What inspired you to write your memoir?
In my forties I was writing a blog about my day to day life including my dating experiences. It was for close friends and family only and was intended to keep them up to date with my every day life. After a while a handful of those readers encouraged me to publish my dating posts in paperback form because they found them highly entertaining, evoking a range of emotions; they are funny, embarrassing, heart breaking, and all very relateable. I decided to turn the original blog in to THE MAN IN A HAYSTACK making sure I changed names, places and other identifiable details to protect everyone involved.
About your Book:
THE MAN IN A HAYSTACK is a true story based on the author’s dating escapades in her forties. Written in blog format it makes for an easy and fast paced read and has been described by 5 STAR reviewers as ‘a chick lit masterpiece’, ‘better than Bridget Jones’, and ‘an addictive read’. It is funny, emotional, heartbreaking, and above all entertaining. If you are in your thirties or forties (or even fifties) and still searching for Mr Right or simply want to be transported back to your dating days, this book is for you. It provides insights in to online dating, office romances, toy boys, players, charmers – pick a type and you’ll probably find him between these pages! Every woman can relate.
Mae, a forty-something glamorous Essex girl, has spent most of her adult years waiting for Mr Right to sweep her off her feet. Conscious of time no longer being on her side, her biological clock ticking away and signs of ageing creeping up on her, she decides to take matters in to her own hands and seek out the man of her dreams, blogging about her dating encounters as they unfold. Join Mae on her journey as she searches for love. Feel her frustrations and emotional pain. Laugh, smile and cry with her, and watch as she lays past relationships to rest.
The Man in a Haystack is an entertaining story essentially for women, however men may also reap some benefits. Women might recognise similarities with their own men, identify with elements of Mae’s personality and empathise with her dating experiences. Men, on the other hand, could become educated in female psychology and find out why their girlfriends react to them the way they do.
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
At 131,000 words my manuscript was rather too long for a publisher to take a chance on me as an unknown author therefore I undertook much online research in to self publishing, asked for recommendations and submitted lots of questions to forums. I was eventually directed to CreateSpace where I published my paperback. During the process I looked more deeply in to publishing an ebook version too and launched both on the same day in November 2012. The entire process was very challenging and the learning curve was tremendous!
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
When I first published my book maybe I was a little misguided when I placed it in the Women’s Fiction (chick lit) genre. A couple of months ago a fellow author suggested to me that it would be better placed as a memoir – after all, that is exactly what it is albeit names/places and other details have been tweaked to ensure no one (especially my men) can be identified. I am therefore currently in the process of rebranding and the cover design will change in due course. The manuscript itself will remain the same. Until I made this decision I was writing a sequel which was to include half fiction and half reality and I planned to eventually market it as fiction. However, I soon found that writing fiction is incredibly difficult and I have the greatest admiration for anyone who can write 80,000+ works completely from their imagination! What a talent! Writing a memoir is (at least for me) very different as it is written from the heart. There’s no requirement to create a story from imagination alone as the plot already exists. Personally I can write pages and pages from my heart with great feeling and passion. I found that writing fiction is an uphill struggle and not at all enjoyable. The sequel therefore has been put aside for the moment.
Author Bio:
Alice was born in Essex, England, in the 1960s. She is fun, glamorous and a real ‘girly’ girl, loves chick flicks, reality television, and spending lots of time with her family and friends. She confesses to being a twelve year-old trapped in a forty-something’s body! She is deep thinking, convinced everything happens for a reason, and believes anything is possible in life. Alice enjoys simple living and has never been eager to take risks, rarely stepping out of her comfort zone, although when she does she takes massive strides. Her career has to date been in the field of administration where her greatest strength is written communication. She has always enjoyed writing since she was a little girl in the 1970s when she spent most of her spare time corresponding regularly with seventy pen pals from all over the world. She is fascinated by men and what makes them tick however readily admits she will never fully understand their psyche. Her biggest desire in life has always been to settle down with the man of her dreams however her mission was to find him first, and this was the inspiration for writing her blog and ultimately The Man in a Haystack.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Book On Amazon
Link to Book on Barnes and Noble
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http://www.goodreads.com/alicehuskisson
http://www.facebook.com/alicehuskissonauthor
http://www.twitter.com/alice_haystack
http://pinterest.com/alicehuskisson/
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