Hear the Sea Sing by Marie Higgs

I'd like to welcome Marie Higgs to my blog. Over the years Marie has had many articles published and has several competition wins to her name. Hear the Sea Sing is her first full length novel. Welcome Marie. Would you mind answering a few questions?

Marie: I'd be delighted.

Sue: How did you begin to write?
Marie: While at school I loved essay writing, English/History and always managed to achieved good marks.
 
Sue: Who was the first to read what you wrote?
Marie: My teachers, one in particular a Miss Bilton, a wonderful lady.
 
Sue: What type of reading inspires you to write?
Marie: Anything that makes me keep picking up the book to see what happens next.
 
Sue: What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story?
Marie: Intrigue, pace and ‘believability’.
  
Sue: What well known writers do you admire most?
Marie: Lee Child, James Redfield, Clive Cussler, Matthew Riley, but really any writer who can keep me intrigued.
 
Sue: How do you create your characters?
Marie: I think of a scene/plot, idea, incident and then the characters just suddenly stick their hands up to be included and won’t go away.
 
Sue: Deep down inside, who do you write for?
Marie: I always want readers to feel what I feel about life in general I suppose, so I guess I write for me as well.
 
Sue: Do you participate in competitions? Have you received any awards?
Marie: Yes, both writing and poetry, but with various successes and judges comments!
 
Sue: Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust?
Marie: Most times, as one of my dearest friends is a well-published writer and she tells me if I have gone ‘off the track’ or lost the plot so to speak.
 
Sue: Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for?
Marie: You find life throws things at you and as you mature in your writing, you see, when you look back at your earlier pieces where it hasn’t “jelled’- its fascinating really.
 
Sue: Do you write on a computer?  
Marie: Yes, although at times my fingers cannot keep up with my brain, hence printing it on scrap paper and leaving it for some days and then reading it over and doing the corrections!!
 
Sue: Do you print frequently?
Marie: Sometimes. It depends on what I am writing at the time. If I feel it needs adding or deleting something I will print it to get a better ‘view’ of the whole piece.
 
Sue: What has been your experience with publishers?
Marie: Oh, they are a very diverse set of people, but they could do with a little more courtesy towards those sending material.
 
Sue: What are you working on now?
Marie: The second book of the trilogy.
 
Sue: Tell us more about "Hear the Sea Sing” 
Marie: This started out as a short story about an incident I read when I was about 12 years old, a witchdoctor killing a God believing man and I combined it with the gentle Morori people who came to Stewart Island – from where originally? I have been told the Easter Islands.
 
Sue: Your mind is your work tool. How do you take care of it?
Marie: I think its more it takes care of me. If I can’t get an idea out of my head its because its telling me to get to and write about it even if it is only a paragraph or two. I print it and place it in my idea’s book, for somewhere in the future it will be used as I have found out.
 
Sue: Does spirituality contribute to your creativity?
Marie: Yes it does. My faith is strong and at times I let it guide me, so much so that I feel at times when I read over something I have written – ‘Whew! Where did that come from?’
 
Sue: It is possible to fall in love with a bad idea simply because it is yours. How do you avoid this?
Marie: There again something tells me, ‘forget it, girl, just leave it be’ and over the period of time I have been writing I have learned to listen to that ‘voice.’
 
Sue: Do you work well under pressure?
Marie: I think I do, Although when too many things come at once I find that unless I prioritize, I’ll miss something and that saddens me because someone was relying on me.

Hear the Sea Sing 
EXCERPT:-
Small screams, people dropping to their knees and sobs were heard by the wheeling gulls, as from out of the jungle emerged Farpa Tarla and Jelsi, still tied together. Kique pointed his bula at them and they halted, waiting for him to command them to come forward.
‘You cannot touch them, none of you, until I have delivered the rest of the God’s message.’ At his words, silence fell again.
    ‘The God’s say: When anger,hate and hurt, along with greed, enter into a human, that which is right and honourable is forgotten and evil fills the heart. We gave you the ability to choose for yourselves that which is right or wrong, what is good or evil; all these along with honour, truth and love. Choose wisely, for all that is honourable, good and right will make you conduct yourselves with manners and integrity at all times. A true person will not cause offence, taking care not to hurt another by thought, word or deed, therefore conducting themselves for a higher purpose.
          ‘Some of you decided to throw aside all your ancestors, Petili and Goharus, chosen by us,  taught you. You thought you knew better than us, so we let you do as you wished; hoping in time you would remember the laws and teachings of your ancestors, given to them by us.
          ‘There are those among you who thought power over others was what was needed for all. You wanted to control completely and selfishly, the lives of the people. Greed, for possessions and  power to command, were all you thought about. In doing all of this you turned families against each other and you forced your beliefs on all. Even when you knew what was happening was so wrong, you did nothing to change it.
     ‘Do not think it is only the Gods you, of the Manlu and Goaharan tribes worship, who are displeased; it is not so. It is all the Gods of all peoples, now and forever unto all seasons to come, who will look upon the people and despair. For it will grow, if tribes of all humans, throughout the whole universe, do not stop hating, wanting power and desiring, above all else, that which others have.
          ‘Remember, when you disobey any Gods and break their rules, then you punish yourselves. The choice is yours. We, your Gods, only punish when there is no other way – and sometimes the good suffer with the evil, which saddens us greatly.
    ‘Remember – the laws of the Gods at the beginning.
 
Kique’s voice boomed with great power as he spoke the last words. It sounded like the voice of a God, and no one spoke…..
     Then the sneering voice of K’uro broke the silence,
      ‘I suppose you think you are one of the chosen ones, High Priest. Just which Gods do you listen to? Or is all you speak just only from your mouth?’
 
Places to purchase "Hear the Sea Sing"

New Zealand (hardback, paperback and ebook)- Whitcoulls

Signed Copy from author (NZ only) - Marie Higgs - mhiggsauthor@gmail.com