Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lawyer by day and writer by night. As a mom of an almost 4yo, I pinch every spare moment and my hubby supports this madness. Thumbelina is book number four, my first proper retold fairytale and second ebook after Goddesses – in between these ebooks I have self-published two paperbacks – one about an Agency of Guardian Angels and another about Time helping out a writerblocked author.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, just released as an ebook on Dec 8th (paperback comes out Dec 16th) is called Thumbelina: The Bride Experiment. This is an adult Thumbelina with elements of abduction, murder, forced incarceration, the walking dead, loss of loved ones and, of course, true love and what happens in the ever after. When I was reading Andersen’s traditional tale, I always wondered – where would a witch get a fairy from and why on earth would she gift it to a human? Also why is everybody hell bent on marriage and could this be priming? WHen I read fairy-tales, the naivete skiddles over rather adult themes, so my usual question is what if? What if there was someone behind the scenes pulling the strings of the abduction scenario? What if there wasn’t just one fairy? What if there were good if not quite benign reasons why mice and butterflies and May bugs helped the girl? What if?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When my son was little, I used to walk with the pram and listen to my book playlists and dream up dialogues for my works in progress and type them up in shorthand on my mobile. I also frequently write several books in parallel and they tend to cross over.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Douglas Adams has definitely inspired me to have courage to be ridiculous, make inanimate objects like magic wands animate and the universe to subversively hint through the medium of songs. And, of course, to link my stories, different books and smooth over the unsmoothable discrepancies in later books. Makes perfect sense – the imaginary world also evolves, together with the author.
What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m working on two books: Cinderella: Not All Stepmothers Are Evil (a double sided book – one side from the stepmother’s perspective and on the flip side Ella’s story) and an adult version of Little Red Riding Hood where the main character is a 5-year-old boy.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Instagram, I guess. I have found lovely new favourites to read from like-minded posts and people have picked up my books from there as well.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Run for your goal. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. If you can’t crawl, lie in the direction of your goal. If you can’t even do that, think about your goal, visualise it, smell it, taste it, imagine it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stay in the moment – when you’re washing a tea cup, think about the tea cup.
What are you reading now?
H.Oyeyemi. Boy. Snow.Bird.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Mastering book promotions and giveaways and working on Cinderella over Xmas.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
M.Bulgakov. Master and Margarita.
D.Adams. The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
Author Websites and Profiles
Sky Sommers Amazon Profile
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Goodreads Profile
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