How close have you come to achieving your dream?

Evening gang,

This is going to a slightly different blog post. It might even end up being a bit of a series. Here at Sinclair Towers we've been decorating and moving things round. I found a pile of old rejection letters amongst the crap. But I also found several letters proclaiming interest in my books and my letters from the Sheil Land Agency where they agreed to represent me.

Reading these made me realise how close I came to a totally different path. Had just one of these letters led to a publishing deal then the following ten or eleven years might have been very different.

So let's jump back to the beginning, almost. In April 2001 I was about to graduate with an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester. I had written my first novel, Playground Cool, and I was utterly convinced a book deal was mine to have. I was 24.

I remember asking Sophie Hannah, now a very well respected crime writer, how to approach agents. I sent off a few letters and some extracts of the book. Straight off the bat I received a letter from Viven Green at Sheil Land.

"Thank you very much for the chance of reading your sample material. I'd be very happy to read the rest of it if you'd like to send it in with return postage - just in case"

That was April 11th. I was over the moon. Then on April 17th I got another letter from Sarah Molloy at the AM Heath agency.

"Thank you for letting me read the opening chapters of Playground Cool. I'd be happy to read the rest of the typescript and look forward to reading the rest of the material in due course"

Short, to the point, interested in my book. It only fuelled my youthful arrogance.  Two agents interested in a week and everyone at the university in Manchester was telling me my book was great. After all I'd just got an MA for writing it.

I'll tell you what happened next in another post.

But it was all good, at least at first!

What does Ford Madox Ford mean to you?

Evening folks,

As I sit here watching a recording of Roger Federer mauling a Spaniard who isn't Nadal at the US Open, I've been pondering the last decade (and a bit) of my writing life. Why? Because the BBC are showing Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford and that made me think.

You see, many years ago, when I was much more active in my efforts to avoid gainful employment I went to university. There was zero career plan. I just knew I was bright enough, because most people are, and I had no desire to continue working nights at the local supermarket.

After collecting my first degree, I still had very little idea job wise so I began to write a book. I don't recall exactly why or how this came about. But, under pressure to do something, I decided to apply for the new MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. The course leader was Michael Schmidt.

I quickly learned that he is a remarkable chap. Wildly intelligent with a great sense of humour, very patient with students like me who don't try as hard as they might and, it transpired, the man in charge of Carcanet Publishers. I had read, at some point, The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. I had loved it and one evening, in general conversation with Michael, Ford came up. I mentioned The Good Soldier, his eyes lit up and he vanished from the room only to return minutes later clutching copies of The Good Soldier and Parade's End.

Fast forward to tonight. The wife was watching a programme on the BBC about the Parade's End adaptation and mentioned she'd like to read it. My eyes lit up, I vanished from the room only to return minutes later clutching the copy of Parade's End given to me years earlier at university.

That got me thinking. It was during my first year at Manchester that I completed my first novel, Playground Cool. Michael was a fan, as was tutor Sophie Hannah, now making a name for herself as a crime writer of the highest order. When I approached the agent Vivien Green she rang Michael to ask about me and he apparently said only positive things.

Many things have happened since then. I got the MA, obviously, I've got married, bought a house and now have what I used to refer to as a "proper" job. But I still write books, I still view it as the thing I want to do for a living. Playground Cool sells quite well and the paperback sits on a shelf not too far from The Good Soldier, I like the link between them.

And I suppose that's the point of this blog, to consider the journey, mine and the writing. The next book is nearly finished, and there'll be another after that. But the journey began properly back then. I could have stayed at the supermarket (Freshco as Michael used to refer to it) and who knows what I'd be doing now. So that, in a very round the houses way, is that Ford Madox Ford means to me. Yes, I love The Good Soldier, but the name will always remind me of my MA, of Michael and of writing my first novel.