspiration came from the
story we were writing online, which I mentioned earlier – we had
linked universes with a tunnel between castles, and the world at the
other end ran on strawberry juice. I know that was my invention, so I
felt free to use it myself.
I was extremely satisfied with
the book once I'd finished it (although I did improve it later, in
the 2nd edition), but what I learned in the process is
that characters do things of their own accord, if they are good
enough characters. If you let them make decisions because of
who they are, they take you down paths that may be different from
those you'd imagined – and a whole lot better!
9)
Last question – it looks like you’re currently working on book
two of your BookElves Anthology, as well as book two of your
Viridian System series. Would you be willing to provide a tiny
tidbit of information about one or the other? (Or both)? Enough to
whet our appetites? *smile*
The BookElves are a group of
twelve great authors of middle grade type books, who come together to
do things that help promote each other. The idea of the Anthology
last year was both great fun, and well-received by our readers, so we
decided to do another this year. Seven of us are currently working on
short stories to go in this year's book, which is scheduled for 12th
November. Titles tend to include the words Christmas and Adventure
quite a lot, so if you like Christmas adventures you may like the
book!
My Viridian System series is for
grown-ups, although there's not much to offend older teens. I suppose
anyone allowed to read James Bond would be ok with them, although
it's a science fiction series with more in common with Star Trek than
a spy series. My heroes Big Pete and the Swede are asteroid miners
looking for a vacation, and finding trouble, and the first in the
series will be out in January 2016 – The Perihelix. There's a
Sampler of short stories available for 99c from 28th
September. I've already started the second book, because I couldn't
stop writing about them, and various ideas I wanted to include are
better written down straight away these days, before I forget them!
Thank you again for sitting down
with me, Jemima.
It's a pleasure, thank you for
having me.
This has certainly been fun and
I’m looking forward to reading my copy of The Princelings of the
East.
Charline
Link for BookElves Anthology Vol
1:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/493196
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PMFHP7Y
Link for the Viridian System
Sampler:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/573217
Also at B&N and iTunes.
Website http://viridianseries.uk
This interview has been redacted for brevity and for a discussion regarding pictures which I don't have to share with you, but I DO want to thank Charline Ratcliff for providing this interview and her generosity in sharing it with us all on the blog tour. Please, please, please, visit her on her website at www.charlineratcliff.com! Thank you!
GIVEAWAY
PRIZES
1
x $25 gift card/PayPal cash (paypal cash is much easier for me to
deliver)
1
x set of the six Princelings of the East paperbacks
5
x 1 signed print of a chapter illustration of the winner's
choice (approx. half letter-sized/A5, unmounted)
EXCERPT FROM The Princelings of the East
Fred
sat staring at the tunnel, lost in thought. George waited. This
might take a while. He could hear soft sounds of crackling flames in
the fire on the other side of the wall, and in the distance the
occasional pitter-patter of footsteps echoing down the corridors. He
wondered what would happen if they ventured out of this castle into
the tunnels.
When
he had been out in the marshes, he’d never gone a long way from
home; the castle was always visible in the
distance,
light glinting on its spires. He’d never been out overnight,
either. He identified a strange feeling inside him.
They
might be on the edge of a Great Adventure, but he wasn’t sure he
wouldn’t rather be safely tucked up in bed.
Fred
stirred. “We need to go and investigate this Great Energy Drain,”
he said. “We must find out whether it is a widespread phenomenon,
and whether the causes are known.”
George
nodded; this was elementary procedure for an investigation. “And
then?” he asked.
“And
then,” answered Fred, “we shall come up with some ideas for how
to solve it.”
“Good
idea!” said George, knowing that you can never know exactly how you
are going to do something until you have made the preliminary
investigation and tested out a few theories. But the aim was set,
and all they had to do now was
decide...
to go or not to go?
BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE
– The Princelings of the East
SERIES
– The Princelings of the East
AUTHOR
– Jemima Pett
GENRE
– MG/Fantasy/scifi
PUBLICATION
DATE – November 2011 (paperback June 2015)
LENGTH
(Pages/# Words) – 158 / 37,300
PUBLISHER
– Princelings Publications
COVER
ARTIST – Danielle English
BOOK
SYNOPSIS
The
Princelings of the East is an adventure set in a world of
labyrinthine castles, bustling inns, and the curious Isle of Hattan.
Princelings
George and Fred leave the security of their isolated castle to solve
the problem of the Great Energy Drain, meeting
the dubious businessman Hugo, the young barkeeper Victor, the
impressive Prince of Buckmore, and other movers
and shakers. Who should these two innocents trust? Their wits and each other, for sure, but when something comes
between them, each is left to his own devices, and some of those
devices are very strange indeed – and time is of the
essence.
The
Princelings of the East is the start of a saga where friendship and
intelligence are rewarded, even in the face of treachery
and deceit.
BUY
& TBR LINKS
SHELFARI
–
http://www.shelfari.com/books/26506746/The-Princelings-of-the-East
This appears to be George, perhaps having a post-prandial snooze, or he's off thinking about an engineering problem.
