Wednesday 4 April 2018

Dreams of the Serpent by C.M. Simpson


Today we welcome C.M. Simpson to Promote Me Please to answer five questions about Dreams of the Serpent .
Q.I. Serpents appear in the mythologies of numerous cultures. What does the one in Dreams of the Serpent symbolise?
A.1. An alien race.
Q.2. Tell us about the protagonist of Dreams of the Serpent.
A.2. The protagonist has been sent to broker a peace with an alien race, but doesn’t want to stay there. She has dreams, and must face a difficult choice to fulfil her company obligations or do what she most wants. She is strong-willed and determined, and not some damsel waiting for rescue.

Q.3. Do you deliberately use themes in your writing, or do you find they insert themselves?
A.3. I never deliberately choose a theme, but I always find them, either as I write, or when I’m editing. It’s funny how the subconscious works.

Q.4. What do you enjoy most about writing? Plot, character, theme or style?
A.4. Story. I like the story, so I guess I like the plot, but plot alone isn’t story, you need characters to make to it live. Theme and style are just elements that carry the story and portray character, but plot and character are the story itself, and those are my favourite parts.

Q.5. Did you write Dreams of the Serpent in response to a particular idea or incident? If so, what was it?
A.5 If I recall correctly, I used an Excel spreadsheet listing parts of titles to randomly roll the first and second half of a title, and I wrote from there. Reading back over it, I see it again has a theme of workplace loyalty, dreams and choices, and that may have been because I was coming to a crossroads in life, where I had finished one part of the journey (my degree), and had to choose the next trail to follow. Whatever the influence was, I didn’t consciously choose to put it in the story.
 Dreams of the Serpent by C.M. Simpson: Released 7th April 2018

 The direct url to this interview is https://tinyurl.com/serpdream