My book's out, now what?
*taps mic* Is this thing on?
IN BRIEF:
Parallels - we’ve been out a couple of weeks now and people’s thoughts are starting to trickle in. If you’ve not got yours yet → CLICK HERE TO BUY
My next novel, provisionally titled FETHRIC, is off to a flying start. About 10k words written in the last three weeks.
If sci-fi’s not your thing and you’d rather read a novella about a middle-aged man looking back at all the horrendous mistakes he’s made in his formative romantic relationships1, don’t forget It’s Hard to Tell You This is less than four months away… → CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER
ON WRITING:
As any of you who’re writers know, this is a rum ol’ period. Your book’s out, but not really long enough for many people to have read it, and certainly not long enough to be getting any updates from your publishers about numbers. The pre-orders have been sent out and you know they’re arriving because your friends are letting you know…
… but other than that, it’s really hard to get a handle on what’s going on.
I’ve spoken about this before, I know, and of how difficult I found it the first couple of times. The publication of both Playtime’s Over and Greyskin saw my MH take a sharp plummet for a few months, as the mounting excitement of it coming out suddenly went over a cliff into an abyss of “what now…?”
Luckily, early signs are that we’re not going down that hole this time. I’ve been dealing with some low-level depression of late anyway, but it doesn’t look like this is about to make things worse. I’m guessing it’s a combination of (i) already having a next book lined up2 and (ii) having been around the block a couple of times already. Having a new project to work on that I’m already really enjoying is helping as well. All-in-all, I guess I just feel more settled as a writer now. I even managed not to cringe when I said that.
That said, if you have bought a copy of Parallels, the next step is reading it! At the risk of being a grotesque hypocrite with an enormous TBR pile of my own, it’d be great to find out what people actually think about it. It’s on Goodreads, Bookhype and StoryGraph - so if you use those sites, any ratings/reviews would be most appreciated. Even Amaz*n - you don’t need to have bought it from them to rate it on there. The book’s out there, now it’s about getting it seen.
Remember, I have no interest in anything other than your honest opinion. I’ll be dead in my grave before I start asking even my closest friends to artificially inflate their ratings to make my books look better.
The other challenge in this period is, of course, where to direct my focus. Between promoting one book that’s just launched (including two podcast records coming up in the next few weeks), starting to gear up for a second that’s out in September and being excited about a third I’m currently writing, I’ve got a bit of a juggling act on my hands. As challenges go, though, that’s a pretty nice one to have.
I’m a bit “Shiny New Thing!”3, so I’m having to remember that while my own personal excitement may look New Novel > It’s Hard > Parallels, I still need to keep my head in the game regarding the latter. Being present, throwing out socials, thinking about any possible articles to send to my publicist, being ready for those podcasts… Anything to get more people reading the books, right? We’re in ‘if you want it to be a career, you have to treat it like a job’ territory. Eyes on the prize, and all that.
Until next time, gang!
I have enjoyed:
Milli Vanilli - One of the great things about getting old is throwing the wretched notion of “Guilty pleasures” out the window. I loved Milli Vanilli in the 90s and I’m not going to apologise for it. Famously, their meteoric rise to fame was followed by an equally swift descent into punchline, when it the secret came out that they hadn’t sung on their own records. This excellent documentary goes deep into their story and two things really stick - firstly, it wasn’t that they couldn’t sing, it was only that their producer had no interest in their voices, just their look, partly because he thought their accents wouldn’t sell. Secondly, they became pariahs for a scam they were coerced into in their early twenties, while a whole gang of old white men made a bunch of money and were never held accountable. Rob Pilatus eventually died from an overdose, aged just 33. Fab Morvan is a family man, and has now found some measure of peace. Frank Farian, the German record producer behind the scam, died last year in Florida at the age of 82, having made a ton of money and having had no backlash.
I grew up in Norfolk in the 80s, we all dressed like this. Last Holiday - According to Letterboxd, the actor I saw in the most films in 2024 was Sid James4. Delighted, therefore, to see him pop up in this Alec Guinness movie from 1950. Guinness plays George Bird, a salesman with no close friends or family who’s given a terminal diagnosis by his GP, and decides to cash in his savings and live his last few months in a posh hotel. Freed from the constraint of societal norms, he gives a bunch of rich people some sage advice, speaks his mind a lot, and falls in love with the housekeeper, played by Kay Walsh. It’s a great film and Guinness is outstanding in his first lead. Mild-mannered, but just enough resentment at his death sentence simmering under the surface to give him real nuance.
“In fifty-six years time, I’ll be played by Queen Latifah in the remake…” On The Road - More shame, as I have to admit never having read On The Road, or any Kerouac. Or Ginsberg. I have read one novel by Burroughs, but suffice to say that I’m ill-equipped to judge this adaptation on any grounds other than my own personal enjoyment. But enjoy it I did, albeit with a constant awareness of how little the cast’s (excellent) female members have to work with. Stewart in particular is utterly wasted, with what feels like half a dozen lines in over two hours of movie. Still, I’d wager the blame for that lies at the feet of the source material rather than Walter Salles, who directed this 2012 movie.
Keep going, Kristen, you get another line in about 50 minutes… Napoleon Dynamite - My wife took a trip, so I had the tv to myself for 24 hours. Prime opportunity to watch some old favourites that she hates.
Tina you fat lard, come get some dinner!
You can purchase Parallels (Deixis Press), Greyskin (Deixis Press) and Playtime’s Over (Propolis) direct from my publishers, as well as from all the usual places, online and off.
Pre-order my upcoming novella It’s Hard to Tell You This (Deixis Press).
Ray Adams’ self-published books are available online, or out of my garage5.
I also review books on my website, most of which are available through my affiliate book shop on uk.bookshop.org - it’s a great alternative to certain online leviathans owned by Trump-supporting6 billionaires, and supports independent bookshops. Affiliates also get a % of books sold through them, so go have a look.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental etc etc
Both Playtime and Greyskin left me feeling like “Maybe that’s it, I had a book published and now that’s that”
About 5k into the new novel, I had another idea that I suddenly wanted to start on. But no, I have self-discipline.
And not a single Carry On on the list.
I don’t have a garage.
At time of writing, anyway…
Yay fame for Pudding! What an honour. Enjoying the book so far 🤓