The Battle of the Wells - A Must Read!!

Have you ever felt like you could be someone else?

Is there another side of you battling to be heard?

It happened to Alison Wells, well respected literary author, who on writing 'Housewife with a Half-Life', was taken over by her sci-fi self persona -
 A.B. Wells,
and even more radically, put this strangely unfamiliar, more adventurous, crazy, and eye-opening self under the spotlight for some deep, insightful, and tough questioning from her serious side!!!

See Below - When A.B. Wells, the louder, more irreverent, zany and bizarre side is taken on by, Alison Wells, unaffectionately seen as the navel gazing literary side of self!

Alison Wells: Hi A.B Wells, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your influences, likes and dislikes?

A.B. Wells: I’m the funkier version of Alison Wells (sorry Alison). I write sci-fi stories and have just self-published my debut novel Housewife with a Half-Life (yes, terrific title I know!) on both ebook and in paperback. I love science programmes, professor Brian Cox, geeky sites like IO9 and programmes like Dr. Who. I’m mad about the writing of Ray Bradbury, Brian Aldiss and Margaret Atwood in particular so I guess they would be my influences. Dislikes. Hmm, don’t know if I have any apart from coleslaw.

Alison Wells: So you’re saying you’re more hip than me? What’s wrong with just staying as Alison Wells? Why create a whole new identity?

A.B. Wells: Well to be honest it took me a while to decide to go out on my own. As Alison Wells I’d been writing literary stuff with the odd foray into science inspired subjects like cryogenics, alternate worlds and other weird phenomenon. I’d been shortlisted for some short story awards and so on. I saw that Margaret Atwood, an author I much admire wrote in her own name both her literary fiction and the more science stuff (which she refuses to call science fiction). I saw that Iain Banks was also Iain M. Banks to differentiate between genres. It was confusing.

Alison Wells: If you’d started to build up a reputation then, why diverge into another persona?

A.B. Wells: Well although Alison Wells doesn’t rule out sci-fi altogether, (your literary novel has parallel worlds, doesn’t it?) I made A.B. Wells my sci-fi persona because

a) Housewife with a Half-Life features a parallel universe and planet hopping spaceman, talks a lot about physics (although in a light way) and creates new worlds.

b) The tone of the book is much more irreverent and fun than the literary stuff (no hard feelings Alison!).

c) With a name so similar to sci-fi guru H.G. Wells, I just couldn’t let the opportunity pass to use the name A. B. Wells!

d) Having talked to several people it seemed that Housewife with a Half-Life might be a good one to put my self-publishing hat on for. So Alison Wells could continue pursuing the traditional publishing route for literary fiction and I could try self-publishing.

Alison Wells: So truly two diverging paths then? Traditional and self-publishing.

A.B. Wells: Two divergent but complimentary paths I think. I’m learning so much about marketing, book design, editing and everything that goes into producing a book that it will only serve to educate us for any traditional success we might have in the future. The profile and sales I build up as A.B. Wells on social media and elsewhere might make Alison Wells attractive as a traditional publishing proposition. It certainly won’t distract from writer Alison Wells. In a way I’m contributing to your success!

Alison Wells: Thanks! That’s very generous of you. Are there any other advantages to becoming A.B. Wells?

A.B. Wells Well yes! Many authors can be introverted and mostly involved in the business of quietly writing away in their garrets. Selling themselves and their books doesn’t always sit well. Having a different persona allows me to sometimes (and ok perhaps weirdly) to talk about myself in the third person. Well, erm, this is getting a bit complicated. It allows Alison Wells to talk about A. B. Wells as if it was someone else. Do you follow me? So we can say something like, “check out that hilarious new space comedy novel with endearing protagonists Susan Strong and Fairly Dave” and it doesn’t sound so big headed. Also as A.B. Wells I can be louder, more irreverent like my comedy book. None of that navel gazing literary stuff for me! This is my zany, bizarre side!

Alison Wells: Navel gazing, literary… hang on a minute… I love looking into the middle distance! So now, tough question. How have you managed to find endorsement as A.B. Wells now that you are self-published rather than traditionally published like I’m hoping to be.

A.B. Wells: Well there’s another five blog posts in that, all about the changing nature of publishing and who we’re doing it for and reaching readers and creating our own clans of readers. Self-publishing was something I wanted to explore to see how I could reach out to people myself, share my writing and make connections with the freedom to try many methods, follow the pull of what readers want to see from me (by posting free stuff first etc). But you do need endorsement, that of readers once they read your work (and the internet lets you reach a very wide audience) but I’ve been so lucky because Hughes & Hughes booksellers in Dundrum took an interest in my book and are hosting a launch on Friday June 22^nd 7pm, (you’re all invited) http://www.hughesandhughes.ie/content/book-launch-alison-wells and they will be stocking the book. They’ve really got behind me in promoting the launch, putting up posters & advertising in the shopping centre, putting me on their website etc. As a self-publisher it’s a dream. I’ve also a wonderful review for the book from science and flash fiction writer Tania Hershman.

 

Alison Wells: That’s fantastic! Congratulations. So this is it then. Do you think we’ll remain going our separate ways?

A.B. Wells: I don’t know Alison. Perhaps you’ll find out that the kind of fiction you write will always be a bit spacey or that I become so famous that you want a piece of the action. Life is about adapting to circumstance. All I know is that we need to take chances do positive things. Housewife with a Half-Life is a positive book with heartwarming characters, celebrating the universe and our place in it. I’ll do my best as A. B. Wells to let people know about it. I wish you well in your traditional endeavours and I hope we can remain friends and support one another. Rock on and don’ t forget your Space Hopper!

 

Alison Wells: I’d like to thank you A.B. Wells for talking to me and I wish you all the best with your novel.  Would you like to tell us a bit about the book?

A.B. Wells: It’s all here…

Housewife with a Half-Life

Susan Strong is a suburban housewife who is literally disintegrating. When Fairly Dave, a kilt-sporting spaceman arrives through the shower head to warn her, she knows things are serious. When she and her precocious four year old twins, Pluto and Rufus, get sucked through Chilled Foods into another universe it gets even messier. Where household appliances are alive and dangerous, Geezers have Entropy Hoovers and the Spinner's Cataclysmic convertor could rip reality apart, Susan Strong is all that’s holding the world together.

In this madcap, feel-good adventure, Susan and Fairly Dave travel alternate universes to find Susan's many selves, dodge the Geezers and defeat evil memory bankers. From dystopian landscapes and chicken dinners, to Las Vegas and bubble universes, can Susan Strong reintegrate her bits and will it be enough to save us all?

Housewife with a Half-Life is available in HUGHES & HUGHES Dundrum 

Amazon UK HERE

Amazon US HERE

as well as

The Book Depositiory HERE 

The ebook is available on Kindle at 

Amazon.com  HERE Amazon.co.uk  HERE

You can connect with A.B. Wells at:  www.abwells.com and www.facebook.com/abwellswriter

& Alison at : www.alisonwells.wordpress.com

A.B. Wells is the mother of four children age 11 and under. London born, Kerry raised, she has lived in Bray, Co. Wicklow for many years. As Alison Wells her more literary writing has been shortlisted in the prestigious Bridport, Fish and Hennessy Awards and she’s been published or is about to be in a wide variety of anthologies and e-zines, including the Higgs Boson Anthology by Year Zero, Metazen, The View from Here, Voices of Angels by Bridgehouse and National Flash Fiction day’s Jawbreakers. She recently won the fiction category of the Big Book of Hope ebook with a flash fiction medley and has a litfic novel The Book of Remembered Possibilities on submission. She blogs for the popular Irish writing website, writing.ie. and on www.alisonwells.wordpress.com

Don't Miss Friday 22nd June 7 pm, when Hughes & Hughes booksellers in Dundrum are hosting a launch of this fab book (you’re all invited)!