Hello,
It's finally here. January 31st sees the eBook release of the Hodder version of This Thirtysomething Life! It has a lovely new cover, it's been proofread properly (no more annoying little mistakes) and it looks a million bucks!
Annoyingly, Amazon treat it like a new release and although I've been in the top 100 for the past three months, from tomorrow I will be back at number 100,000 or whatever new releases are in the charts. So please support the book, tell all your friends to buy it and hopefully we can get it back in the top hundred again, and who knows, maybe even higher!
Of course, the excitement doesn't stop there. On April 25th the Hodder paperback will be released nationwide. You won't be able to get rid of me. I'll be in books shops, online and maybe even in your local Tesco.
I can't explain in words how exciting this is for me and the fact I get to share it with you only makes it more so. Thank you all for everything.
Time for something slightly alcoholic.
Hugs,
Jon X
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
AGENT!
Hello,
Just a quickie. Something for the weekend. OK fine, it's just a blog, but it is quick and definitely for the weekend.
As many of you will know, I spent years trying to get an agent. I wrote letter after disappointing letter, trying to get one of them to read my book. Sadly, all I got in return were even more disappointing letters of rejection. So, it brings me immense pleasure to let you know that I finally have an agent, and not just any agent, but the same agent who represents Mike Gayle - one of my literary heroes! I am to put it mildly, over the bloody moon.
I have been signed by Ariella Feiner at United Agents. UA (as I now call them and not to be confused with the UAE - United Arab Emirates) are Europe's top talent and literary agency. They have the likes of Danny Wallace, Emma Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Keira Knightley, Richard Curtis and Kate Winslet on their books - so I'm not in bad company! It really is a dream come true and it's all thanks to my wonderful Editor at Hodder, Harriet, who continues to spread the word about my book. Thank you!
So, with lovely news and lots to look forward to, I bid you farewell.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone, may it be long, fun, fantastic and full of love. Oh, and a happy Burn's Night to all my Scottish friends!
Until next time,
Hugs
Jon X
Just a quickie. Something for the weekend. OK fine, it's just a blog, but it is quick and definitely for the weekend.
As many of you will know, I spent years trying to get an agent. I wrote letter after disappointing letter, trying to get one of them to read my book. Sadly, all I got in return were even more disappointing letters of rejection. So, it brings me immense pleasure to let you know that I finally have an agent, and not just any agent, but the same agent who represents Mike Gayle - one of my literary heroes! I am to put it mildly, over the bloody moon.
I have been signed by Ariella Feiner at United Agents. UA (as I now call them and not to be confused with the UAE - United Arab Emirates) are Europe's top talent and literary agency. They have the likes of Danny Wallace, Emma Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Keira Knightley, Richard Curtis and Kate Winslet on their books - so I'm not in bad company! It really is a dream come true and it's all thanks to my wonderful Editor at Hodder, Harriet, who continues to spread the word about my book. Thank you!
So, with lovely news and lots to look forward to, I bid you farewell.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone, may it be long, fun, fantastic and full of love. Oh, and a happy Burn's Night to all my Scottish friends!
Until next time,
Hugs
Jon X
Monday, January 14, 2013
On dreams
Hello,
I hope 2013 is treating you with a little respect and a big dollop of love. This is my second blog of the year and it's only the middle of January! If I keep this up it could be a record blog year for me. I do apologise. I am an awful blogger. More inconsistent than buses. It's a tough old game though. Between writing and everything else, blogs feature in the same bracket as cleaning, and as I actually need to do a bit of cleaning around the house, it's time for a blog!
Anyway, I wanted to write a short blog about dreams. Every writer has dreams. I think its just in our nature. Six months ago my dream was to get a publishing deal with one of the big boys. Admittedly, I would have taken a publishing deal from anybody six months ago, but luckily I got the attention of Hodder who are, without doubt, one of the biggest. They also publish quite a few of my literary heroes, which was a bit of a bonus! This was my big dream. In reality my only dream because until I got published, nothing else was even remotely possible. This changed everything.
My next and hopefully realistic dream is that This Thirtysomething Life (which comes out as a paperback on APRIL 25TH!) does really well and sells lots of copies. I hope it gets some good reviews and people love it. My next big dream is that my second novel Happy Endings (due out near the end of the year) does even better and sells even more copies. That's my two biggest dreams for 2013.
There are, of course, the bigger dreams. The dreams I think about when my mind starts wondering and I imagine the perfect world. For most people their BIG dream probably involves winning the lottery. Well, my lottery jackpot, my biggest dream is that This Thirtysomething Life gets bought and made into a sitcom. It's a crazy dream and one that will never happen, but like the lottery, I still dream about it from time to time. The reason I would like it made into a sitcom rather than say a film, is because a: I love sitcoms and b: when I sat down to write Thirtysomething, I wrote it as a sitcom.
I suppose I wanted to share this because it was on my mind. I was editing Happy Endings today, slaving away over the keyboard, and I started thinking how crazy the last few months have been. I'm editing a book for my editor. It's proper. My biggest life goal is now a reality. It's like someone playing professional football or an actor getting a lead role in a film. I've done that and yes, it doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to be super rich or stonkingly successful, it just means I have a shot at it. I have a shot at making my dream a reality, and maybe if I'm really lucky, if all the stars align, if miracles do actually happen, maybe, one day, I'll be able to watch my book on the telly.
It probably won't happen, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to dream about it from time to time.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
I hope 2013 is treating you with a little respect and a big dollop of love. This is my second blog of the year and it's only the middle of January! If I keep this up it could be a record blog year for me. I do apologise. I am an awful blogger. More inconsistent than buses. It's a tough old game though. Between writing and everything else, blogs feature in the same bracket as cleaning, and as I actually need to do a bit of cleaning around the house, it's time for a blog!
Anyway, I wanted to write a short blog about dreams. Every writer has dreams. I think its just in our nature. Six months ago my dream was to get a publishing deal with one of the big boys. Admittedly, I would have taken a publishing deal from anybody six months ago, but luckily I got the attention of Hodder who are, without doubt, one of the biggest. They also publish quite a few of my literary heroes, which was a bit of a bonus! This was my big dream. In reality my only dream because until I got published, nothing else was even remotely possible. This changed everything.
My next and hopefully realistic dream is that This Thirtysomething Life (which comes out as a paperback on APRIL 25TH!) does really well and sells lots of copies. I hope it gets some good reviews and people love it. My next big dream is that my second novel Happy Endings (due out near the end of the year) does even better and sells even more copies. That's my two biggest dreams for 2013.
There are, of course, the bigger dreams. The dreams I think about when my mind starts wondering and I imagine the perfect world. For most people their BIG dream probably involves winning the lottery. Well, my lottery jackpot, my biggest dream is that This Thirtysomething Life gets bought and made into a sitcom. It's a crazy dream and one that will never happen, but like the lottery, I still dream about it from time to time. The reason I would like it made into a sitcom rather than say a film, is because a: I love sitcoms and b: when I sat down to write Thirtysomething, I wrote it as a sitcom.
I suppose I wanted to share this because it was on my mind. I was editing Happy Endings today, slaving away over the keyboard, and I started thinking how crazy the last few months have been. I'm editing a book for my editor. It's proper. My biggest life goal is now a reality. It's like someone playing professional football or an actor getting a lead role in a film. I've done that and yes, it doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to be super rich or stonkingly successful, it just means I have a shot at it. I have a shot at making my dream a reality, and maybe if I'm really lucky, if all the stars align, if miracles do actually happen, maybe, one day, I'll be able to watch my book on the telly.
It probably won't happen, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to dream about it from time to time.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Friday, January 4, 2013
First blog of 2013!!!
Hello,
So it happened. I suppose it was inevitable. It's 2013. Mental.
The other day my lovely wife told me something that blew my mind. In Back to the Future, when they go into the future, it's 2015! That's right, in just two more years we're going to have hovering skateboards. Boy did it make me feel old. Either that or the fact I'm turning 38 this year has got me a tad mawkish and sentimental.
38 years on this planet, almost 40, which as we know is middle age personified. Still, mustn't grumble. For a nearly 40 year old I'm not doing too bad. I'm healthy-ish, I have my dream job(author), I have a wonderful, beautiful wife, two gorgeous kids and a lot to look forward to. Yes, as much as getting old is terrifying and I'm not looking forward to the day when I'm officially 'in my forties' I'm pretty bloody happy.
But that isn't what you want to hear, is it?
Oh, Jon Rance is doing all right, bully for him, but what about me, eh?
OK, fine, no more self-indulgence. Although if you want to gloat and know that my life isn't all celebrity parties and lunches at Gastro-Pubs, New Year's Eve and me and wife were in bed by 10pm. Terribly sad, I know, but it's the truth. We did, however, during Christmas visit Gordon Ramsay's brand new Gastro-Pub in Las Vegas, Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill, and it was fabulous. Swings and roundabouts, eh.
Lets get down to brass tacks - that's a phrase you can only ever use in writing or in a boardroom. I could never use it in real life. People would laugh in my face. Anyway, brass tacks, this is a blog about my writing (mainly) and so here's what's going on in January.
I'm currently editing like a bastard. I don't mean that I'm editing (like a bastard), but editing like a bastard (a lot). I'm due to turn in the rewritten copy of Happy Endings at the end of January to my lovely editor. I think one of the best things about being a writer is that it's like being back at school again. I just hope, unlike school, I don't wait until the last minute and then stay up all night getting it done. The edit is actually going really well and I'm getting a lot more emotion out of the characters and I think it's going to be a lot better because of it.I'll keep you updated with the progress and maybe some tantalizing titbits.
This Thirtysomething Life is still available to download via Amazon, but from the end of January it will be in the hands of my publishers. Basically this means it will have a new and better cover, I've seen it and it's brilliant. It has been proofread by a professional, so it's error free and slightly better - although the story is exactly the same. In January it's also going to get some press reviews. I'm not 100% sure of the details yet, but as soon as I know, so will you. It's very exciting though.
The Thirtysomething Life is also being released as a paperback on April 25th! This will be one of the greatest days of my life. My book in bookshops across the country. Pinch me.
Thanks so much to everyone who bought my book last year, without you I wouldn't have got a publishing deal, wouldn't be so bloody happy all the time and my wife would have to hear me moaning about my shitty job all the time. You didn't just buy a book, you changed my life, so thank you! Please keep buying This Thirtysomething Life and if you already have, please tell all your friends to buy it too!
I hope you all had a lovely, wonderful and brilliant New Years and lets make 2013 a magical year!
That's it for now.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
So it happened. I suppose it was inevitable. It's 2013. Mental.
The other day my lovely wife told me something that blew my mind. In Back to the Future, when they go into the future, it's 2015! That's right, in just two more years we're going to have hovering skateboards. Boy did it make me feel old. Either that or the fact I'm turning 38 this year has got me a tad mawkish and sentimental.
38 years on this planet, almost 40, which as we know is middle age personified. Still, mustn't grumble. For a nearly 40 year old I'm not doing too bad. I'm healthy-ish, I have my dream job(author), I have a wonderful, beautiful wife, two gorgeous kids and a lot to look forward to. Yes, as much as getting old is terrifying and I'm not looking forward to the day when I'm officially 'in my forties' I'm pretty bloody happy.
But that isn't what you want to hear, is it?
Oh, Jon Rance is doing all right, bully for him, but what about me, eh?
OK, fine, no more self-indulgence. Although if you want to gloat and know that my life isn't all celebrity parties and lunches at Gastro-Pubs, New Year's Eve and me and wife were in bed by 10pm. Terribly sad, I know, but it's the truth. We did, however, during Christmas visit Gordon Ramsay's brand new Gastro-Pub in Las Vegas, Gordon Ramsay Pub and Grill, and it was fabulous. Swings and roundabouts, eh.
Lets get down to brass tacks - that's a phrase you can only ever use in writing or in a boardroom. I could never use it in real life. People would laugh in my face. Anyway, brass tacks, this is a blog about my writing (mainly) and so here's what's going on in January.
I'm currently editing like a bastard. I don't mean that I'm editing (like a bastard), but editing like a bastard (a lot). I'm due to turn in the rewritten copy of Happy Endings at the end of January to my lovely editor. I think one of the best things about being a writer is that it's like being back at school again. I just hope, unlike school, I don't wait until the last minute and then stay up all night getting it done. The edit is actually going really well and I'm getting a lot more emotion out of the characters and I think it's going to be a lot better because of it.I'll keep you updated with the progress and maybe some tantalizing titbits.
This Thirtysomething Life is still available to download via Amazon, but from the end of January it will be in the hands of my publishers. Basically this means it will have a new and better cover, I've seen it and it's brilliant. It has been proofread by a professional, so it's error free and slightly better - although the story is exactly the same. In January it's also going to get some press reviews. I'm not 100% sure of the details yet, but as soon as I know, so will you. It's very exciting though.
The Thirtysomething Life is also being released as a paperback on April 25th! This will be one of the greatest days of my life. My book in bookshops across the country. Pinch me.
Thanks so much to everyone who bought my book last year, without you I wouldn't have got a publishing deal, wouldn't be so bloody happy all the time and my wife would have to hear me moaning about my shitty job all the time. You didn't just buy a book, you changed my life, so thank you! Please keep buying This Thirtysomething Life and if you already have, please tell all your friends to buy it too!
I hope you all had a lovely, wonderful and brilliant New Years and lets make 2013 a magical year!
That's it for now.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
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