Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today, Kerrie Noor – Kerrie Noor was born in Melbourne Australia but has spent most of her adult life in Scotland. She has in the past been a regular on Community Radio, taught and performed Belly dancing, ‘done’ a little stand up, performed as a story teller and appeared at the Edinburgh Festival. She has had one radio script performed on BBC Scotland and has been short listed for the Ashram short story award and a finalist in the ebook Page Turner prize. She writes both Sci fi comedy and romantic comedy.
GIVEAWAY
Kerrie is giving away an ebook of Rebel Without a Clue, the first book in the planet Hyman series. Comment on this post below for a chance to win.
Thanks so much, Kerrie, for joining me!
JSC: Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?
KN: No I don’t. I use my husband’s surname it is so brilliant and unique I just love it. Kerrie Noor.
JSC: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
KN: Don’t worry about finding a great pseudonym name or a great love, you will meet a delicious man and your writer’s name will follow.
JSC: Do you ever base your characters on real people? If so, what are the pitfalls you’ve run into doing so?
KN: My family inspired some characters in my romantic comedy novels one being ‘Four Takeaways And A Funeral”; my sister left me a one-star review.
JSC: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
KN: I stopped after I red my sister’s.
JSC: What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
KN: Question: Why do you name characters like you do ie Reader One, The Librarian, Tork?
Answer: I like to create names that are easy to spell and pronounce. I also like to think of names that help my readers visualize the characters, ie James the Strong.
JSC: Describe yourself using… (choose one: a food, a book, a song, a movie, an animal, a drink, a place etc)
KN: Black coffee, I am at my best first thing in the morning but you can reheat me any time.
JSC: Which of your own characters would you Kill? Fuck? Marry? And why?
KN: Kill? A few of my characters have died, usually because they are old and it’s their time. I like to write about death, I think it is my way of dealing with it.
Fuck? Tork from “The Rise of Manifesto The Great” she has brains, brawn and can swing like Tarzan.
Marry? It’s a toss between Tork and Pete the robot from Rebel Without A Clue. Pete is a dream pal but as he has a thing for men, I will happily settle for Tork, besides she is flesh and blood, Pete is pure Teflon.
JSC: Star Trek or Star Wars? Why?
KN: Star Trek please. I grew up with the original Star Trek so none of your films and spin offs. I am totally loyal to the original, the very Scottish Scotty, the heroic Captain Kirk (who could forget that fight scene), the cryptic dialogue between Spock, and Dr Mc Coy, and don’t get me started on curvy Uhura and that uniform.
Even as a kid I could see the humor in Star Trek, from the groovy planets they visited, to the toy like space ship, I loved every episode.
Having said that I wouldn’t turn down a night with the first three Star War films. I could never work out who I fancied more, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Princess Leia?
JSC: What food(s) fuel your writing?
KN: Coffee, Coffee, and coffee… I write in the morning. I don’t eat until I have finished then it’s toast with as much peanut butter as it can hold.
On a good day one slice and a bad—two.
JSC: What are you working on just now?
KN: The second book in the Manifesto the Great trilogy is due out at the end of the month.
I am just finishing off the free short story that comes with the ebook; a wee surprise about one of the characters “The Librarian.”
And now for Kerrie’s latest book: The Rise of Manifesto the Great:
A Sci-Fi Comedy Were Women Wear The Trousers.
Manifesto the Great comes from a dynasty of leaders who treat women like breeding machines. When his father dies, he must take over as leader, but will he be able to control the women?
Planet Hy Man is a planet as pure as a baby’s belly button until a spaceship arrives. A spaceship full of celibate men and women hungry for all things ‘earthy’.
They hurl themselves into a frenzy of real meat, real air, and procreation until a leader emerges to create order, civilisation and a sewage system.
Manifesto the Great watches as his forefathers pollute the planet, treat women like they are walking wombs, and design dodgy robots until that is, it’s his turn.
Will he rise over the tidal wave of discontented women, or will he drown under a sea of underwire and oestrogen?
The Rise Of Manifesto The Great is the first of three prequels to the Planet Hy Man science-fiction comedy series. If you like high-mileage heroines, fast-paced satire, and meticulously crafted universes, then you’ll love Kerrie Noor’s otherworldly farce.
Amazon | Universal Buy Link
Excerpt
James the Strong woke from his sleep, in the middle of a nightmare with that damnable Librarian screaming . . .
He rolled over, stretched out for his princess, and found a pillow.
He sat up, switched the light on, and rubbed his face.
“Princess? Buttercup?”
He looked about. Was she in the john?
Then he heard a faint “he’s alive,” followed by more yelling.
He jumped and, with a “who was that” look, raced through his living quarters into the room with a view of the main street.
He stared into the night.
The windows were lit up, and folk were staring out their windows.
He looked down to see the back of a giant turtle . . . which from the height of his room was more like a pincushion.
“Princess?” he yelled.
His voice echoed down the street.
“Princess!!” he shouted.