Once upon a time…. Gee, this sounds like the start of a fairy tale! During the odd quiet period on night shift while working for the newly formed Australian Protective Service in the late 1980s and early 90s I jotted down the beginnings of a story. Who was to know that it would take thirty-odd years for the ending to be written? But sometime that’s just the way life is and we have to go with the flow.
But now my novel, ‘A Failure To Act‘ is in the bag and ready for release on November 1St 2023.
Click on the image for pre-order details.
The story, a bit like small bits of moss on a lake, floated around my subconscious. Quietly bumping into other parts, gradually growing in shape and size. It remained there through marriage, job changes, children, and too many other life experiences to mention. It was always there, sometimes sinking just below the surface before appearing again to make its presence felt. It was the ‘evil grown up sibling’ to my children’s book (The Adventures Of A Mouse Called Meadow).
To be brutally honest, it was only something I visited when I felt the need. I don’t think I realised I needed to, I just went there. The original six chapters lay dormant for a long period without being touched. Then one day I would see, hear, or read something and would find myself creating again. It could be just a few words, sentences, or paragraphs. Then every so often, the cacophony would grow too big and I’d try to merge them into something coherent. Time would pass, and the story would sink back into the abyss. It was a plaything, something to drag out and then shove out of sight whenever something else took my fancy. In those early years, I paid lip service to the thought of it going anywhere other than my desk or living on the computer.
A significant amount of content was written while attending my employer’s annual conferences. No… not during the conference sessions! Everyone put in at our conferences. It was a great vibe. But in the evenings, after a few ales had been drunk and most had retired, I’d write. In the mornings, many of the hard chargers who’d been out partying late and were lamenting the lack of sleep, were unaware that I felt the same. Instead of partying, I had kept similar hours some evenings, just in my room, typing. Time moved on and I had several key aspects of the story completed but nowhere near finished. But by my retirement in 2020, the bones of a book were there.
But here is the catch. For all those years I had talked the talk about wanting to finish the book and publish it, and had had many an eager ear listen to me talk about my wish to do so, in reality it had been a pipe dream. Something to be toyed with and tell myself that if it never came to pass, then so be it.
Then came Covid and a few brief weeks into my retirement the freedom to do as I pleased evaporated and, like so many others, I was housebound for the foreseeable future. You wouldn’t think as a Melbournian I would have anything to thank Covid for, but I did. For some unknown reason, I challenged myself to finish the story. No excuses or disruptions apart from the odd IT Support, and providing tea, coffee and other beverages to my wife and daughter, both working and studying from home.
Finishing the story wasn’t too bad. I had purchased some software via an author’s website belonging to Joanna Penn (thecreativepenn.com). It gave me the flexibility to work on the book in a more structured manner and check grammar, style and much more. Late 2020 saw the first draft completed, and I was chuffed. That was until my editor came back to me saying it was too wordy and needed development. Now the doubts started. Could I do it or even be bothered continuing? Again, I have the extraordinary Melbourne lock down to thank.
I had two choices go mental watching the streaming services, buy lots of books and read or I could tear the story apart and do a full rewrite. But no one likes to hear that something you have strived so hard to create has faults. Along with the possibility of leaving myself exposed to hearing that the new version was still not up to speed meant I was torn.
I knew that I would submit each chapter to my editor, as I reworked it, and that corrections or changes would be made on the fly. So I took up the mantel. By the end of 2021 I’d produced a ‘skinny’ V2 of the manuscript, (30,000 words lighter), and then V2.5 after some additions and changes following some suggestions from my beta readers.
They say the first year after retirement people can become a little lost. In my case, I’d been through Covid lockdowns and 2 years of work on the book, so not me! Then came 2022! I decided to try the traditional publishing route by submitting the manuscript to several publishers by email or the dreaded web form! Off I would go. Fill in your details, attach the obligatory cover letter, author bio, long and short book descriptions, and the list goes on.
Now I was at their mercy and having no experience in this area didn’t hold out a lot of hope. I came from a work environment where communication was key and struggled with the publisher’s lack of it. In goes the submission and then you wait and wait. Each has their own time frame for replying to submissions. These ranged from you’ll hear from us within 30-90 days and some included, and I paraphrase, ‘if you haven’t from us, thanks but no thanks’. So, I waited and waited with not one publisher replying. Another blow to the ego! Couple this with ongoing delays in approvals for a renovation at home, 2022 became that post-retirement year from hell.
I was a bit of a lost soul. I know it was all in my head, but that reflected itself in a lack of interest in pursuing anything of substance and inwardly no direction. The high light, a long-awaited retirement trip to Fiji midyear, allowing me to decompress somewhat. It wasn’t my finest year, but by the end of 2022, I’d regained a sense of self and started looking forward. Deciding to self-publish, I waited for the final/never to be received publishers’ response. In early 2023, I rejoined the journey. With a concept for the cover art in my mind, I focussed my time trying to get images to achieve the result and researched who to publish with. Long story short, with no luck finding the images I needed, I found a cover designer in Brazil via an online design competition, and she nailed it!
Now reinvigorated by how well the design had come out, I completed the online configuration in preparation for release on November 1St 2023 and tried to plan some marketing. Definity, not my forte! But like the title of this blog says. “It’s all about the journey!!!”
I have learnt a great deal about the process over the past few years and feel more confident about pursuing a second offering down the track. I am now comfortable knowing that it’s OK that I write by the seat of my pants and that ideas and scenes can and will change direction at a moment’s notice, taking the story down an unexpected path. That publishers may not want my work, but that’s OK as there are other options.
But for now, those of you who read this and decide to read ‘A Failure To Act‘, I hope you enjoy the experience. And please let me know what you think about it via the website or my FB authors page.