The Next Big Thing by Louise Marley

I've been tagged by fellow writer Juliet Greenwood to participate in The Next Big Thing, where authors tell you all about their next book. So here goes.

What is the title of your book?

My new book is called Breathless. The heroine is Lainey Jennings, a diving instructor who is obsessed with finding a long-lost wreck called the Mary Eliza.

You can find the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A9GHS5A

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Lots of different ideas collided to inspire me to write this book. The history of the Mary Eliza was loosely based on a real life ship called the Swan, which sank off the Isle of Mull in 1653. The idea of a warship sinking with its looted cargo came from the true story of the siege of Dundee in 1651. Although I expect my interest in wrecks really began with the raising of the Mary Rose, a Tudor warship which sank in 1545. As a child I remember watching on TV as her hull was finally brought to the surface after 437 years on the seabed.

I’m also fascinated by family history, and the way stories can become garbled as they are passed down through the generations. My grandfather used to love telling me tales about our seafaring ancestors, who had lived in the same Hampshire village for more than four hundred years. This gave me the idea for the character of Joseph Halfpenny, who is convinced he is descended from a notorious smuggler - even though he can’t actually prove it! Running alongside Lainey’s story I have included extracts from a journal written in 1695, which tells the story of this smuggler.

What genre does your book fall under?

My story is a blend of murder mystery and romantic comedy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Lainey is described as being small, athletic and with short black hair. If I were to choose an actress to play her, it would probably be Ginnifer Goodwin, who plays Snow White in Once Upon A Time.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I usually take a year to write a book.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Aren’t smugglers and shipwrecks enough? I’m also fascinated by celebrity culture and my books often have a character who is a celebrity. In this book it’s Zac Nelson, a marine archeologist and TV presenter, who is famous for his documentary series on shipwrecks.

The next author I’ve tagged to tell you about her new book is my fellow Novelista, Valerie-Anne Baglietto.