New book started!

Me again gang,

As you might well have gathered I am off work this week and what joy that brings. As well as the publishing I have also finally begun to write the second Mitch and Rupert novel, the follow up to the 24 Hour Jazz Cafe.

The first one took me the best part of two years to write, with vast breaks along the way as work took over. Hopefully this one will be finished over the summer as the likelihood is that I will be made redundant in/around June which will allow me the freedom to write full time, at least for a few months.

I'm genuinely excited about it as I'll be able to focus fully on the writing without distraction so I'll have no excuses. The plan is to get it published, one way or another, and then find another job. Assuming of course I don't get a book deal or win the lottery.

Either way, it's all positive. One book just launched, another with a publisher and the new one just started. As I've said before, there really isn't time for work!

First version of new cover

Evening folks.

I've had a very productive couple of days which, in my mind, only serves to reinforce that there isn't time to go to work.

I've repackaged the stuff already available on Amazon to include an extract of All the fun of the fair and have finished the first version of the cover. I've included it below for you to ponder, any feedback welcomed. Unless I decide to start again I anticipate publishing tomorrow or Wednesday.

Ten years in the making

First of all, welcome along dear reader, it's very good of you to make the effort. I don't say this lightly. As an aspiring writer (or rather a writer who aspires to be read) I appreciate anybody reading anything I've written.

This all began, officially at least, ten years ago when the good folks at Manchester Metropolitan University offered me a place on their Creative Writing MA. Obviously I'd decided before this moment that I wanted to be a writer, but the MA was the first time I'd taken steps to do anything about making that happen.

It very nearly did happen too. My first full length manuscript went down a storm with my tutors, the MA was mine, I gained an agent at the first attempt who thought the book a triumph and so I assumed that it really was that easy. Clearly I was a genius and my debut novel would be on the shelves in time for Christmas. Ah, the arrogance of youth.

That novel was titled Playground Cool. It remains unpublished and now, ten years on and several novels later, I remain as determined as ever to have my work read. Over the coming weeks, months etc I will be adding extracts of my work along with more background on just why that first novel didn't make it to the shops and what I have done in the intervening years.

I will also keep anyone who is interested up to speed on my latest effort - The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. I'm editing the first draft at the moment and will then begin the now familiar process of sending out letters and extracts to publishers. Depending on how that goes I might even include a couple of rejection lettters and if - here's hoping - something comes of it, I'll post the acceptance letter too.

But for the first time I'm planning to self-publish electronically via Kindle. As and when this process starts I'll post updates on that too.

So, if you fancy it, there's plenty going on, certainly plenty to read, some of it good, some of it probably not so good and I'll appreciate the company.