Hello there friends.

I have another interview for you to celebrate the start of the weekend.

Today I am very lucky to be chatting to author Alice White, who writes compelling novels in one of my favourite themed genres – Time Travel!

So here we go – let the interview commence (and it’s about time!)

 

Hi there Alice, wonderful to have you over here today to find out more about you, your creative processes and your intriguing books.

Thanks for having me 😊

Let’s start with your The Blue Door Trilogy series and the prequel “Twisted Labyrinth – Erik’s Adventures.” What is the significance of the Blue Door, can you tell us or is it a secret of the series? Can you also give us some insight into your characters, world and story arc as we journey with your protagonists throughout these novels?

The Blue Door Trilogy started life as a vivid dream I had in 2008, which I had thought might make a nice short story…Three books later, and it was clear the characters had a lot more to say than that! Twisted Labyrinth was initially a part of the second book, Beyond The Blue Door, but I felt at the time it stood alone, and “made it so”.
More recently, upon re-writing the books to bring them up to my current writing standard, I decided to put them back together, as originally intended. That is the edition out there now, with new covers, editing, and a few very minor changes.

Katie, our heroine, goes through The Blue Door with her friend and finally discovers she is in the Victorian era. She meets Xavier there, and they travel together backwards and forwards in time, sometimes meeting people of myth and legend. Always through the mysterious Blue Door. She lives through a world war, technological breakthroughs, new friends, and sad losses. The significance of the Magic Garden and the Old Woman shall remain a mystery for now…you’ll have to read the books to find out 😉

You also have another novel that you have just published this year called “That English Lady”. It is about a time traveller from the not too distant future. What is the basis for this particular story and what challenges will our intrepid traveller face as they delve back into the past?

Prologue sees August Smith remembering his love, Emily Kendall, in the year 2048. He is now an old man, and his memory is failing. So he seeks out the diary Emily meticulously kept to try and jog his memory.

Main bulk of the book is her diary.

In 2009, English Emily meets American August in a support chat room. On a visit with him in the US, they discover a mysterious willow tree. It silently beckons to them and they enter its tendrils to be whisked off to the cretaceous period, where they learn more about each other and Emily discovers she might not be as fond of dinosaurs as she may once have been! They are stuck until the willow reappears and transports them elsewhere. One such place is a parallel world, where Emily meets her doppelganger. They do discover who and what is the force behind the willow tree, but again, you will have to read the book to find out 😊

If your novels were to be made into movies, who would you cast in the lead roles?

That is a very interesting question.

For Katie, I believe Maisie Williams, (who played Arya Stark in Game of Thrones), would be perfect for the role. For Emily, Alice St. Claire, (who played Kate Middleton in William and Kate), would be perfect, and as August Smith I would cast Aaron Stanford, (of the X-Men movies, and more recently, Twelve Monkeys).

Who are some of the authors in general that inspire you?

J.R.R. Tolkien for description. I just love the way in which he makes you feel like you are there. Nanci Springer for a similar reason. Catherine Cookson for her real places and drama.

What sort of research do you do to write your books?

I try to site as many options as possible, usually online. When you write about time travel, it inevitably comes up that you reach an era or situation you are unsure of or need clarification about. I have great fun when this occurs, because I enjoy finding out about things I might not normally come across otherwise.

Like the Victorian era in England. What was around then, what wasn’t, how they dressed, etc…The Cretaceous dinosaur era. What dinosaurs were there, which ones could be used in my story…The parallel world was the only part I could let loose and not worry about what history dictated, and that was fun too. Much of my stories are based upon real life situations or experiences to some extent, so I do try to meld the two as well.

Why do you write? What inspired you to become a writer?

To be honest, I don’t know. I never intended for the dream from 2008 to become such a big deal. The characters took over the story and I just went with them 😊 The same thing happened with That English Lady. Only a writer will understand this next part: Emily started to talk to me and asked me to writer her into a story. I intended to base the core story on mine and my husband’s personal experience with meeting someone from a different country, falling in love, and going through the immigration process. My characters had much wilder ideas than that, though, as you will see when you read the book 😉

What keeps you motivated during creative slumps? How do you deal with Writers Block?

I don’t see it as writer’s block. I see it as: My characters need to catch up and decide what they want to do next, and I’m quite willing to wait for them to do so. The joys of self publishing gift you with the time to do this. There are no deadlines – unless they are self-imposed – so that you can ride along with your characters and allow them the room they and their story need to grow organically.

How do you spend your free time when you are not writing?

I enjoy spending time with my two dogs and my husband, composing music, playing keyboard, flute, and violin – although I am not very good on the latter yet.

Tell us more about your upcoming projects. Are you working on anything specific or have plans in the pipeline?

I’m currently working on another novel about time travel, this time based in Scotland. The character, Ellie, is quite secretive yet, so I am giving her a little space to grow. I’m in the fourth chapter at the moment, and it looks to be turning into quite a good tale so far. As I already said, being self-published grants us the gift of time to give to our characters in order for them to grow without the pressure of deadlines.

Finally, are there any nuggets of wisdom that you can impart to other aspiring writers?

Don’t throw anything away, keep everything. Even if it doesn’t fit in your current project, it may well fit somewhere else in the future.

Hone your craft. Become the best writer you can be, and then learn some more.

One way of doing that is to join a critique group. They are not all the same – some are more blunt than other – so take time to find the one that is right for YOU.

Above all…Keep writing!

And that’s a wrap! Thank you for giving us all of this wonderful insight into your writing Alice.

Thanks for interviewing me 😊

Bio:-

Alice White was born to a Scottish mother and an English father in England. She began writing short stories and poetry at a very early age, progressing to novels in 2008. She did not seriously envisage publishing any of her work until she migrated to the United States and married in 2009. On moving to Arkansas in 2011, where she now lives happily with her husband.

In addition to composing music, she also really likes Doctor Who and Giraffes.

She became a citizen of the United States, on January 17th 2014.

You can contact Alice or find out more about her work on the following Social Media platforms:-

Author Central:- Alice White (Amazon Author Central)
Blog/Website:- The Website of Alice White
Pinterest:- Alice White, Author (Pinterest)
Twitter:- Alice White Author (Twitter)
YouTube Channel:- Alice White (YouTube)

You can buy her books here:-

Canada:- Buy Alice White’s books in Canada

UK/Europe:- Buy Alice White’s books in UK/Europe

US/Rest of the World:- Buy Alice White’s books in US/Rest of the World

If you too would like to be interviewed on my blog at TooFullToWrite and you have a book or a series of books that you would like us to chat about then fill out the Contact Me form here with your details and we can arrange a future interview slot.

Still want more? Well there is a Daily Prompt over at The Daily Post around the theme of ‘Clock’ that I think perfectly accompanies this interview 🙂 For more articles around the concept of time and the clock, check out the links below:-

1. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 9) – Uma’s life and thoughts
2. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 8) – Uma’s life and thoughts
3. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 7) – Uma’s life and thoughts
4. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 6) – Uma’s life and thoughts
5. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 5) – Uma’s life and thoughts
6. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 4) – Uma’s life and thoughts
7. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 3) – Uma’s life and thoughts
8. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… (part 2) – Uma’s life and thoughts
9. If Only, I Could Turn Back The Clock… – Uma’s life and thoughts
10. Clock – Sanjna Rai
11. It’s a _____ Minute Ride – Think Outside The Toaster
12. The Clock Strikes Back – Ordinary Phenomena
13. shame – Aching Tuesday
14. Sacrificial Chain Breaker – CLOCK
15. Alice in the Country of Hearts: Why is Ace (the Knight of Hearts) always lost? – Intense Mode
16. Clocks: Ruthless Mismatch – Shelby’s Starlit Crossing
17. HarlemATL Inner City Blues – The Sanctuary of Ignorance
18. Petra Omoregie Caroline – Love locks and love clocks in Prague: Black and white phtography still has magic.
19. Wanderlust – A new chapter – My Daily Post Challenges in Switzerland
20. Clock – Scott’s website
21. Time with You (A Poem) – stephentotheplate
22. CLOCK – My QuotesVilla
23. Clock – Covert Novelist
24. Yellow Goals – Drive a Ferrari
25. Faithmillie – Mr Clock,tick faster
26. Truth vs Reality – Tick Tock Universe
27. lost and found. – lemonadeletter
28. First Clock – JUST A WRITTEN THOUGHT
29. Iamabloggertoo – Tick-Tock goes the Clock !
30. “Clocks” – A Pre-Published Indie Author
31. Day 6: Clock – burntbreakfast
32. Fractal Fortress – Moonstruck
33. Success Inspirers’ World – Thank you Mr. Clock.
34. Diary of a Married Woman – Invasion
35. Moments In Life – Repeat
36. kwesi – Clock
37. My Self Evident Truths… – Who will buy…a clock or two? Etsy anyone?
38. ticking of a clock ⋆ Obsolete Childhood
39. Clock – blackcattwriting
40. The Clock, a Mickey Mouse response to a daily prompt – Postcard from a Pigeon
41. Ticking Clock – Think Out Loud by Aida
42. Daily Prompts – Clock – take a walk
43. Shame on US – A lot from Lydia
44. Tick Tock, Says The Clock – Nadira Shirlonna
45. My perspective – Clock
46. Voyage Freelance Writing – The Clocks
47. Movie Review- 12 Angry Men is All the Rage – The Looking Glass
48. Miss Bones – Infuriatingly slowly, the hands of the clock ticked by
49. The Daily Prompt. Murder and mischief : Aunty Gloria tells a story – Word Shamble
50. Tick..Tock Goes the Clock: Tips for Time – Psalms Of My Life
51. tuckedintoacorner – Unravelling Future Ghosts
52. Time for The Olympics – Laura’s Blog
53. theblackwallblog – Change to The WYSIWYG…
54. Clock of Time – 1kayaker
55. Ticking – Ashquill
56. Deadline…or is it a lifeline? – Ramblings of a crazy author
57. Joy Write – Silence is Consent.
58. Read Write Live – Reading Tagore
59. Clock – The Inkwell
60. vertical combustion – wait
61. Never forget the beauty of Time – learninervin
62. myfavouriite – Alarm clock’s facts
63. Han Lantawan – Secretly Waiting
64. Clock – With Eyes Lifted
65. Clock – Mariam Hyder
66. I will see him again tomorrow – Ms Skyfall
67. Slip – StrangeLander2015
68. LINES of SHADEAU – Greedy Clock
69. Borrowed Time – True_George
70. You just came, for going away ! – Un-communicated Lightning
71. Positively Un-broken – Watch
72. a cooking pot and twistedtales – Timepiece…
73. Ticking Clock – lifemadeforliving
74. waiting for him – querencia..
75. Fluffy Pool – High Five
76. Time Flies – Karuchan
77. Clock – WORDS from SONOBE
78. Time is Forever. – down to daisies
79. Time is Relentless – law abiding brunette
80. Cryptic Clandestine – Broken Clock
81. Mainline_Matter – Musical Clockwork
82. Who I Was – More Than Pixie Dust
83. inspiration in progress – Clocks. A slightly crazy piece of short fiction.
84. Always watching the “Clock” – YOLOcruz
85. Clock is Ticking – newlifeduringmidlife
86. Time – Emily’s Table of Contents
87. Reality Through Fiction – Poetry – Grandfather clock
88. Clock – wordsareallihavesite
89. Peaceful Journey – Time, A Friend or A Foe
90. C.A. SANTIAGO – Where does time go?
91. imagined america – So this is it
92. Clock: Snowflake episode 1 – Lost Property Repository
93. THAT DAMNED CLOCK! – juantetcts
94. Sex o’clock – writemebad
95. Watch the clock – I don’t think I’m looking for too much in a man
96. Clock – z a y n e e a . n e t
97. Therapy writing? – BookmarkingTheDays
98. Clock – disue
99. Travellers Climb Atop Volcano – Nomadchasingwaterfalls
100. ReidCurrier.com – Tick-Tock: The Necessary Evil of Time-Clock Countdowns
101. Zombie Flamingos – A Late Post, so let it show Kitties!!
102. Clock Like – Call Me Incorrigible
103. blogmylife86 – Clock – 12:34
104. Shell Games – Gaming Around The Clock
105. Water of Rain – A Day at Funworld
106. browney237’s Blog – Time Pressure – The Clock is Ticking
107. The DOW JONES Industrial Average Index (DJIA, .DJI) for Monday, 7/25/2016 (d-w-m) – vet67to82
108. Gonna Clock – Sascha Darlington’s Microcosm Explored
109. recovery to wellness – Around the Clock 2: A Word, or Three
110. Jibber Jabber with Sue – Time to Tell About Telling Time
111. Racing Stripes – Mac’s World
112. recovery to wellness – Around the Clock 1: General (Positive) Coping Strategies List
113. Just Like No One Else – The Broken Clock
114. writingjourneyblog – Thank you, clocks
115. Probability waves – crashcoursedummy
116. writingjourneyblog – Clock Haiku
117. coldhandswarmheartsblog – Educate the future makers
118. Second Chance – E. Denise Billups
119. Brittany Brice – The Ten O’Clock Dance
120. Mini update on life  – Painted in words
121. Time is of the Essence – Vivid Dreamer
122. Clock ~ Behind the Words – Word Adventures
123. Clock – A Student Father
124. Clock – Image & Word
125. Writing Web – The Stopped Clock
126. Time does not wait – ideas and culture
127. Common Pursuit – And Ya Don’t
128. Is it Time to Jump? – OnYour Path
129. Clock – Awordseeker
130. In Their Own Time, They May Be – the emptied notebooks
131. My Mother’s German Clock – Writings from the Heart
132. A Texan’s View of Upstate New York – Summer as a 90’s Kid
133. Exploring the Wind River Range: Part 1 – Savory, Spicy, Sweet
134. Successful Millennials – SUCCESS STRATEGIES
135. bugsdontcare – A Watched Clock
136. Clock Watching – thealcoholicpoet
137. myfavouriite – You jiangus Candle clock
138. artifiswords – THROUGH BLEARY EYES
139. Silly… – Thoughts of a chocolate
140. Eden of Knowledge – CLOCK
141. WATCH THE CLOCK – Emoulet
142. What really runs our lives – McKibbin’s Scribblin’s
143. Margret’s Life Journey! – Time Zone
144. Your Nibbled News (c) 2016 YNN – Correcting the fixed hands of time
145. La Tour Abolie – The Museum of Procrastination
146. Le Drake Noir – For whom the bell tolls
147. Time Is Constant – Odyssey In Atlantis
148. Saint P. Blogging – Prompt for the Day: “Clock”
149. kristinakoti – Meaning of Awe
150. Serendipitousbloom.com – Clock Ticks Onward
151. ATG Successful Living – Tips for Lazy Entrepreneurs and Bloggers
152. The Clock in me: – Stokespeare
153. Eden of Knowledge – Slow and Steady Wins The Race
154. B_ up to date – Time is in time
155. Hide and Seek – Dreams within me.
156. Clock – heirloomcookbookblog
157. Clock – The new-ness
158. (in parentheses) – The Clock Read 1:11
159. Leadership Blog of Jef Menguin – Tick Tock
160. The Voices – Some More Fiction
161. Prompt for the Day: “Clock” – Saint P. Blogging
162. Clock – The Life of Jan – Daily Prompt 7/24/2016
163. Mine Your Memories – Find Your Voice – A Free Memoir Challenge Begins October 1, 2016 – Juxtapositions Press
164. Christina’s Musings – Rewinding the Clock
165. Tick Tock – Shiny Eyes
166. Think About It – The Clock
167. The Poetry Channel – Tick Tock
168. Queen of a Full House – Clock
169. Musings of a Random Mind – Whenever I Don’t See You
170. myfavouriite – World’s biggest clock tower
171. Seeking the Lord In This Moment – Lance Price Blog 2016
172. myfavouriite – Alarm clock
173. Jacki Kellum Juxtapositions: Read My Mind – Mine Your Memories – Reclaim Your Voice
174. Timeless Words – whippetwisdom.com
175. Le Happyone – Lessons from goodbye: Farewell is also a blessing
176. When I grow up – Geek Ergo Sum
177. Angels Will Set You Free. – TheTattooedBookGeek
178. CLOCK – Why it is called a “Watch” when we wear one – Author Tony Damian, RMT, CMT on Self-Healing
179. Time – Making Sense of Complications
180. Blogging – Covert Novelist
181. DAILY: Plan B – Life, lemons and escapades
182. The Perpetual Clock – Daniel Amatiello
183. Sandmanjazz – Tick rock goes the clock.
184. SERENDIPITY – TICK TOCK TICK TOCK
185. Silence – The Corporate Fawn
186. Always looking at the Clock – Cooking with the DeGroff’s
187. Clock(s) – Oh, border!
188. Time- An inspiration for Clock – rupalislale
189. Anne Fox – Carbon Clock
190. OH GOD ! TURN THE CLOCK BACK – breathingpark
191. myfavouriite – Merewether clock tower
192. websaladbar – The Daily Post Prompt: Clock
193. Time Heals All Wounds – FrozenAllure’s
194. Can you wait a centurion ? – PLEXIUS
195. Plan B – Two years, thirteen boxes and a dearth of words
196. Michael J. Fite – Does Your Time Make A Difference?
197. Morning Haiku – Hi India
198. One Line Sunday- Time – In my world
199. The Garden of Memories – atrangizindagieksafar
200. The Poetry Channel – A Divine Timepiece
201. clock is ticking – parthvikumar
202. Time and roses – Jane Dougherty Writes
203. GOOD old days 🙂 🙂 – scribledree
204. Racing against time ! – Ripples N Reflections
205. The Gad About Town – Memories of the Future
206. indisputably inconclusive – Life
207. lifelessons – a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown – Retired (For Clock)
208. The ticking clock – philosophicalpen
209. The Clock – Justin A.
210. Write Here: Write Now – Clock
211. The Cat Chronicles – Daily Feline Prompt: Feline Clock
212. Clock – Compassionate Atheism
213. Just Debbi – It’s been a while
214. Journeyman – Myanmar Trip Day 1: Singapore Transit, Yangon City Tour, Shwedagon Pagoda
215. Musings and My Two Cents – Watching the Clock
216. Viper Pit Memoirs – The Freedom of a Life Without Clocks
217. Making it write – The years pass
218. Flying low – zorazebic
219. Clocks and Time – lilydoadeer
220. Around The Clock – evibes
221. Vexing Point – Clock
222. Devil Doll Musings – All The Time
223. Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss – Who needs a clock?
224. Relax – Thou.. thou shall.. is thou even listening??
225. Drive – AYOKA
226. Time Check – A+ Cafe
227. Clock – My Second Act, Scene One
228. Clock with a twist – Lost Property Repository
229. Clock – Lost Property Repository
230. Time and tide – sci.casual
231. Daily Prompt-Clock – Little Pieces Of Me
232. Sound of the Pendulum – mySestina
233. rhymeagination – LIKE THE HANDS OF A CLOCK
234. Back to the future, using U.S. Post Office as Bank – The Mono-Economy of the New Millennium
235. The Sleeping Reading Beauty – Just A Charm
236. Designer Sophisticate – I don’t need ’em, but I have ’em.
237. time may change me but I can’t change time – themanbehindtheglass
238. the15thday – this insomniac’s shock.
239. kStan(ly) kSays – minutes away from battery park
240. Against the time we stand – lovelyricism
241. Clock – Converging Lives
242. Frank Prem – mad till knock-off
243. The Daily Post – Progressing into Solitude – Clock
244. Clock – calliemm
245. Hot White Snow – Speed Dating for Agents
246. Clock (A Tanka 5-7-5-7-7) – Emotional Spaces
247. 83 Unsung Heroes – Not Looking At The Clock
248. Frank Prem – rhymer
249. My Journey – Clock
250. ‘Immature Understanding ‘ – The Last Blog Available
251. kStan(ly) kSays – 2 for the Clock Watchers
252. Passion through Poetry – Ticking Clock
253. Lantern Words – The Clock Moves