Ali kindly answered questions for members of the MSN group (moved here) The Shapeshifter Dax Rocks on 21st December 2008.
Happy Christmas Everyone!
Well... let me think... Dax would be into survival type stuff - Ray Mears definitely - and wildlife programmes. But he'd also like a bit of comedy.
Lisa would like some of the showbiz stuff and fashion and make over programmes.
Mia would like family shows like the Sarah Jane Adventures and Merlin.
Gideon would like comedy and prank shows and You've Been Framed type stuff.
Luke would like historical stuff - Dickens and Shakespeare.
Spook would like magic shows, so he could crow about how much better he'd do them. And a bit of romantic drama (although he would never admit to it).
Sometimes I'll avoid it if I know I'm crabby - but often if you make yourself write something you forget your mood as the story takes a hold of you. That's the brilliant thing about writing. It takes you into another world so you can forget whatever's got you in a bad mood.
I re-read chapters as I finish them and tidy them up as I go - and then I finish the story and after a few day's break (if I have the time before my deadline) I will read the whole thing through, picking up more mistakes and typos and any other issues, and sorting those out. The I print it off and send it to my editor. My editor checks it first - and I usually send it to my agent at the same time for her thoughts too. My editor will come back to me with suggestions for changes to improve it - sometimes only a handful of small things, and sometimes a big thing like 'I don't think your first three chapters work - can you re-do them? I'm lucky in that I rarely go beyond a 2nd or 3rd draft - some authors do loads of them.
When your editor is happy, there's another proof check by someone who's very good at picking up on little details which you've got wrong. Simple things like whether the sun would be shining at certain time of day at a certain time of year - or how a bus journey somewhere couldn't have happened in half an hour, but would have had to take longer. It's amazing how many little things like this I get caught out on, even though I think I'm quite thorough (I started out as a journalist, so always do my research).
Once the proof reader has given me a list of queries and corrections and I've sorted those out, it goes to print in what's known as an 'unbound proof. This is where the publishers put the words into the correct shape to fit the book pages. You get sent a big thick pile of A4 paper with the book sized page set out in the middle of each sheet.
At this point I do another read through and amaze myself by picking up even more stuff that's wrong or clumsy or doesn't really make proper sense. This is my last chance for tweaking things, and I send a list of amends back to my editor and they get put in and finally, out comes the finished book. And I hate to say it, but you still spot mistakes after it's published - and there's nothing you can do!
Lisa's powers are all related to being able to pick up messages (and send them) telepathically - from the dead and from the living, so they're all variations on the same basic power, if you think about it. I have met and interviewed a number of psychic mediums over the years and, whether or not you believe them, a number say they have this combination of abilities.
The dowsing bit is another variation of being able to pick up messages - in this case, the vibrations of the world around you which have their own 'pattern' and which you can 'read' in your mind. I met a truly astonishing dowser who utterly convinced me! And I am a cynical journalist!
Tessadragon asked:
You've talked about your upcoming book, Frozen in Time, as a project you've wanted to do for a long time. Now that it's completed and nearly in the shops, how does it feel? Do you have plans to publicise the book?
Oh yes - and you are all invited to the launch if you can make it! The launch is on Saturday 10 January at Waterstone's in West Quay, Southampton, from 4pm. It's such a shame that teleport hasn't been invented yet, because it would be lovely for Dax fans from all over the UK (and he world!) to pop in for an hour or two and have some Battenberg Cake and Ginger Beer and jive to the 50s jukebox.
Happy Christmas!
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