Hello,
So it happened. Sunday Dinners was released yesterday. I had an amazing publication day. So many writers, bloggers, friends, and fans wrote, tweeted, and helped support me. It was a really lovely day and it reminded me once again how wonderful the writing community is. It also reminded how much I love doing what I do. I'm truly lucky to write books for a living.
There is, of course, the other side of things - the very real threat of post publishing day blues. No matter how many books you've written or had published, when those first reviews start coming in it's a terrifying time. The idea that the book you love, spent the last year working, is going out in the world for people to possibly bash is nothing short of horrible. I must have refreshed Amazon about fifty times yesterday and slowly the reviews came in. Luckily, they have all been wonderful. People seem to really love the book so far. The relief is like finishing work the last time before a two week holiday. The weight of pressure is temporarily lifted.
Of course there will be bad reviews down the line. That's par for the course for writers. Some people will really hate what you've done, and that's OK, but at the moment I'm on cloud nine. I know cloud eight, seven, six, five, two and one aren't far away, but it's nice to enjoy these moments when they come along. Sunday Dinners is creeping up the charts (713 at the moment!) and hopefully like my first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, it will keep going and reach the top ten - that's always the dream. But whatever happens, this is all part of the ride. It's ups and downs, massive highs followed by awfully depressing lows. But I wouldn't do anything else.
So if you haven't bought Sunday Dinners yet, please pop over to Amazon and give it a go. Maybe you can help keep this author on cloud nine for just a little bit longer.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Sunday, October 25, 2015
PUBLICATION DAY!
Hello,
It's a very happy publication day to me! It feels like so long since I've had a publication day - and this is the first of two in the next couple of months. My Christmas novella will be out on December 7th!
I could write a whole blog about this, but instead I'm going to keep this nice and simple. Please go out and buy SUNDAY DINNERS, it's only 99p and it's a book I'm really proud of.
Secondly, as an added treat, THIS FAMILY LIFE, is FREE for the next 3 days, so if you haven't read that please go and get it for nothing!
And lastly, my Christmas novella is available for pre-order for just 99p too! So pop on over to Amazon and get a hat-trick of my books!
That's it. A whopping thank you to everyone that's helped me, supported me, bought my books, and helped me make this possible.
It's a very happy publication day to me! It feels like so long since I've had a publication day - and this is the first of two in the next couple of months. My Christmas novella will be out on December 7th!
I could write a whole blog about this, but instead I'm going to keep this nice and simple. Please go out and buy SUNDAY DINNERS, it's only 99p and it's a book I'm really proud of.
Secondly, as an added treat, THIS FAMILY LIFE, is FREE for the next 3 days, so if you haven't read that please go and get it for nothing!
And lastly, my Christmas novella is available for pre-order for just 99p too! So pop on over to Amazon and get a hat-trick of my books!
That's it. A whopping thank you to everyone that's helped me, supported me, bought my books, and helped me make this possible.
 |
| BUY NOW FOR 99p! |
 |
| PRE-ORDER NOW FOR 99p! |
 |
| FREE FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS! |
Until next time.
Cheers,
Jon X
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
A NOTTING HILL CHRISTMAS
Hello,
I'm very proud to announce that my Christmas novella, A NOTTING HILL CHRISTMAS, is available for pre-order and will be released on December 7th! It's a really fun, funny, romantic comedy set in Notting Hill and like my new novel, Sunday Dinners, it's only going to be 99p! Anyway, without further waffle from me, here is the cover and synopsis.
But when beautiful new neighbour, Mhairi McGregor, suddenly appears at his door, Ben’s Christmas worries go out of the window and he begins to wonder if it might not be the worst Christmas in history after all. A Notting Hill Christmas, is a laugh-out-loud, festive novella perfect for fans of romantic comedies like Love Actually and Notting Hill.
I'm very proud to announce that my Christmas novella, A NOTTING HILL CHRISTMAS, is available for pre-order and will be released on December 7th! It's a really fun, funny, romantic comedy set in Notting Hill and like my new novel, Sunday Dinners, it's only going to be 99p! Anyway, without further waffle from me, here is the cover and synopsis.
A laugh-out-loud, festive, romantic comedy novella from Jon Rance, the bestselling author of This Thirtysomething Life, Happy Endings, and Sunday Dinners.
One family. A tiny flat in Notting Hill. A beautiful new neighbour. A very angry dog. A horny Welshman. An enormous turkey. On the biggest day of the year. What could possibly go wrong?
It’s Christmas Day and twenty-nine year old Ben Canterbury is on a mission. He’s going to show his parents that he’s a proper grown-up just like his older and more successful brother, Jamie. The problem is, Ben doesn't really have the flat for so many people (and one very angry lapdog), the Christmas tree’s from the Pound Shop, the decorations are hung with blue-tack, and the turkey might not fit in the oven.
But when beautiful new neighbour, Mhairi McGregor, suddenly appears at his door, Ben’s Christmas worries go out of the window and he begins to wonder if it might not be the worst Christmas in history after all. A Notting Hill Christmas, is a laugh-out-loud, festive novella perfect for fans of romantic comedies like Love Actually and Notting Hill.
I'll be back soon with more info about this book and also my new novel Sunday Dinners, which you can pre-order for 99p right here!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Introducing SUNDAY DINNERS
Hello,
With only a week until the release of my new novel Sunday Dinners, I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce the book to the world (OK, fine, the handful of people who read my blog). So here we go....it's time to meet the Wilde family!
Sunday Dinners is more than just a novel. It's a celebration of the great British roast dinner. The novel was inspired in part by an article I read online about the death of the Sunday roast dinner. I couldn't believe it and to be honest, it makes me sad to think that something I've always held so dear and have such affection for is dying out. I don't know if it actually is or not, but it inspired the novel.
In the book we have six main characters. There's Greg Wilde, 54, a university lecturer, and the father of the family. Lizzy Wilde, 53, the mother and frustrated housewife. Lucy, 27, the eldest child and successful BBC script editor with a secret. Matt, 24, lazy, unambitious and broken hearted, and Holly, 18, sexually confused and about to head off to university. There's also Joan, Greg's mother, who lives in a home and is on her last legs. The book starts in 1999 when the children are small and the family is happy. It's fun, vibrant, and chaotic. It's what Sunday roasts are like with three young children. However, we jump forward thirteen years and the children are all about to move out or move on, and it's the end of an era. The Sunday roasts are coming to an end and Greg and Lizzy's marriage is facing a very uncertain future.
The theme of things coming to an end and moving on, is used throughout the book, and the Sunday roast as the thing that's keeping them all together. Because to me the weekly (or monthly in the case of the book) roast dinner is the time when family comes together. During the rest of the week, our lives are so fragmented, but for a few hours everyone gets together over roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, and gravy, and it's as though you're a family again. It's like Christmas day every Sunday. A quote I found when I started writing the book was, "Life is a balance of holding on and letting go" and it's this theme that creates the tension and drama in the book.
Writing the book was also a delicate balance of comedy and drama because when you get family together there's always laughter as well as tears. A lot of the comedy comes from the sibling rivalry between the children and also the reality of Joan realising that she's going to be dead soon. It's comedy grounded firmly in reality. I took a lot of influence from the TV show Outnumbered for this. I love that show because it shows family life exactly as it is and it's really funny and that's something I tried to do in the book. Most of the drama comes from Greg and Lizzy's marriage, which is in turmoil. Greg doesn't realise how unhappy Lizzy is until it's too late, and Lizzy is tired her life and needs something to change. It's the biggest storyline in the book and in a way it holds everything together - it's the backbone of the novel.
The last theme of the book I want to talk about is the idea of appearance. In many ways the Wilde family are the archetypal middle class family. They seem from the outside to have this perfect life, but once we're on the inside we realise how many problems each character has. Throughout the book, Greg is desperately trying to cling onto the Sunday roasts, because he believes it will save his family and his marriage. But as in real life, things change and move on, and Greg comes to the realisation that the perfect family and marriage he always wanted doesn't really exist and accepting the imperfections in everything is what makes it work.
Set around the table at their monthly roast dinners and set over 16 years of a family life, the Wilde family will have you laughing, crying, and nodding in recognition because to me they're just like all of us. They're a real family with histories, secrets, rivalries, and problems. But they love each other and stand by each other and when it comes to Sundays, they want nothing more than to be sitting down with each other at the dinner table. This is a very British book that's equally as funny as it is dramatic and at it's core is parenthood, marriage, love, life and roast dinners.
You can pre-order your copy of Sunday Dinner for just 99p right here!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
With only a week until the release of my new novel Sunday Dinners, I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce the book to the world (OK, fine, the handful of people who read my blog). So here we go....it's time to meet the Wilde family!
Sunday Dinners is more than just a novel. It's a celebration of the great British roast dinner. The novel was inspired in part by an article I read online about the death of the Sunday roast dinner. I couldn't believe it and to be honest, it makes me sad to think that something I've always held so dear and have such affection for is dying out. I don't know if it actually is or not, but it inspired the novel.
In the book we have six main characters. There's Greg Wilde, 54, a university lecturer, and the father of the family. Lizzy Wilde, 53, the mother and frustrated housewife. Lucy, 27, the eldest child and successful BBC script editor with a secret. Matt, 24, lazy, unambitious and broken hearted, and Holly, 18, sexually confused and about to head off to university. There's also Joan, Greg's mother, who lives in a home and is on her last legs. The book starts in 1999 when the children are small and the family is happy. It's fun, vibrant, and chaotic. It's what Sunday roasts are like with three young children. However, we jump forward thirteen years and the children are all about to move out or move on, and it's the end of an era. The Sunday roasts are coming to an end and Greg and Lizzy's marriage is facing a very uncertain future.
The theme of things coming to an end and moving on, is used throughout the book, and the Sunday roast as the thing that's keeping them all together. Because to me the weekly (or monthly in the case of the book) roast dinner is the time when family comes together. During the rest of the week, our lives are so fragmented, but for a few hours everyone gets together over roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, and gravy, and it's as though you're a family again. It's like Christmas day every Sunday. A quote I found when I started writing the book was, "Life is a balance of holding on and letting go" and it's this theme that creates the tension and drama in the book.
Writing the book was also a delicate balance of comedy and drama because when you get family together there's always laughter as well as tears. A lot of the comedy comes from the sibling rivalry between the children and also the reality of Joan realising that she's going to be dead soon. It's comedy grounded firmly in reality. I took a lot of influence from the TV show Outnumbered for this. I love that show because it shows family life exactly as it is and it's really funny and that's something I tried to do in the book. Most of the drama comes from Greg and Lizzy's marriage, which is in turmoil. Greg doesn't realise how unhappy Lizzy is until it's too late, and Lizzy is tired her life and needs something to change. It's the biggest storyline in the book and in a way it holds everything together - it's the backbone of the novel.
The last theme of the book I want to talk about is the idea of appearance. In many ways the Wilde family are the archetypal middle class family. They seem from the outside to have this perfect life, but once we're on the inside we realise how many problems each character has. Throughout the book, Greg is desperately trying to cling onto the Sunday roasts, because he believes it will save his family and his marriage. But as in real life, things change and move on, and Greg comes to the realisation that the perfect family and marriage he always wanted doesn't really exist and accepting the imperfections in everything is what makes it work.
Set around the table at their monthly roast dinners and set over 16 years of a family life, the Wilde family will have you laughing, crying, and nodding in recognition because to me they're just like all of us. They're a real family with histories, secrets, rivalries, and problems. But they love each other and stand by each other and when it comes to Sundays, they want nothing more than to be sitting down with each other at the dinner table. This is a very British book that's equally as funny as it is dramatic and at it's core is parenthood, marriage, love, life and roast dinners.
You can pre-order your copy of Sunday Dinner for just 99p right here!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Why Sunday Dinners is 99p
Hello,
My new novel Sunday Dinners is out in just over a week and I'm very excited about it. A month or so ago I was thinking about the book and how much to charge for it and that's when I decided to go for 99p. There's a lot of debate about book prices and how much we should charge for our books. Obviously 99p is very cheap for something that's taken me over a year to write, but for me it's about getting the book read.
When I released my very first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, I only charged 99p because it was my first book and I just wanted someone to read it. Anyone (other than my family). I had no readers and so I was battling against thousands of other books all trying to get an audience. This Thirtysomething Life eventually sold about 55,000 copies and currently has 620 reviews on Amazon. One thing I realised during this period was how much I loved so many people reading and reviewing my work.
My next novel, Happy Endings, published by Hodder and Stoughton, didn't do so well and it was a book I genuinely loved. There's nothing so frustrating as an author than having a book out that you've spent a long time writing and no-one's reading it. So when it came to Sunday Dinners, I decided that above everything else, I wanted this book to be read. It's a book I've worked really hard on and a book I love. So by making it so cheap I hope that people will give it a punt because I know it's worth it. Sunday Dinners is officially out on October 26th, but you can pre-order it now right here.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
My new novel Sunday Dinners is out in just over a week and I'm very excited about it. A month or so ago I was thinking about the book and how much to charge for it and that's when I decided to go for 99p. There's a lot of debate about book prices and how much we should charge for our books. Obviously 99p is very cheap for something that's taken me over a year to write, but for me it's about getting the book read.
When I released my very first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, I only charged 99p because it was my first book and I just wanted someone to read it. Anyone (other than my family). I had no readers and so I was battling against thousands of other books all trying to get an audience. This Thirtysomething Life eventually sold about 55,000 copies and currently has 620 reviews on Amazon. One thing I realised during this period was how much I loved so many people reading and reviewing my work.
My next novel, Happy Endings, published by Hodder and Stoughton, didn't do so well and it was a book I genuinely loved. There's nothing so frustrating as an author than having a book out that you've spent a long time writing and no-one's reading it. So when it came to Sunday Dinners, I decided that above everything else, I wanted this book to be read. It's a book I've worked really hard on and a book I love. So by making it so cheap I hope that people will give it a punt because I know it's worth it. Sunday Dinners is officially out on October 26th, but you can pre-order it now right here.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Self-pub to Trad-pub and back again
Hello,
As writer's we're often writing blogs about good news. I have a book deal, I just sold the film rights to my novel, I got an agent, etc. I've done a few of those posts myself (not the film rights unfortunately). The truth of matter is though, we often have more downs than ups as writers. The path to success is literally littered (or fly-tipped) with failure.
My "journey" started in 2011. OK, it started long before that but it gets interesting in 2011 because my first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, does the impossible and gets into the Kindle top ten charts - number 7 actually. This is a miracle because A: it's self-published and to sell that many books on your own against the might of the professional publishing machine is a huge achievement. B: I literally had no idea what I was doing. C: Unlike a lot of other savvy authors, I didn't do much marketing, self-promotion and left it all down to chance. Basically I got bloody lucky.
However, on the back of this success, I got the call from a major publishing house in London, and was soon signing a two book deal. They had approached me. To put this in perspective, I had spent the previous five years sending out books to a chorus of resounding NO's. And yet here was a major player asking me. It was surreal. I soon had an agent and I honestly thought that was it - I'd made it! I was a published author with an agent, surely it was only a matter of time before I was rich and famous - the next J.K Rowling! Right.
I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about writing. I even thought it myself. Whenever I told people about my publishing deal, they seemed to assume that I was suddenly rich. Yes I made some money, but it was hardly a fortune. I definitely wasn't rich. The other assumption that I was destined for a successful career in writing, also lost it's spark fairly quickly. Again I believed it myself, but the truth is a publishing deal or an agent is no guarantee of success. In fact, in the current publishing climate, only a handful of writers (and celebrities) can guarantee anything like success - as I've been told many times.
My second novel, Happy Endings, came out and passed the world by if I'm honest. It's one of the difficult things about publishing. You imagine that when you get a book deal, the publisher will go all out, produce a huge marketing campaign, and you'll sell thousands of copies all over the world. The reality for me was that there was no marketing campaign. I did it all myself. I had some support, but it wasn't enough to stop the book from flopping quite badly. This was hard for me because I worked really hard on that book and I actually think it's a really good. It just didn't find an audience.
I'm not writing this to complain or whinge about the publishing world because I learnt so much, made some incredible contacts, and the people were all lovely. It was definitely an experience I loved from start to finish. What I'd like to tell young writers trying to make it, is that it isn't everything. You don't have to get an agent. You don't have to get a publishing deal. If you can, you should because you'll learn so much and gain so much experience, but it isn't everything the way it used to be. Now you can self-publish, market yourself on social media, and be whatever you want to be all on your own - as so many wonderful people are doing so brilliantly.
I'm back self-publishing again now and I'm very happy that I am - at least for the moment. The beauty of working on my own again is that I can work at my own pace. Traditional publishing is very slow. I have a new novel coming out in a few weeks and also a Christmas Novella in December. If these were being traditionally published, the novel wouldn't be out until the Spring and I would have had to have finished the novella about six months ago. Self-publishing gives writers the chance to get our work out faster and to create more. One thing I did learn from my time working with wonderful editors and professionals is the importance of quality, and I'm not letting that suffer. I still work with a brilliant editor and make sure everything I put out is top quality. Self-published or not, everything has to be perfect.
So what have I learnt over the last four years? There's so many ways to be a successful novelist. I know authors who are doing very well on their own and those with the backing of huge publishing houses. Having an agent helps, but it still doesn't mean you're guaranteed a book deal or even if you do get one, you might not do very well. The most important thing is the quality of the work you put out and also that the work you do is everything you want it to be. You have to write what you want to write to the very best of your ability because I know this - even the best agents and publishers don't have a clue what's going to be the next bestseller. It could be you.
I'll save the last paragraph for the thing that's really changed my outlook on writing the most. If you've written a novel and no matter who you are or how good you think it is, it will be better after a good editor has worked on it. My first experience of working with an editor completely changed me. She took the book in directions I hadn't even seen, found mistakes, repeated words, and helped me develop the characters and plot more than I could ever have done on my own. You need to have an editor you trust and work well with. I have one now and it's a relationship every author has to have. You can do well without a publisher, an agent, but you'll never be as good as you can be without a brilliant editor.
One last thing before I sign off. I love writing. It's in me and I can't help but do it. However, being an author is so much more than writing books. It's about promotion and becoming a social media expert and if you aren't prepared to put all the work in then you aren't going to make it. I don't enjoy the interviews and planning marketing campaigns as much as I do writing, but I know it's a huge part of what being a modern author is. With so many more authors out there than ever before, getting your book read (no matter how good it is) is the hardest part and if no-one knows who you are, it's even harder.
So that's it. It's been an incredible journey and I'm still writing and still loving it. So for all the aspiring authors out there, never give up, be creative, and get your work out there. It needs to be read because you'll never get better without criticism and experience. Best of British luck to you all.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Ps: I want to add that without the kind support of so many wonderful authors, I definitely wouldn't still be doing what I'm doing. The author community is a wonderful thing and I love you all.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
As writer's we're often writing blogs about good news. I have a book deal, I just sold the film rights to my novel, I got an agent, etc. I've done a few of those posts myself (not the film rights unfortunately). The truth of matter is though, we often have more downs than ups as writers. The path to success is literally littered (or fly-tipped) with failure.
My "journey" started in 2011. OK, it started long before that but it gets interesting in 2011 because my first novel, This Thirtysomething Life, does the impossible and gets into the Kindle top ten charts - number 7 actually. This is a miracle because A: it's self-published and to sell that many books on your own against the might of the professional publishing machine is a huge achievement. B: I literally had no idea what I was doing. C: Unlike a lot of other savvy authors, I didn't do much marketing, self-promotion and left it all down to chance. Basically I got bloody lucky.
However, on the back of this success, I got the call from a major publishing house in London, and was soon signing a two book deal. They had approached me. To put this in perspective, I had spent the previous five years sending out books to a chorus of resounding NO's. And yet here was a major player asking me. It was surreal. I soon had an agent and I honestly thought that was it - I'd made it! I was a published author with an agent, surely it was only a matter of time before I was rich and famous - the next J.K Rowling! Right.
I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about writing. I even thought it myself. Whenever I told people about my publishing deal, they seemed to assume that I was suddenly rich. Yes I made some money, but it was hardly a fortune. I definitely wasn't rich. The other assumption that I was destined for a successful career in writing, also lost it's spark fairly quickly. Again I believed it myself, but the truth is a publishing deal or an agent is no guarantee of success. In fact, in the current publishing climate, only a handful of writers (and celebrities) can guarantee anything like success - as I've been told many times.
My second novel, Happy Endings, came out and passed the world by if I'm honest. It's one of the difficult things about publishing. You imagine that when you get a book deal, the publisher will go all out, produce a huge marketing campaign, and you'll sell thousands of copies all over the world. The reality for me was that there was no marketing campaign. I did it all myself. I had some support, but it wasn't enough to stop the book from flopping quite badly. This was hard for me because I worked really hard on that book and I actually think it's a really good. It just didn't find an audience.
I'm not writing this to complain or whinge about the publishing world because I learnt so much, made some incredible contacts, and the people were all lovely. It was definitely an experience I loved from start to finish. What I'd like to tell young writers trying to make it, is that it isn't everything. You don't have to get an agent. You don't have to get a publishing deal. If you can, you should because you'll learn so much and gain so much experience, but it isn't everything the way it used to be. Now you can self-publish, market yourself on social media, and be whatever you want to be all on your own - as so many wonderful people are doing so brilliantly.
I'm back self-publishing again now and I'm very happy that I am - at least for the moment. The beauty of working on my own again is that I can work at my own pace. Traditional publishing is very slow. I have a new novel coming out in a few weeks and also a Christmas Novella in December. If these were being traditionally published, the novel wouldn't be out until the Spring and I would have had to have finished the novella about six months ago. Self-publishing gives writers the chance to get our work out faster and to create more. One thing I did learn from my time working with wonderful editors and professionals is the importance of quality, and I'm not letting that suffer. I still work with a brilliant editor and make sure everything I put out is top quality. Self-published or not, everything has to be perfect.
So what have I learnt over the last four years? There's so many ways to be a successful novelist. I know authors who are doing very well on their own and those with the backing of huge publishing houses. Having an agent helps, but it still doesn't mean you're guaranteed a book deal or even if you do get one, you might not do very well. The most important thing is the quality of the work you put out and also that the work you do is everything you want it to be. You have to write what you want to write to the very best of your ability because I know this - even the best agents and publishers don't have a clue what's going to be the next bestseller. It could be you.
I'll save the last paragraph for the thing that's really changed my outlook on writing the most. If you've written a novel and no matter who you are or how good you think it is, it will be better after a good editor has worked on it. My first experience of working with an editor completely changed me. She took the book in directions I hadn't even seen, found mistakes, repeated words, and helped me develop the characters and plot more than I could ever have done on my own. You need to have an editor you trust and work well with. I have one now and it's a relationship every author has to have. You can do well without a publisher, an agent, but you'll never be as good as you can be without a brilliant editor.
One last thing before I sign off. I love writing. It's in me and I can't help but do it. However, being an author is so much more than writing books. It's about promotion and becoming a social media expert and if you aren't prepared to put all the work in then you aren't going to make it. I don't enjoy the interviews and planning marketing campaigns as much as I do writing, but I know it's a huge part of what being a modern author is. With so many more authors out there than ever before, getting your book read (no matter how good it is) is the hardest part and if no-one knows who you are, it's even harder.
So that's it. It's been an incredible journey and I'm still writing and still loving it. So for all the aspiring authors out there, never give up, be creative, and get your work out there. It needs to be read because you'll never get better without criticism and experience. Best of British luck to you all.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Ps: I want to add that without the kind support of so many wonderful authors, I definitely wouldn't still be doing what I'm doing. The author community is a wonderful thing and I love you all.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Hello,
Sunday Dinners is out in a few weeks and so I'm going to carry on with my series of short blogs about the book. Today I'm going to talk about tone. Yeah, I know, it sounds boring, but trust me it isn't (hopefully).
Tone is one of the first things I think about when I start writing a book. Tone is everything. Tone literally sets the tone - see I told you it wasn't boring - jokes already! When you watch a television show or a film, great work has gone into the tone of it. How it looks, the set, the characters, the colours, the music - everything adds to the tone. You probably don't even realise what's happened behind the scenes to make things look the way they do, and perhaps we shouldn't see it, but it makes a HUGE difference to the final product. When writing a novel, it's obviously harder than a visual art like television because we're only working with words, but you can still create so much tone and for Sunday Dinners, I knew tone was going to be crucial.
The first inspiration for Sunday Dinners was the novel, The Pile Of Stuff At The Bottom Of The Stairs, by the brilliant Christina Hopkinson. It's a novel I really love. It's funny, serious, set firmly in London suburbia, and about a husband and wife having all sorts of trouble. It shows us family life in all it's hilarious ridiculousness. I took a lot of inspiration from this novel and especially the little details about marriage and parenthood. Another book that inspired me was the wonderful, Us, by David Nicholls. Us is the sort of book that is right on the line between humour and drama. I was also inspired by the television show, Outnumbered, because it shows all the mundane day-to-day realities of family life and this is exactly what I wanted to do with Sunday Dinners.
I wanted Sunday Dinners to have elements of all of these. I wanted it to have the tension and humour of The Pile Of Stuff At The Bottom Of The Stairs. I wanted it to be as funny and dramatic (and well written!) as Us, and have all the gritty day-to-day reality of Outnumbered. If this novel was going to be a success, it had to have exactly the right tone. It's taken me about a year and a half to finish Sunday Dinners and the main reason is tone.
When I finished the first draft it was too mundane - not enough happened. It was more a series of ordinary suburban events and yes it was funny and I think the characters instantly jumped off the page, but as a novel it failed. I injected more drama, lost some jokes and it became too serious and so I started again - time after time. More jokes, less drama, more events, more emphasis on the marriage, more flashbacks etc. It became like a giant jigsaw puzzle and no matter how I put the pieces together, it never quite worked. The important thing was though, I knew it was there. I knew I could make it work and eventually the tone would find itself.
It took me a long time to get it just right. To balance humour and drama is by far the biggest challenge in writing - in my humble opinion. Whether I have got it right, I'll let you be the judge of that. I hope I have. It's been my biggest challenge yet as a writer, but hopefully the finished book will be worth the long wait and all the struggles to get it done.
SUNDAY DINNERS is out on October 26th. You can pre-order it here!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Sunday Dinners is out in a few weeks and so I'm going to carry on with my series of short blogs about the book. Today I'm going to talk about tone. Yeah, I know, it sounds boring, but trust me it isn't (hopefully).
Tone is one of the first things I think about when I start writing a book. Tone is everything. Tone literally sets the tone - see I told you it wasn't boring - jokes already! When you watch a television show or a film, great work has gone into the tone of it. How it looks, the set, the characters, the colours, the music - everything adds to the tone. You probably don't even realise what's happened behind the scenes to make things look the way they do, and perhaps we shouldn't see it, but it makes a HUGE difference to the final product. When writing a novel, it's obviously harder than a visual art like television because we're only working with words, but you can still create so much tone and for Sunday Dinners, I knew tone was going to be crucial.
The first inspiration for Sunday Dinners was the novel, The Pile Of Stuff At The Bottom Of The Stairs, by the brilliant Christina Hopkinson. It's a novel I really love. It's funny, serious, set firmly in London suburbia, and about a husband and wife having all sorts of trouble. It shows us family life in all it's hilarious ridiculousness. I took a lot of inspiration from this novel and especially the little details about marriage and parenthood. Another book that inspired me was the wonderful, Us, by David Nicholls. Us is the sort of book that is right on the line between humour and drama. I was also inspired by the television show, Outnumbered, because it shows all the mundane day-to-day realities of family life and this is exactly what I wanted to do with Sunday Dinners.
I wanted Sunday Dinners to have elements of all of these. I wanted it to have the tension and humour of The Pile Of Stuff At The Bottom Of The Stairs. I wanted it to be as funny and dramatic (and well written!) as Us, and have all the gritty day-to-day reality of Outnumbered. If this novel was going to be a success, it had to have exactly the right tone. It's taken me about a year and a half to finish Sunday Dinners and the main reason is tone.
When I finished the first draft it was too mundane - not enough happened. It was more a series of ordinary suburban events and yes it was funny and I think the characters instantly jumped off the page, but as a novel it failed. I injected more drama, lost some jokes and it became too serious and so I started again - time after time. More jokes, less drama, more events, more emphasis on the marriage, more flashbacks etc. It became like a giant jigsaw puzzle and no matter how I put the pieces together, it never quite worked. The important thing was though, I knew it was there. I knew I could make it work and eventually the tone would find itself.
It took me a long time to get it just right. To balance humour and drama is by far the biggest challenge in writing - in my humble opinion. Whether I have got it right, I'll let you be the judge of that. I hope I have. It's been my biggest challenge yet as a writer, but hopefully the finished book will be worth the long wait and all the struggles to get it done.
SUNDAY DINNERS is out on October 26th. You can pre-order it here!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
Thursday, October 1, 2015
SUNDAY DINNERS
Hello,
It's October and that means SUNDAY DINNERS is getting closer. It's due to be released on October 26th and you can pre-order it now right here! So with the book edging ever closer, I thought now would be a good time to write a little blog about it. Here goes.
The book came about because I wanted to write a story about a family from a unique point of view. My initial idea was to tell it over a period of time from multiple points of view, but it still needed a focal point. It lacked something to bring it all together. The idea was put away in my huge 'To Do' folder with all my other novel ideas until I read an article in the newspaper about the death of the Sunday roast. It said that the traditional Sunday roast was dying out as families became too busy and suddenly it all came together. A story about a family told from each of their monthly Sunday roast dinners. It brought together the idea of family and also one of the great British traditions and something I did growing up every week without fail. I love Sunday roasts and they mean so much to me, and it was obvious what the story needed to be about.
In the book, all the grown up children are on the verge of leaving home. Everything is changing in the Wilde family house, and it's that tension that makes the Sunday roast dinners so important. Greg, the father, is desperately trying to hold onto the past, while the rest of his family are trying to move forward and get away. It's old v new, tradition v evolution, and it's exactly what I thought about when I read the newspaper article. I love the traditions of Sunday roasts, but I also realise that as much as we want to hold onto the past, the world keeps moving forwards whether we like it or not - which is especially true when you have children who keep growing up!
The first character I really focused on was the father, Greg Wilde. Initially I thought about writing the book from his perspective because he really is the main character, but as I thought about it, I decided it would be better to have multiple viewpoints. I also wrote HAPPY ENDINGS from different character points of view and I really enjoyed it. I also think it gives us so much more as readers if done properly.
From the beginning Greg evolved quite quickly. Greg is fifty-four and married to Lizzy. They met at university and have pretty much the perfect middle-class life. They live in a nice house in Muswell Hill, north London. Greg is a university lecturer and Lizzy is a stay at home wife. They have three children: Lucy, Matt, and Holly. Greg is in some ways a great husband and father, but in many other ways he's completely useless. He has ideas about how life should be and doesn't understand why his family don't completely agree with him. He was happiest when his children were little, and his marriage was better, but as the children grow up and challenge him, and his marriage becomes more complicated and strained, Greg doesn't know how to handle it. And like a typical man, instead of talking about it he keeps it all in.
One of the aspects of the book I really enjoyed writing was Greg's relationship with his wife, Lizzy. It's obvious from the start of the book that their marriage is in crisis. I wanted though to make sure we realise that it wasn't always like that. They were happy, and like so many of us, they had big dreams. They met at university in the 80's and were going to be different from their parents. They were going to change the world, but as so often happens, instead of changing the world, the world changed them. In many ways, Greg and Lizzy's marriage is the centre of the book and it drives everything else forward. I think the problems, and the arguments they have, a lot of people will be able to relate to and understand. There's also a lot of humour between them and I wanted to make sure the readers could empathise with both Greg and Lizzy because in every relationship, there's two sides to the same story.
Towards the end of the book, Greg and Lizzy's marriage comes to it's ultimate conclusion, but as Greg says at the beginning of the book.."That's the thing about life, it doesn't matter how happy you are, how happy you think you're going to be in the future, without warning it can all change in a second."
Greg and Lizzy's marriage is a wonderful love story and one that's so real and full of humour, drama, lies, arguments, and tenderness. I hope when you read the book you'll enjoy Greg's story and his evolution from the man he is at the beginning to the man he becomes at the end. It was a challenge writing him, but I grew to really like him, despite all of his flaws, because it's those flaws that make him human.
I'll write more blogs about the other characters soon! Don't forget to pre-order your 99p copy of SUNDAY DINNERS today!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
It's October and that means SUNDAY DINNERS is getting closer. It's due to be released on October 26th and you can pre-order it now right here! So with the book edging ever closer, I thought now would be a good time to write a little blog about it. Here goes.
The book came about because I wanted to write a story about a family from a unique point of view. My initial idea was to tell it over a period of time from multiple points of view, but it still needed a focal point. It lacked something to bring it all together. The idea was put away in my huge 'To Do' folder with all my other novel ideas until I read an article in the newspaper about the death of the Sunday roast. It said that the traditional Sunday roast was dying out as families became too busy and suddenly it all came together. A story about a family told from each of their monthly Sunday roast dinners. It brought together the idea of family and also one of the great British traditions and something I did growing up every week without fail. I love Sunday roasts and they mean so much to me, and it was obvious what the story needed to be about.
In the book, all the grown up children are on the verge of leaving home. Everything is changing in the Wilde family house, and it's that tension that makes the Sunday roast dinners so important. Greg, the father, is desperately trying to hold onto the past, while the rest of his family are trying to move forward and get away. It's old v new, tradition v evolution, and it's exactly what I thought about when I read the newspaper article. I love the traditions of Sunday roasts, but I also realise that as much as we want to hold onto the past, the world keeps moving forwards whether we like it or not - which is especially true when you have children who keep growing up!
The first character I really focused on was the father, Greg Wilde. Initially I thought about writing the book from his perspective because he really is the main character, but as I thought about it, I decided it would be better to have multiple viewpoints. I also wrote HAPPY ENDINGS from different character points of view and I really enjoyed it. I also think it gives us so much more as readers if done properly.
From the beginning Greg evolved quite quickly. Greg is fifty-four and married to Lizzy. They met at university and have pretty much the perfect middle-class life. They live in a nice house in Muswell Hill, north London. Greg is a university lecturer and Lizzy is a stay at home wife. They have three children: Lucy, Matt, and Holly. Greg is in some ways a great husband and father, but in many other ways he's completely useless. He has ideas about how life should be and doesn't understand why his family don't completely agree with him. He was happiest when his children were little, and his marriage was better, but as the children grow up and challenge him, and his marriage becomes more complicated and strained, Greg doesn't know how to handle it. And like a typical man, instead of talking about it he keeps it all in.
One of the aspects of the book I really enjoyed writing was Greg's relationship with his wife, Lizzy. It's obvious from the start of the book that their marriage is in crisis. I wanted though to make sure we realise that it wasn't always like that. They were happy, and like so many of us, they had big dreams. They met at university in the 80's and were going to be different from their parents. They were going to change the world, but as so often happens, instead of changing the world, the world changed them. In many ways, Greg and Lizzy's marriage is the centre of the book and it drives everything else forward. I think the problems, and the arguments they have, a lot of people will be able to relate to and understand. There's also a lot of humour between them and I wanted to make sure the readers could empathise with both Greg and Lizzy because in every relationship, there's two sides to the same story.
Towards the end of the book, Greg and Lizzy's marriage comes to it's ultimate conclusion, but as Greg says at the beginning of the book.."That's the thing about life, it doesn't matter how happy you are, how happy you think you're going to be in the future, without warning it can all change in a second."
Greg and Lizzy's marriage is a wonderful love story and one that's so real and full of humour, drama, lies, arguments, and tenderness. I hope when you read the book you'll enjoy Greg's story and his evolution from the man he is at the beginning to the man he becomes at the end. It was a challenge writing him, but I grew to really like him, despite all of his flaws, because it's those flaws that make him human.
I'll write more blogs about the other characters soon! Don't forget to pre-order your 99p copy of SUNDAY DINNERS today!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
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