Time Slide Archives - Stacy EatonStacy Eaton

Welcome to Sunday morning Coffee Chat time!

Today’s guest is Marie Godley!

Good Morning everyone!? Welcome to Sunday Morning Coffee Time Chat!!? I’m excited to have another author here for you today, and she is a special one to me. Marie Godley is part of my Beta Team. She’s one of those wonderful people who gets to read my stories before they even see my editor.? Now, it’s my turn to help her get the word out! So… let’s get started!

MD: Hi Stacy. Thanks for having me on here. I hope you and your readers ? good morning to you too ? have their tea or coffee ready for our chat.

SE: Morning Marie – I have my coffee – which do you prefer, Coffee or Tea?

MD: Tea ? it? s one of the few things I drink ? even on a hot day. I do like my tea quite weak though which is the cause for much hilarity between my daughter and my Mum ? comments like ?scaring the cup with the teabag? that sort of thing ? I don?t know why I put up with them.

For those of you who don’t know, Marie lives in the United Kingdom, hence the use of the word ‘mum’, I think that is so cute. Let’s just into some questions that will allow the reader to get to know you better. We know you?re an author, but do you work another job when you are not writing? What is your favorite thing to do when you aren?t writing or working?

MD: I am a housewife ? or should that be ? child minder, chef, accountant, chauffeur, maid, ok let?s not dwell on that too long. When not doing those things or scribbling away I love to read. I always have. I was the child with the book and torch under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping.? I read different books depending on my mood but I don?t read horror. I love Christmas books and have been known to read them in the summer. Also because we live near the sea and a National Park I love to walk, in either of those places ? preferably away from others. It?s so peaceful and just a short time watching the waves or being amongst the trees can restore my sanity.

SE: I always feel at peace when I am near the ocean! I know exactly how you feel.? Do you have a favorite color?

MD: I don?t really have a favourite colour.

SE: Alright, what about a favorite season?

MD: I love Spring because of all the bulbs flowering and the new shoots, also because you get some warm days. But I also love the autumn. The different coloured leaves look beautiful and I still love to stamp on crisp leaves so they crunch underfoot ? my husband despairs of me. Winter frosts are beautiful too but I don?t like being cold.

SE: I’m not much of a cold person either. If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why?

MD: Here in Dorset, UK. We always wanted to live here and were fortunate enough to be able to move when our children were little. Our town has historical buildings, rivers, the beach and we?re an easy drive away from the New Forest with its wild horses.

SE: Sounds beautiful! Other than writing, what do you have a passion for?

MD: Nature. I love animals too, although sadly I?m allergic to some, but I can spend hours staring out to sea or walking in the forest. I get angry when I see people disrespecting our world.

SE: Many of my readers are here in the US and I know you are over in the UK. Have you ever come over here to visit? And if so, what was your favorite place to visit?

MD: I haven?t been to the US, although some of my in-laws live over there.

SE: I hope you come over and visit us someday. Let’s talk about your writing Marie, how long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?

MD: I?ve been writing for about 7 years. When I wrote my first children?s story I had no thought to getting it published, I was just writing at the same time as my daughter was doing homework. Now it?s my life and I would love to get one of my Young Adult stories published.

SE: I hope that you do. How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes? Is there some place special you like to be when you write? Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?

MD: I write whenever I can ? that depends a lot on whether my family is around, so I don?t get much done during school holidays. I like to write when the mood strikes but sometimes I just have to take advantage of alone time and pick my pen up. Surprisingly I?ve found that once I get going I wonder what had been stopping me from starting earlier. Sometimes though I have to admit that writing ?just isn?t going to happen? and do something else. I write wherever I can, sometimes in the garden but normally on the sofa. My favourite place to write is actually snuggled up in bed. I think I like the feeling of being cozy and warm. Recently I?ve taken my note pad to the train station ?Whilst I sit and wait for my daughter?s train to come in I rest my note pad against the steering wheel and write ? the only trouble with that is when I forget not to press ?down too hard and I blare my horn! I find that using the few minutes of what would have been wasted time is quite affective, although it?s annoying when the train pulls in just when I?m in the middle of a good bit. I don?t listen to music whilst I write because I start writing the lyrics down or sing along. Occasionally I will put an instrumental, nature inspired cd on and it becomes background noise.

SE: I love that you write and hit the horn – I have done that myself! So tell us about your book, what is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand alone novel? Where did the idea come from?

MD: Time Slide is a fantasy book for children aged 10 or over, although I know of one mother who read it to her 8yr old ? a chapter a night as a bed time story and he loved it. It isn?t part of a series and is a short story, so ideal if a child only wants to read for a short length of time. I know my son used to be put off if the book was too thick ? even if he was capable of reading it. I was thinking about the some of the great books published for kids that incorporated Ancient Egypt or Greek mythology and thought it would be great to do something about China ? I?ve always loved Chinese ornaments etc. One day an opening for a story came to me ? it was just the first paragraph and decided that was perfect for turning into a book connected with China. I did some research on Beijing and the Mongol society and had great fun weaving fact and fiction together into a story.

SE: That sounds great! I will have to show my daughter! What is it about? (You can use your own words or your blurb)

MD: Put yourself in Jerry’s shoes… His parents have been invited to China to take part in an archaeological dig. Because it is the summer holiday, he and his sister Sammy are going along. Jerry and Sammy meet some interesting people, and they find a beautiful hair slide. All seems great, but things are already starting to go wrong. Suddenly, Sammy thinks she is having visions from the past. They soon discover that the hair slide is linked to an old portrait in the museum and an old Mongolian tale. Jerry’s summer is about to get very complicated…

SE: That sounds so cool! Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published ? Tell us about them?

MD: My first two books were a Christmas book for the under 5?s called The Special Christmas Bear. Teddy loves travelling around Santa’s workshop on the big blue wagon! There is so much to look at and he has lots of elf friends. But Santa has a special task for Teddy – will Teddy take it on? and a first chapter, fantasy book called The Guardian of the Globe. After buying a beautiful snow globe, Phoebe finds herself pulled inside! Zoozer the unicorn has been kidnapped by a troll and is being taken to the evil wizard Mishra who wants to steal his powers. Summoned by the sorceress Vivien, Phoebe must find a way to stop him. How will she trick the troll? Will she succeed? Join Phoebe and her new friends Capstan the stag and Skimpish the wood elf as they hurry to catch up with the troll and save Zoozer.

As you can see all my stories have a fantasy element about them.

I?m also part of a group of authors called Authors For Charity. We write stories to be made into an anthology and any profits we make go to a charity ? we change the charity each year. Last year we published Tales of an Old Wizard for 9+ readers and later in 2014 we will be publishing Paranormal Love for YA readers.

For myself, I am working on stories for Young Adults. I have one finished which I?m trying to get representation for, one I?m editing and one that I?m writing (when I?m not leaning on my horn and scaring myself)

SE: hahahaha – That is so precious!! I love that you write YA and for children – we need more awesome books for them so they keep reading pages instead of texts! So glad you came to visit today Marie! It’s been a true pleasure!