Today my guest is Magdalena Ball, author of Black Cow. Magdalena Ball is the author of the newly released novel Black Cow, Sleep Before Evening, Repulsion Thrust, and a wide number of collaborations, anthologies and poetry chapbooks. Grab a a free mini flip book of Black Cow here: http://www.bewritebooks.com/mb/BlackCow/BlackCow.html
For more information on Magdalena visit:http://www.magdalenaball.com
I asked her some questions about writing the book.
How
did you get the idea for Black Cow?
Moving
to an inexpensive house in Tasmania and becoming self-sufficient was
actually something my husband and I looked at doing a number of years
ago. In the end, we decided not to pursue that, but the idea
stuck with me as rich fodder for fiction (especially since I still
get the odd real estate brochure from an agent that has yet to remove
my mailing address), and I do sometimes like to intellectually play
with taking a different path in my fiction. I’ve always been a fan
of the BBC show The Good Life as well, and although I didn’t model
James and Freya on Tom and Barbara Good (though I definitely pictured
them in my head from time to time as I was writing), I liked the
black comedy aspects of the self-sufficient dream. For me too,
I was drawn to their desire for simplicity, for cutting down on
rampant consumerism, and for getting back to a more coherent and less
chaotic lifestyle. For a long time my working title was the
“secret greenie book.”
Did
you have any problems writing the book, ex get stuck somewhere? have
to change the plot? characters wouldn't behave the way you wanted?
For
me the problem is almost always about time management. There
were times when I got distracted away from the writing altogether –
to poetry (my favourite diversion), to short stories, to plotting a
different novel, but whenever I sat down and forced myself to focus,
to set time goals, and to write to schedule, I didn’t have too many
problems.
You
chose a traditional publisher. I know you've also used
self-publishing for your poetry. Could you discuss your reasons?
Though
there are strong reasons for self-publishing today and I’ve enjoyed
self-publishing my poetry books, I do find that traditional
publishing still offers some significant benefits that I wanted for
my novel. One of the key ones for me was distribution.
It’s certainly not impossible, but it’s hard to get decent
distribution channels if you self publish. With big, time
consuming labours of love like a novel, I felt that the need for this
kind of mainstream distribution/exposure was important. My
publisher BeWrite Books (www.bewrite.net)
has a strong distribution network, particularly for ebooks, and I
certainly didn’t want to have to try to recreate that myself.
Quality control was a key issue for me as well. Having
professionals edit, format, and pull together the book was important
for me. Yes, you can buy much of that these days, but not only
is it expensive, it’s time consuming and I didn’t want to spend
my time doing that (would rather spend the limited time I have
writing). I did choose a relatively small indie publisher (the
same as for my first novel Sleep
Before Evening)that
I knew would provide the kind of attention that authors like me who
aren’t celebrities would rarely get at a large house.
My Review of Black Cow
The Archers are
ensnared in the golden chains of their affluent life style: designer
clothes, an expensive home, luxury cars, private schools for the
children, and it's killing them.
Black Cow is a
beautiful story of changing gears in midlife. On the surface, James
and Freya have everything. But their world has turned upside down.
The recession has hit both their industries, James , the CEO, has
to lay people off. Freda can't sell expensive houses. Finally, health
concerns, their failing marriage and out of control children force
then to reevaluate what constitutes happiness.
Ball presents a
sensitive picture of a family struggling to stay together and find
fulfillment. The characters are well drawn and believable, the kind
of people you know. They could be your family. This beautifully
crafted story explores the question of whether changing your life can
bring the happiness you seek. You can change where you are, but you
can't change who you are, or can you? Can you get back to being the
person you once were?
I highly recommend this
book. It presents a modern dilemma in very readable terms that will
allow you to look at how one family solves their problem. It could
change your life.
Buy Black Cow on Amazon
Black Cow Trailer
Buy Black Cow on Amazon
Black Cow Trailer
