The Blog
Up in Smoke
There was a rather large fire in my hometown over the weekend. An industrial bakery was engulfed in flames, covering the city centre in a blanket of thick smoke and causing the local shopping centre to temporarily close when it entered the ventilation system. As I type this, the building’s being demolished, though high winds are hampering the process. Shops in the area are still closed and hundreds of people have been summoned to a meeting to address the future of their jobs. For them, and everyone in the area, this is a huge thing.
All this got me thinking about the nature of fire and how powerfully it can impact people’s lives. That obviously translates into fiction too, with writers striving to show how it impacts people and using it as a metaphor for destruction. For me, one of the most potent examples of this is at the end of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier when (spoiler alert) Manderley is razed to the ground. There’s a reason why that scene – in both the book and the film – is so memorable.
What influences an individual writer is down to their individual experiences and interests. Undeniably, major elements of my novels are constructed of both types of block.
I’ve written previously about office politics and how it contributed to the development of But By Degrees. That was experience, yet the theory of how human beings would react to such a charged situation was interest alone. I’m delighted to say I’ve never been in that predicament.
As for Valerie and Amy, those novels came with a splash of experience and a splash of fascination. Until I was nearly ready for publication, I didn’t realise that Amy’s early loss of her father was drawing on my own experience of losing a parent at a young age. Yet delving into Westminster politics in the second novel was pure fascination – I love the potential of that political world and it’s why I’ll keep returning to it.
I suppose where I’m going with this is that, while I was nowhere near the fire in my hometown, I have a connection with it. I know people who were forced to get away from the site quickly, and it’s a site I know well. What I’m saying, I guess, is that my readers shouldn’t be surprised if I draw on this secondhand experience at some point in the future and something goes up in smoke. After all, ideas always have a seed, don’t they?
My Writing Haunt – Create Cafe
If you manage to find a place that kindles your creativity, I highly recommend hanging on to it. While I’ve written in the past about the importance of being able to write anywhere, I also mentioned in that blog about my “writing haunt”.
Anyone who follows me on Twitter is probably familiar with references to this place, and sometimes I tag it – not too often because the staff get enough of me wittering in person, never mind doing it over social media as well. Even so, Create Cafe is the place where I feel my writing comes to life.
What makes it special? Well, there used to be a gorgeous view but there’s a new building being developed that blocks it entirely. That isn’t such a problem in one respect, though, thanks to moving into a house that has a gorgeous view that takes in some of the scenery from those familiar windows. I do miss Create’s view, but it obviously isn’t the only attraction.
It’s an airy location with high ceilings and coloured lightshades and chairs. The tables are light, making just the perfect shade for me to work – I have no idea why. Maybe it’s the right contrast between the table and the paper or the laptop, or maybe I’m looking for logic when that place means more to me emotionally than logically.
You see, Create Cafe was where I learned to commit to my writing life. It was where I pushed myself to get But By Degrees to the point where it was ready to be published and where I was sat when I had an epiphany about adding a character (Ed) to Valerie. I edited all three of my novels there and worked on numerous drafts. I used to write short stories longhand there, but I don’t have much time for that now. In the old days, I used to take a physical thesaurus with me as well – now I mostly make do with a digital one.
Whatever the changes, Create remains the place I go to when I’m stuck with writing or need to spark some fresh enthusiasm for a project. Luckily, the staff know my little quirks and I was once referred to as part of the furniture. I’m happy with that – I just wish they were open until midnight!
Oh, and it also happens to be the place I met my wife and where we held our handfasting reception. That must help!
WIP Snippets – January 2020
Teasing readers is one of the perks of being a writer. Not only does it give readers a sneaky look into some part of the author’s existence, but it’s a great way for writers to connect during the period between releases. I know I’m not alone in feeling disconnected from readers while I’m working on different projects, so I thought it was time to give my readers a little glimpse of the WIPs I’m working on.
As I’ve got more than a dozen projects in the pipeline right
now, I won’t bore you with all of them. However, these are snippets from some
WIPs that I wanted to share with you. Bear in mind that these are rough and
ready, but hopefully they give a little flavour of what’s to come.
Such Crooked Wood – Release Date: 2019
Premise: A broke furniture restorer hopes to change her
fortunes but finds herself embroiled in events beyond her control.
With my orange juice in one hand and my satchel teetering on
my other shoulder, I made my way towards the staircase. I’d done this hundreds
of times, but something went wrong this time. My left foot seemed to jam into a
crack on the floor and I fell forwards. Gravity was taking both me and my glass
towards the staircase headfirst, though it was my satchel I tried to save by
throwing it to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it whipped out of
the air then an arm wrapped itself around my waist and tugged me upright. The
orange juice went flying, but my skull was intact.
‘Whoa, there,’ an Irish voice murmured into my ear. ‘You’ll
damage the stairs.’
I let out a chuckle and turned around, acutely aware of the
arm still circling my waist. I ended up nose to nose with a tall woman in a
leather jacket and trousers. My stomach dropped as I realised it had to be the
woman who’d been eyeing me up the other night. Now I understood what Sal had
meant by her sort not coming in here very often – if we working on the
assumption that she was single. Most of the women who came in here dressed like
they were at a casual rodeo were either loved up or out for a quick night of
something. The fact that I hadn’t noticed her before suggested she was passing
through town. We got a lot of tourist lesbians who found Spectrum online and
thought it’d be worth a visit while they were in the area. This woman had to be
of that ilk – there was no way she was local.
Nights at the Majestic – Release Date: Potentially 2019
Premise: Following a theft at an old cinema two very
different women are joined together by a desire to save the Majestic and,
perhaps, themselves.
It was freezing sat inside the bus shelter, but Lizzie
hadn’t made her mind up which way to go yet. Two buses had passed, one of the
drivers slowing down and peering at her as if she was casing the place. It
didn’t look like many people caught the bus around here, not with all the fancy
cars parked in the driveways. She stuffed her hands into the sleeves of her
coat and tried to decide what the hell she was doing here anyway.
For the first time in twenty minutes or so, she heard
someone coming. Footsteps were walking towards her and she stiffened, unsure
whether she should pretend she was still waiting for a bus or if she should
keep her head down and ignore whoever it was. She could always walk off, though
she was shivering so much that she thought she might look like an idiot. She
elected to just keep still, hoping the person would walk on past. That didn’t
happen.
‘I doubt it’s a coincidence, you sitting at the end of my
road.’
Lizzie licked her chapped lips and looked up. Eve was stood
just outside the bus shelter, tucked up in a coat that seemed a lot thicker
than the thin jacket Lizzie had on. Not only was she cold right now; she also
felt pathetic.
‘You look frozen to the bone,’ Eve continued. ‘I suppose
you’d better come in.’
Lizzie opened her mouth to argue, but her throat was too
cold to bring her voice out. Eve had already turned away and was walking along
the road, expecting her to follow. Short of staying where she was, Lizzie
didn’t feel as though she had a choice.
12 Blackberry Crescent was a huge detached house, just like
the others along here. The whole placed reeked of money, though this one at least
didn’t have a Mercedes in the driveway. It looked like Eve was the only person
on this street who didn’t drive.
Lizzie followed her up the path and watched as she unlocked
the door. There was something about the way she did it that got Lizzie’s interest
– it was her house and she didn’t look comfortable turning the key. That idea
grew even more when the front door closed behind them and they were stuck in a
thin hallway. Eve put her keys down and walked straight along the corridor
through to a room at the end that was probably a kitchen. After a few seconds,
Lizzie followed her.
“Stevie” – Release Date: TBC
Preview: A journalist is on the scene when a gruesome
accident shocks a small town, but was it accident or something more sinister?
From her usual stool, Stevie could see the length of the
street and hear the rattle of the tray behind her. It was since the new
waitress had started that she’d started hearing her coffees arriving. At least
it gave her chance to clear her papers away. Last week there’d been a spillage,
right over the chapter about feminism in the office. Then again, it hadn’t
exactly done it any harm.
The flat white appeared beside her and she shot Grace a
smile. ‘Cheers.’
As usual, all she got was a little nod and she rolled her
eyes and went back to her text book. A couple of minutes later, Toby began
clearing the counter closer to the door. He sidled closer and closer till he
was leaning over her shoulder.
‘Haven’t you got any proper work to do?’ he asked.
Stevie chuckled. ‘There’s not really much going on in this
town. Did you see last week’s front page?’
‘It was a cat, wasn’t it?’
‘Not just any cat,’ she answered, popping on the lid to her
pen and grinning at him. ‘It was Yorkshire’s fattest cat. Well, actually, it
wasn’t. I’ve had twenty letters since – with pictures, I might add – proving
just the opposite. We might have to print all of them to fill the space this
week.’
“Fran” – Release Date: TBC
Preview: A chance meeting in the supermarket brings
together two women battling their own versions of hell, but secrets linger
beneath the surface.
It was lucky that self-service checkouts couldn’t comment
when you went to the supermarket at 1am wearing Disney pyjamas underneath a
suit jacket. Fran swiped through the jumbo jar of peanut butter, paid by
contactless and was back on her way to the car less than five minutes from when
she’d left it. She strode through the lobby and turned left to the car park –
‘Oh, damn, I’m sorry.’
Fran grimaced as the jar of peanut butter cracked open on
the floor, spewing chunks of mustard-tinged glass across as far as the basket
racks. She barely heard the woman’s apologies and didn’t even look at her.
Instead, she turned on her heel, intent on repeating the process and obtaining
more peanut butter. She didn’t even care that the sharp congealed lumps
constituted a safety hazard. The security guard was outside having a cigarette;
he’d slip on it when he came back.
‘Hey, wait a minute. It was my fault. I’ll pay to replace
it.’
‘No need,’ Fran muttered.
‘Please, I’d like to,’ the woman continued as she grabbed
her elbow.
Fran yanked her arm away and spun around. ‘Do you always
touch people when they’re clearly not interested in having anything to do with
you or am I just lucky in that respect?’
The voice had sounded like it belonged to a twenty-something
with no sense of personal space. Instead, Fran found herself face-to-face with
a short-haired woman in her mid-thirties who looked decidedly green. It was
almost endearing to see someone so apologetic over a jar of spilt peanut
butter, especially as it was financially of no consequence to anyone. In fact,
rushing out here to get it suddenly seemed absurd and Fran let out a snicker
which she instantly realised would sound as though it was directed at the
apologetic woman.
Lots of Fun Ahead
As you might be able to tell, all these projects are vastly
different and that’s great from my perspective. My writing process means I go
through maybe half a dozen drafts for each novel, so it helps that I’ve moving around
projects that are so dissimilar.
Now all I have to do is write and release them, right?
Olympic Goals in an Olympic Year
I’m slowly working my way through the back catalogue of The Creative Penn Podcast. For anyone who doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about, it’s an exceedingly popular podcast hosted by author Joanna Penn aimed at writers hoping to improve their writing, marketing and publishing techniques. As I came to the podcast rather late, there’s plenty for me to catch up on – as of today, there are 468 episodes listed on the website and the backlist on Spotify is extensive.
I recently listened to an episode dating from August 2016 where Joanna Penn mentioned that she’d started thinking of her progress in Olympic increments, looking at how far she’d got in four years rather than looking at annual progress. I like that idea, and it hasn’t escaped my notice that we’re almost an entire Olympic cycle between the date of that podcast and me writing this blog. I’m firmly of the opinion that it’s better late than never though, so how do my Olympic cycles look?
In 2008, when the Olympics were held in Beijing, I was starting my MA Creative Writing. At that point, I hadn’t managed to finish anything beyond some short stories and television scripts, so my goal from my MA was to use the skills I learned to finish something. Unfortunately, the structure of the MA I did wasn’t conducive to that, so it took me until NaNoWriMo 2009 to finish a first draft. Even so, the seeds were sown in 2008.
By 2012, when the Olympics were held in London, I was two years into my PhD and I was so far buried in sensation fiction and devotion that I couldn’t think too clearly about what I was doing with my writing. However, I was still working on first drafts and redrafts, getting several more in the bag during my PhD, including what would turn into Valerie.
2016, when the Olympics were being held in Rio de Janeiro, marked a turning point for my writing career. My grandmother passed away in February, and I remember sitting down at the funeral tea with one of my wonderful friends and setting out my plans to self-publish the unnamed book that was released as But By Degrees in September 2016. So, really, 2016 was an incredible year for me, and it’s rather fitting it was an Olympic year.
So, what about 2020? The Olympics this year are being held in Tokyo in July and August, which still gives me a few months to get some more achievements in the bag. Even so, looking at where I am now, I’m quietly proud.
I’ve got three books to my name (Amy, the second book in the Valerie Series, came out in September 2019), and plans to release another two novels this year. More than this, though, I’m part of a wonderful writing community, getting the opportunity to attend events alongside some authors I massively respect and am lucky enough to call friends. When you add to all that the fact that I have an amazingly supportive wife who looks after me when I’m in the swamp of a draft edit or the sandstorm of a first draft, I’m incredibly lucky.
2020 looks to be a good year for me and my writing career. Just to be sure, I’ll revisit my Olympic year after the Games take place in Tokyo.
Amy – Release Thoughts
I hold my hands up – I was that busy enjoying a post book release holiday that I forgot to blog about said book release. Do I lose author points for that?
The truth is, getting Amy over the finish line was tough. One of the great things about deadlines is that you know what you’re working towards. On the other side of the coin, they can be terrifying when they’re bearing down on you like an angry panther. So, afterwards, I went into a mini tailspin that was only halted by a trip to the Lakes with my wife.
Let me say this – I’m proud of Amy. My aim is to make every novel I publish better than the last one, and I think I succeeded with that. Perhaps the emotional fatigue came not only from pushing myself to meet that deadline, but also the subject matter. What was simply an idea a couple of years ago turned into reality the moment the Tories called a leadership election. It made completing the book exhausting, especially because UK politics is so toxic these days.
One of the reasons I write about it, though, is because it’s toxic. Unless you explore a broken system, you can’t even begin to fathom how to fix it. Something I learned from revising Amy in these last few months is that there has to be hope the system can be changed. There are plenty of good people who go into politics for the right reasons; it’s just that we’re not hearing much about them in an emotionally charged and reactionary era.
There will be a third book in the series, focused on Max (I know, I shock you). However, it’s definitely time to take a step back from politics and try to claw my way out of this brain fug. I’m sure this is how all authors feel to a certain extent once they’ve kicked their words out to the reader and washed their hands of it. I just wonder how many find the backdrop to their novel playing across national television during the editing period – I’d love to know how they handled it!
Amy is out now on Kindle and is also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Valerie is currently on sale until the end of September.
Amy – Cover Time!
Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen this, and so have the people who follow me over on Facebook. But it’d be silly of me not to publish the cover of my upcoming novel here on my own website, wouldn’t it?
So, without further ado, here’s the cover for Amy:
I wanted to keep flashes of the colour scheme of the Valerie cover but bring the image of Westminster to the forefront. I’ve discussed in this post about the focus of Amy on Westminster and how that differentiates this second novel in the series.
If you prefer to read in paperback form, Amy will be released in a few weeks once I’ve got that cover finalised. However, there’s a pretty surprise on the back of that edition that sums up what both Valerie and Amy experience in the novel. Sorry for the cryptic words – you’ll understand when you see it!
So, Amy will be released this Friday (yes, Friday the 13th September), but if you haven’t read the first novel yet, you might want to grab it this week. Valerie is on sale on Kindle for only 99p/$0.99 until Friday as part of the I Heart Lesfic September Sale.
Check out the sale page here. You’ll find details of all the other great books on offer this month.
Buy Valerie here on Amazon.
What Makes a Relationship Work?
What happens after the “happily ever after”? That’s often one of the drivers of sequels, with authors eager to return to their characters and readers eager to read more about them. For me, when I realised there was more to tell about Valerie, Max and Amy, the thing that struck me was how far their relationships had come by the end of the first novel. I won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t read it yet, but it’s fair to say that everyone has to change and make adjustments to get that happy ending at the end of Valerie.
However, the narrative of Amy emerged partially from the fact that people can change, and they can be forgiven for what they’ve done in the past, but that past can’t be completely forgotten. It’s always going to be there in the background, ready to rear up if something triggers it.
So, as much as Valerie and Max are solidly together at the start of Amy, the difficulties of the previous few years and the inherent flaws they both possess are never far away. While they’ve made a commitment to each other, the tensions of trying to build a life together can feel like walking a tightrope. In that respect, they’re like every other couple out there.
Valerie has her political life; Max has her taxi business to run. With two demanding jobs that are incredibly different, how you start to navigate time together? What do you share during that time together? If you’ve got conflicting hobbies and interests, how do you maintain a meaningful relationship during that time you do manage to schedule?
That’s partly where Valerie and Max begin in Amy. They’re trying to navigate all this normal stuff when the spectre of a party leadership election rudely jumps in their way. That’d cause ructions for even the most well-balanced of couples, and their relationship is on a knife edge to start with.
One thing’s for certain – their relationship will have changed again by the end of Amy.
Amy will be released on Friday 13th September.
Buy Valerie here.
Westminster – The Missing Link
Anyone who’s read Valerie will probably recognise there was one notable absence in the novel – Westminster. Despite Valerie’s political ambitions being an integral part of her character, the focus was kept on Yorkshire where Max and Amy were. This was deliberate, demonstrating the disconnect between Valerie’s career prospects and the rest of her life.
Amy follows Valerie into Westminster as she deals with the extra stress caused by a leadership election that will elect the next PM (yes, I know this sounds familiar – see this post for my reaction to that). So, that means Westminster itself becomes a character in its own right.
If you know anything about the history and mythology of Westminster, there’s so much to devour that the research could take forever. All the political procedures coupled with the archaic processes and grandeur mean that writing Westminster into a novel can be a mammoth task. It’s easy to let the research run away from you but, as with any research, it’s all fuel for the plot rather than becoming fuel itself.
So, I’ve done a lot of reading and other research, incorporating things I agree with and things I don’t. I think one of the problems when you’re writing a novel that includes any aspect of politics is the urge to critique the system and bring your own political viewpoints into play. My views aren’t Valerie’s views, nor do I believe that having right-leaning views automatically makes someone wrong or evil. At the end of the day, I’m telling a story about a character who happens to be a Tory MP. Will that put people off reading? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t be true to the characters if I ignored the realities of her political background and beliefs.
If you’re looking for recommended reading, here’s a bibliography of sorts:
- How Parliament Works, Robert Rogers and Rhodri Walters – This is a detailed and technical look at what happens in Westminster without any of the opinions you might find in other books on this list.
- How Britain Really Works, Stig Abell – This looks at various elements of the UK from our economics through to our media and identity systems to pinpoint what works and what, well, doesn’t.
- The Blunders of Our Governments, Anthony King – A non-partisan analysis of the numerous messes created by governments of all colours and why the system helps them occur.
- Why We Get the Wrong Politicians, Isabel Hardman – An examination of how politicians are selected, elected and why only a certain type of person seems to succeed in politics.
- A View from the Foothills: the Diaries of Chris Mullin, Chris Mullin – This volume of diaries from the Labour MP and junior minister is compelling, showing how politics works from the inside.
- A Woman’s Work, Harriet Harman – Fascinating history of life in politics from the former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, which makes for good reading even if you disagree with her politics.
- Speaking Out, Ed Balls – An honest and sometimes amusing memoir from the former Shadow Chancellor who lost his seat unexpectedly in the 2015 election.
As I said above, effective research spans the whole spectrum of political beliefs. I’ve read more than just these books, but these are the ones that’ve played a part in helping to develop Amy. They all say something about the Westminster political system, and they don’t pretend it’s a good way of doing things either.
Amy will be released on 13th September.
What’s In a (New) Character?
All books in a series need new and exciting characters to propel them along. The same set of characters talking about the same set of things is boring. If your characters are going somewhere, it’s likely there’ll be new people taking the journey with them.
To take a step back into the Harry Potter universe for a moment (as I frequently do), think of the different characters who emerged as the series progressed. Without the likes of Remus Lupin, Dolores Umbridge and Luna Lovegood, the books wouldn’t work, but a gentle layering of characters was necessary for the plot’s sake – and the reader’s too. Very few people like to be inundated with a character roll call right off the bat.
So, when writing Amy, I was aware that new characters would be elbowing their way into the story and they needed to feel as real as Valerie, Max and Amy do. The focus on Westminster also meant that a proportion of these would be politicians – and, as any political cynic will tell you, trying to make a politician appear human can be a tricky task.
There are three major new characters in Amy: Oliver, Robert and Adiba.
Oliver
Oliver is Valerie’s Constituency Office Manager, so he deals with the day-to-day constituency work including community liaison, diary organisation, and overseeing the other staff within the office. At the start of Amy, Ollie has been working with Valerie for around nine months. They’ve establishing a close working relationship, but is it tough enough to withstand a few home truths?
Robert
Robert’s an old friend of Valerie’s who appears just at the wrong time. There’s no love lost between them, and he’s not the kind of person she wants in her life anymore.
Adiba
Adiba is the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – not exactly the most senior role in the UK Government but one she’s made her mark on. She’s also the MP for one of Valerie’s neighbouring constituencies, so they have plenty in common.
As well as these three new major characters, John Foster from the first novel has more of an odious starring role. It isn’t unfinished business so much as opportunities colliding – and who would turn that down if they were aspiring to the highest office in the land?
Amy will be released on Friday 13th September.
Read more about Valerie, the first novel in the series, here.
Valerie – Retrospective
It’s strange when I remember that Valerie wasn’t supposed to be the first in a series. The way the initial draft of that novel went, there was no way I could take it forward. If you ever want to know exactly how it first ended in my mind, buy me a flat white and pull up a chair sometime. However, it’s safe to say there wouldn’t have been any room for a second novel, especially one called Amy.
Without spoiling Valerie for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, it’s a novel about a flawed character. Even though she’s the focal point, she doesn’t share her point of view with the reader, and we see her actions through those she affects most. For me, that was one of the joys of writing the book, because it leaves Max and Amy waiting, just like the reader is, to see which way Valerie’s going to swing next. That’s the beauty of unpredictable characters, although I’m still not sure I’d like to encounter someone like her in person!
Every draft of every novel teaches you something as a writer. I think what Valerie taught me is that the layers of relationships insist on being revealed at their own pace, and that process increases in complexity when you have several main characters and various smaller ones.
The main relationships in Valerie are:
- Valerie and Max
- Valerie and Amy
- Max and Amy
Beyond that, though, there are some pivotal relationships which impact the novel’s events:
- Max and Drew (her friend and business partner)
- Amy and Clarice (her grandmother)
- Amy and Ed (her love interest)
- Valerie and John (her colleague)
Once you throw all those into the mix, the complexity tips up a notch. Managing those relationships as a writer can just be a case of facilitation. Forget being the puppet master, I was more the weary aide with a laptop running alongside them and trying not to fall over.
I have vivid memories of writing and editing Valerie. I also have vivid memories of the period just prior to its release when I was driving my wife around the twist and wondering whether readers would find Valerie as fascinating as I do.
Now, here I am two years later about to release Amy and, yes, I have the same butterflies. But doesn’t every author?
