🇺🇸-born, 🇬🇧-based, novelist. Writing, travel, and more. New novel, “Tomorrow The Grace," out now.
Sitting at my desk this morning here in England, I recall I opened in 2012 by starting a novel that early on was meant basically to be a "one and done" effort: “four” people out there would read it and I would forever after proudly display it on a bookshelf as my “great literary” achievement...
One big thing I would also like to see in our "lost generation" roaring twenties is a genuine authoring nod to human reality and even weakness.
"Everyone writes books now": In an innocent and not nasty way, an elderly aunt said that to me a few years back. In a way, she was right.
Let's be honest: Who wants to read a book by a mope who tweets about their "failures"?
POWERFUL STUDIO EXECUTIVE: "It is fantastic. She'll be perfect. I've got her cell. I'll see right now if she'll do breakfast next week..."
"You know I don't read this period history mush, but I know you like it for some reason." LOL!
I decided given she has so many followers and was so clearly knowledgeable as an author, that I really needed to read at least a sample from one of her novels. I went over to Amazon and typed in her name and clicked...
I was not going to write anything for another novel for at least six months. But when an idea hits, you have to write it down... because otherwise it may vanish from your mind never to be heard from again.
The U.S. is really, I always remind non-Americans, a continent (Finland has the population of roughly Connecticut), and over the centuries has demonstrated a resiliency and managed - it still does - to evolve.
My (now late) uncle had warned me about that type. LOL!
Nonsense that has nothing to do with our work or craft is pervasive on social media too. I have had a few idiots message or email me over the years, but I know I am fortunate I have never had to endure sexually suggestive DMs and emails from what appear to be real people. Obviously being a now slightly, uh, more mature man of course probably helps in that area.
My uncle once cornered me back in those same long ago 1990s about how for his next novel he planned to "borrow" the name of a friend of mine for a French policewoman character and base the character on her personality. "Oh, dear God, no," I recall half-laughing and, horrified, blurting out in response.
When I realized I would write another novel of that era, I decided to try something of a "gamble" for that next novel: I would this time put faces on the cover(s).
That was quite a post. You probably wish I would start writing a new novel sooner rather than later. After all, when I finally do, I will have less time to blog. LOL!
