Next Big Thing - Felicity Young, Greig Johnston and Stephen Dedman

Last week I posted links to writers Angela Savage, PM Newton, Julienne van Loon and Sarah Foster as part of the Next Big Thing blog meme. Check out their answers to the questions using the links in the previous post.

This week I want to post the answers from fellow Western Australian writers Felicity Young, whose website can be found at - http://www.felicityyoung.com/ and Stephen Dedman, whose currently writing a crime novel and whose website can be found at - http://www.stephendedman.com/

Promising crime writer Greig Johnston, who was tagged by Angela Savage, has posted his answers at his blog - http://viewfromtheouter.com/

Felicity's answers are below:

1) What is the working title of your current/next book?

Antidote to Murder

2) Where did the idea come from?

While perusing Dr Bernard Spilsbury’s autopsy notes in the Wellcome Library London, I was amazed at the amount of deaths attributed to criminal abortion. Many of the themes raised in historical fiction are similar to those we have today (human nature doesn’t change) and it’s a bonus to find and explore a medical/ social issue that barely rates a mention these days in western society.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Historical Mystery/Crime – though in the US it is marketed as romance!

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Renée Zellweger with her superb British accent (Dody) and Ewan McGregor (Pike). I loved their chemistry in Miss Potter.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Dr Dorothy McCleland is accused of performing a criminal abortion resulting in the death of her patient.

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

Published by HarperCollins Australia (March 2013) and Penguin USA

 (May 2013)

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?

About a year, followed by a year of rewriting

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

Those who enjoy the Phryne Fisher series will probably enjoy my Dody McCleland books. Anne Perry’s Hester and Monk series also share some common ground.  

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

This book continues with one of the themes covered in the first of the series (A Dissection of Murder AKA The Anatomy of Death) and that is the plight of women in Edwardian England. Dody McCleland’s back story was inspired by the early life of my grandmother, Dody.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

My four major area’s of research for this series are: the early feminist movement, Edwardian England, medical History and early Twentieth Century British police.

I hope these topics will pique the interest of a mixed-bag of readers – oh, yes, and the romance is important too!