AUTHOR
Vickie Johnstone
BOOK TITLE
Kiwi in Cat City
AUTHOR BIO:
Hi, I live in London and have
a thing about fluffy animals. I work as a sub editor on business magazines – at
the moment it’s all about mining, geodrilling and tunnels! I have been writing
since I was a kid. I love it. I also like nature, music, films, travelling and
cheese.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Amy and James live in a house with their parents and their little black
cat, Kiwi. One dark night, Amy cannot sleep and she looks out of the window
into the garden to see Kiwi transfixed by the moon, which has taken on a weird,
glowing shape like a cat's claw. Waking her brother, Amy suggests they follow
Kiwi that night to see where she goes... whether it involves a hunt for mice or
something else. Little do they know that, with a flick of her tail, Kiwi is
going to lead them on the adventure of their lives to a land they never knew
existed in their wildest dreams. In the blue-lit world of Cat City, they gain
an understanding of what it's really like to be a cat. They get to help
Inspector Furrball solve the mystery of the missing catizens and find out what
really happened to Madame Purrfect.
GENRE:
Book for children, teens and
adults
WHERE AVAILABLE
Click the site name to be taken to the relevant pages.
Amazon US
HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE
TITLE OF YOUR BOOK
The main character is Kiwi, so
I thought she has to be in the title, and then it just seemed obvious to put
Cat City. Then there’s the alliteration, with the sounds making the title sound
cute! Maybe!
WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN ?
Kiwi and the missing Magic – book 2 in the Kiwi Series
Kaleidoscope – a collection of 119 poems on different
subjects
Travelling Light – a free sample of poems
I’m writing book 3 in the Kiwi Series – it will be
spooky!
WHY DO YOU WRITE?
Because I enjoy writing. If I
go too long without writing, it’s like an itch you have to scratch. It gets
frustrating. Also, there’s all these ideas and characters running around – you
have to get them down on paper. If I wasn’t working I would write all of the
time. It’s the best thing. Complete freedom.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR
YOUR BOOK?
It’s based on a cat I used to
have called Kiwi, who was a real character. Intelligent, cute, individual, independent
and very cheeky. She loved people and she wasn’t scared of anything. I grew up
with a load of animals. We had a menagerie of animals really. My mum took in
abandoned ones and my dad was also bringing in injured birds. At one time we
even had a duck. I loved animals from when I was little and enjoyed reading
about them. I was obsessed with Enid Blyton’s books – I loved the Faraway Tree
and all of the characters, and the books with animals in. I guess it was only a
matter of time before I wrote a book about them. I had been made redundant, had
a lot of time on my hands, and the book began then. I started writing about
Kiwi, imagined a city inhabited by cats, and it all emerged from there.
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER
IN THIS BOOK ?
It has to be Kiwi.
HOW MUCH, IF ANY
OF THE STORY WAS INSPIRED BY YOUR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES?
None at all. It’s all
invented. But when I was little I really thought you could talk to animals!
Mine were great friends! So I wish Cat City really existed. I’d be taking
holidays there all of the time!
DID THE STORY PROCEED AS YOU
ORIGINALLY CONCEPTUALIZED IT, OR EVOLVE AS THE WORK PROGRESSED?
It evolved as the book
progressed. I didn’t know where it was going. The characters emerged as I
wrote. There was Kiwi, so I thought about her, her description, her character.
Then I thought what if she had an alternative home? I thought of the two
children who live with her, how Kiwi could take them to her other world. How
the children would react. I wondered what could happen there – there had to be
a mystery, some good characters, some bad, someone had to learn something,
there had to be something exciting going on. It all sort of developed as I
wrote it. I think I wrote it in chronological order, except that I put the
introduction in last – to show something exciting would happen later. I also
wanted the reader to be surprised by things and not give too much away, and I
wanted Cat City to be a different world – one that the reader could sink into
and imagine they were somewhere else…
With book 2, I did more
planning. I took notes, wrote parts, took more notes and wrote some more. I
knew where it was going, although I didn’t have all the details. I didn’t write
the scenes in order. I imagine the characters in my head, say when I’m walking
down the street, think up scenes and conversations. Then I put them in my
notebook and embroider it all later. When I’m writing poetry, it’s like flash
poetry – it’s quick and just ideas or characters that come into my head.
WHO DO YOU USE AS A SOUNDING
BOARD FOR YOUR WRITING?
There’s no-one really. The
Book Junkies group is great for discussing writing though. I think it’s too
much for friends! When I published Kiwi in Cat City on kindle, no-one had read
it. None of my friends knew that I had written a book. Then I was praying that
people wouldn’t hate it. I had no idea if anyone would like it. I had contacted
one publisher years ago, got rejected and I never tried again. When I published
Kiwi, I had no idea what feedback I would get. You can’t imagine how great it
feels to have people reading my books. It’s just the greatest feeling. I
honestly felt that no-one would ever read the book.
IN WHAT
GENRE WOULD YOU BE LEAST & MOST COMFORTABLE WRITING?
I think romance might be a
problem! Fantasy and children’s books, and poetry the easiest.
IS THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT
FACT OR MYTH, FOR YOU PERSONALLY AND WHY?
“WRITING THE FIRST SENTENCE IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF WRITING A BOOK.”
Myth because sometimes I don’t
start at the beginning. With poetry, the first sentence is important because
everything flows like water from there. But with my books I may go back and
change the first sentence. With Kiwi 2, I didn’t begin with the beginning. With
Kiwi in Cat City, the first sentence is important as it’s a poem about Kiwi,
and that’s the first line I wrote!
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR ?
Roald Dahl
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ?
Fantastic Mr Fox
THIS IS ALSO A BLOG ABOUT
FILMS TOO, SO WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM ?
Oh god, this is hard. How to
choose? MMMMM. I don’t think I can choose.
APART FROM WRITING DO YOU HAVE
ANY OTHER HOBBIES ?
Art, visiting galleries, going
to gigs, watching movies, I used to draw and paint when I had more free time,
tarot, dancing, yoga
HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BOOKS ?
I find this really hard. I
also find it hard to find time to do it as I work full-time.
I use Facebook and have FB
pages for my books; use twitter; I have a blog, and I’ve joined Book Blogs and
Networked Blogs; I market other people’s books on my blog by writing
interviews; I chat in FB groups such as Book Junkies; I offered my books for
free in the Smashwords sale; I’ve probably given away about 150 copies of
books, hoping to gain some new readers; I joined Goodreads and Kindleboards,
although I barely find time to use them enough; I ask people if they would like
to review any of my books; I tell friends (now!) and family. I think I don’t do
enough to be honest. A lot of other writers are a lot better at it than me. I
keep praying readers will discover my books somehow! There must be a secret to
it J
WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR
PROSPECTIVE READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU OR THIS BOOK?
That I really enjoy writing my
books and I hope they enjoy reading them too! And I wish I could write for a
living. That’s my dream. And my message to readers who want to write – just go
for it. Now’s the time!
AUTHOR
Vickie Johnstone
BOOK TITLE
Kiwi in Cat City
AUTHOR BIO:
Hi, I live in London and have
a thing about fluffy animals. I work as a sub editor on business magazines – at
the moment it’s all about mining, geodrilling and tunnels! I have been writing
since I was a kid. I love it. I also like nature, music, films, travelling and
cheese.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Amy and James live in a house with their parents and their little black
cat, Kiwi. One dark night, Amy cannot sleep and she looks out of the window
into the garden to see Kiwi transfixed by the moon, which has taken on a weird,
glowing shape like a cat's claw. Waking her brother, Amy suggests they follow
Kiwi that night to see where she goes... whether it involves a hunt for mice or
something else. Little do they know that, with a flick of her tail, Kiwi is
going to lead them on the adventure of their lives to a land they never knew
existed in their wildest dreams. In the blue-lit world of Cat City, they gain
an understanding of what it's really like to be a cat. They get to help
Inspector Furrball solve the mystery of the missing catizens and find out what
really happened to Madame Purrfect.
GENRE:
Book for children, teens and
adults
WHERE AVAILABLE/PRICE:
Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/55227
Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004YKSZMM
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YKSZMM
Publishmybook.ie
Breakthrough Bookstore
$2.99
HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE
TITLE OF YOUR BOOK
The main character is Kiwi, so
I thought she has to be in the title, and then it just seemed obvious to put
Cat City. Then there’s the alliteration, with the sounds making the title sound
cute! Maybe!
WHAT OTHER BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN ?
Kiwi and the missing Magic – book 2 in the Kiwi Series
Kaleidoscope – a collection of 119 poems on different
subjects
Travelling Light – a free sample of poems
I’m writing book 3 in the Kiwi Series – it will be
spooky!
WHY DO YOU WRITE?
Because I enjoy writing. If I
go too long without writing, it’s like an itch you have to scratch. It gets
frustrating. Also, there’s all these ideas and characters running around – you
have to get them down on paper. If I wasn’t working I would write all of the
time. It’s the best thing. Complete freedom.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR
YOUR BOOK?
It’s based on a cat I used to
have called Kiwi, who was a real character. Intelligent, cute, individual, independent
and very cheeky. She loved people and she wasn’t scared of anything. I grew up
with a load of animals. We had a menagerie of animals really. My mum took in
abandoned ones and my dad was also bringing in injured birds. At one time we
even had a duck. I loved animals from when I was little and enjoyed reading
about them. I was obsessed with Enid Blyton’s books – I loved the Faraway Tree
and all of the characters, and the books with animals in. I guess it was only a
matter of time before I wrote a book about them. I had been made redundant, had
a lot of time on my hands, and the book began then. I started writing about
Kiwi, imagined a city inhabited by cats, and it all emerged from there.
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER
IN THIS BOOK ?
It has to be Kiwi.
HOW MUCH, IF ANY
OF THE STORY WAS INSPIRED BY YOUR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES?
None at all. It’s all
invented. But when I was little I really thought you could talk to animals!
Mine were great friends! So I wish Cat City really existed. I’d be taking
holidays there all of the time!
DID THE STORY PROCEED AS YOU
ORIGINALLY CONCEPTUALIZED IT, OR EVOLVE AS THE WORK PROGRESSED?
It evolved as the book
progressed. I didn’t know where it was going. The characters emerged as I
wrote. There was Kiwi, so I thought about her, her description, her character.
Then I thought what if she had an alternative home? I thought of the two
children who live with her, how Kiwi could take them to her other world. How
the children would react. I wondered what could happen there – there had to be
a mystery, some good characters, some bad, someone had to learn something,
there had to be something exciting going on. It all sort of developed as I
wrote it. I think I wrote it in chronological order, except that I put the
introduction in last – to show something exciting would happen later. I also
wanted the reader to be surprised by things and not give too much away, and I
wanted Cat City to be a different world – one that the reader could sink into
and imagine they were somewhere else…
With book 2, I did more
planning. I took notes, wrote parts, took more notes and wrote some more. I
knew where it was going, although I didn’t have all the details. I didn’t write
the scenes in order. I imagine the characters in my head, say when I’m walking
down the street, think up scenes and conversations. Then I put them in my
notebook and embroider it all later. When I’m writing poetry, it’s like flash
poetry – it’s quick and just ideas or characters that come into my head.
WHO DO YOU USE AS A SOUNDING
BOARD FOR YOUR WRITING?
There’s no-one really. The
Book Junkies group is great for discussing writing though. I think it’s too
much for friends! When I published Kiwi in Cat City on kindle, no-one had read
it. None of my friends knew that I had written a book. Then I was praying that
people wouldn’t hate it. I had no idea if anyone would like it. I had contacted
one publisher years ago, got rejected and I never tried again. When I published
Kiwi, I had no idea what feedback I would get. You can’t imagine how great it
feels to have people reading my books. It’s just the greatest feeling. I
honestly felt that no-one would ever read the book.
IN WHAT
GENRE WOULD YOU BE LEAST & MOST COMFORTABLE WRITING?
I think romance might be a
problem! Fantasy and children’s books, and poetry the easiest.
IS THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT
FACT OR MYTH, FOR YOU PERSONALLY AND WHY?
“WRITING THE FIRST SENTENCE IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF WRITING A BOOK.”
Myth because sometimes I don’t
start at the beginning. With poetry, the first sentence is important because
everything flows like water from there. But with my books I may go back and
change the first sentence. With Kiwi 2, I didn’t begin with the beginning. With
Kiwi in Cat City, the first sentence is important as it’s a poem about Kiwi,
and that’s the first line I wrote!
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR ?
Roald Dahl
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ?
Fantastic Mr Fox
THIS IS ALSO A BLOG ABOUT
FILMS TOO, SO WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM ?
Oh god, this is hard. How to
choose? MMMMM. I don’t think I can choose.
APART FROM WRITING DO YOU HAVE
ANY OTHER HOBBIES ?
Art, visiting galleries, going
to gigs, watching movies, I used to draw and paint when I had more free time,
tarot, dancing, yoga
HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BOOKS ?
I find this really hard. I
also find it hard to find time to do it as I work full-time.
I use Facebook and have FB
pages for my books; use twitter; I have a blog, and I’ve joined Book Blogs and
Networked Blogs; I market other people’s books on my blog by writing
interviews; I chat in FB groups such as Book Junkies; I offered my books for
free in the Smashwords sale; I’ve probably given away about 150 copies of
books, hoping to gain some new readers; I joined Goodreads and Kindleboards,
although I barely find time to use them enough; I ask people if they would like
to review any of my books; I tell friends (now!) and family. I think I don’t do
enough to be honest. A lot of other writers are a lot better at it than me. I
keep praying readers will discover my books somehow! There must be a secret to
it J
WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR
PROSPECTIVE READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU OR THIS BOOK?
That I really enjoy writing my
books and I hope they enjoy reading them too! And I wish I could write for a
living. That’s my dream. And my message to readers who want to write – just go
for it. Now’s the time!
