Edwin's Alchemy -- turning bad, good

 

 

2024 had some great highlights for me (a novel published, a return to Japan after 20 years, finally completing Elden Ring) but it also came with some absolute nut-kickers, namely:

1) I was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, and

2) I separated from my literary agent

 

As you might imagine, I wasn't the happiest squirrel in the drey. My body was rebelling and my writing career had decided to take up skydiving. In some ways (to be very over dramatic about it), it felt like the last decade had been a misguided and self-destructive waste of time. And a decade is a long time to waste.

I resigned myself to never eating cake again, and potentially having to work for living wage in a job I hated. Believe it or not, writers aren't really that employable in other careers and diabetics aren't really meant to scoff cakes as often as I'd like. In short: it sucked.

 

a squirrel gorging on cake. AKA: the dream 

 

But my literary hero, Edwin Morgan (who I did my somewhat useless PhD research on) had this philosophy that has always stuck with me: "Change rules!" For Morgan, trying something new is always worth a shot. Change stops a person or society from stagnating. I've since held this philosophy quite close, and so when the bad news arrived (and I allowed myself to wallow for a while) I decided, "Sad Squirrel, something has to change."

 

The diabetes and high blood pressure was the easier challenge to face; I was overweight, drinking too much beer and feeling unduly stressed. So, I joined the gym and got serious about what went into my glorious pie hole. Prior to my diagnoses, there was about 0.5% chance of me joining a gym because I dislike exercise, distrust people who claim to enjoy it, and would rather lie on the sofa eating birthday cake. But the medical wake-up call gave me the motivation to at least try pumping proverbial iron. 12 months on, I've dropped 16kg and gained muscle. My diabetes is in remission and although I miss desserts and bread, I generally eat better food and drink less booze. Well, less beer at least.

 

My career path was a more difficult conundrum. Without a literary agent, many publishing doors had been closed and locked. A "Keep Out, RJ" sign as been tacked to the outside and vasaline has been smeared on the handle. Being a professional writer was already tough, and so I started looking for work anywhere I could find it. But the thought of working in jobs I hated while earning a pittance was hardly an inspiring prospect. Much like a MagiKarp, I needed to evolve if I stood a hope of joining the battle. And so I decided to train in digital art -- a move which I hope will open up new creative and businessy possibilities beyond just written words. Go MagiRuss, I choose you!

 

me 

And I suppose this is the entire point of this blogpost... If I hadn't had those bad things pop up in my life, I don't think I ever would have been bold enough to change things. I would have continued to lie on the sofa eating tiramisu. I would have waited for more literary ghostings and rejections with my fingers crossed, hearing the bones crack.

 

I guess this blogpost is also a bit of a brag, but I also genuinely hope that my crappy (or Karpy) situation can inspire others. If you're in a rut and it seems like life's backing you into a corner, maybe it's time to make a change. It's not always easy, but stagnating won't likely improve anything. Sermon over. 

 

So, thank you diabetes, high blood pressure and career break-ups. Sort of. And definitely thank you, Edwin Morgan, for planting that philosophy in my head: "Change rules!" 

 

Hey, maybe my PhD wasn't so useless, after all. 

Russell Jones

Happy Book Birthday - A Year of "Bucket List"

 

When 4th July rolls around, rather than thinking of hotdogs, baseball, deep fried cheese and lassoing cattle, I now think about my book babies. Why? Well, as luck (or lack of it, depending on how full your glass is) would have it, I've had two books published on 4th July. This makes it somewhat hard to promote the shiny new texts on release day because instead of buying and reading books, my transatlantic readers are busy scoffing mashmallows and meat while trying not to murder their extended family.

 

Anyway that's a rather longwinded route to this fact: my most recent novel, "Bucket List" has been out in the world for a year. And I thought it might be interesting to share this experience with you, because "Bucket List" is my first non-SFF novel with a traditional publisher. The tides of publication can be mysterious and often deadly if you stray too close to the rocks, so let's take a peek at the last 12 months...

 

In the beginning... 

All the edits were done (with thankfully not too many rounds), the cover was selected, we were primed for launch! I had been hoping that the novel was going to be highlighted as a Book of the Month with a major book retailer, but unfortunately this didn't happen despite moving the publication date so it would be eligible. So, we're already on the back foot: a delayed release on American Independence Day, and no lovely accolade despite our best efforts. 

But hells, it was out! And people seemed to be enjoying it. You always have to take the early reviews with a shake of salt, though, because I tend to see three kinds of early reviews:

1) Very positive, often from friends and family who may or may not have actually read the book

2) Very negative, often from online bots or book reviewers who like to pretend they have better taste than everybody else

3) If you're lucky, some genuine reviews! If you're even luckier, they like your book!

 

 

Early reviews, a nice fat 4.8 

Thankfully "Bucket List" was landing well over all. I also had a great time visiting a bunch of bookshops around Edinburgh (and later, Glasgow) to sign copies with the Portal Books / Birlinn Books promo and marketing team. I gave specially-made cakes to the booksellers and very subtly (or so I thought) hinted that the book would look fantastic in the shop window and/or on the main tables. Why did I make such wily recommendations? Well there are a lot of books in a book shop, and positioning your book so people can see the cover is a big deal if you want it to be picked up by readers. Publishers sometimes pay a lot of money for that kind of positioning. But a kind word and a cupcake might also help, as well as giving a little treat to bookshop staff (who are almost unanimously awesome, by the way).

 

Cakes for booksellers

 

A little later... 

The bookshops around Edinburgh were very supportive and some even placed it on their holy "3 for 2 summer reads" tables. And so it was time to give birth to "Bucket List" more officially with an in-person launch. Usually I'd aim for publication day or the week after to keep up the momentum surrounding the book, but various delays meant that a month or so passed until we were able to host an event. In the meantime I was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, which was fun. I'll write another post about that soon -- woohoo!

My launch eventually arrived though, and we had the best backdrop: Edinburgh castle! It was even a sunny day, which is about as rare as a unicorn carrying a four-leaf clover. Tendai Huchu chaired, and the man is pure charisma. The shop was busy with friends and new faces, we had a good old chat, cakes were eaten (not by me, remember the diabetes??) and books were bought. For me, the in-person launch is the most celebratory time of a book's life, because the things that happen either side can feel a bit deflating. Nobody really cares that much about the official publication day, and books can soon be forgotten unless they win some big prizes. I know a lot of authors struggle with the lack of excitement around their book coming out, possibly because it's such a big event for the creator and we build it up in our minds. Reality can't compete, and it's easy to fall into a malaise. Time to work on the next book, my friend...

I was interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland and on Shetland Radio, I wrote an article on the loneliness epidemic and the need for hope in hard times. I sent a copy to Miriam Margolyes in the hopes she might read it and tell her agent, "I simply MUST play Dot [the main character], get the huge multi-million-pounds contracts ready!" It was well reviewed in places like The Herald (which is nice, but I don't think it really improves sales) and we garnered some great quotes such as "the ultimate feel-good novel". And... well, that was about it!

 

 

Me and Tendai "The Charisma" Huchu at the book launch 

 

Much later...

No grounds were broken, no great accolades were given, Holywood didn't knock down my door to offer me a movie deal and a steak dinner, I was not awarded the key to the city. But the first print sold out and it was reprinted and continued to sell well. We're not talking hundreds of thousands of copies here, but very few books manage that. In fact there was some report a few years ago that said many books from a major publisher sold under 100 copies and a significant number sold under 1000. So, relatively speaking, "Bucket List" is storming it.

And just as important to me, some readers really connected with the book. Probably my favourite parts of publishing a book is seeing reviews or receiving messages from readers who tell me how it affected them. One online reviewer said they were going to call their dad afterwards, as they hadn't spoken in a while. Another said it reminded them of their gran, and that they were going to visit her grave. Several readers mentioned that the book gave them hope and made them feel better about life. A bunch of people said it made them cry, which is one of my main aims as a writer. Weep, mortal! Muwhahaah. I can't ask for much more than that! One of my favourite reviews said: 

 

 

And of course, there were negative reviews too. I know a lot of readers advise against reading reviews of their books, it can hurt to know that some people think your baby is ugly and stinks. But I love reading all my reviews, even the negative ones. Sometimes, especially the negative ones if they're ridiculous. I've learned to laugh at them, to accept that not every book is ideal for every person. If you're a writer who's upset about bad reviews, I highly recommend looking at the reviews of your all-time favourite novels, and filtering it to show the 1-stars. Even the books you consider "the greatest of all time" are hated by some people. Join the club! Enjoy it!

 

What's next...

Who knows. I'd love for "Bucket List" to be adapted for screen because I think it would work really well as a 3-part TV show or a movie. But the chances of such things are practically zilch. I'd love it to be translated too, which is more likely but not yet happening. So, time to keep plodding on with other books in the hope that all the pieces fall into place. I'm taking up digital art too and focussing on my business to not place so many eggs in one tempramental basket. Maybe I'll celebrate "Bucket List" with some deep fried cheese and fist fight with a racist uncle. Or like Dot would, with a slice of cake. Oh damn, the diabetes...  

Russell Jones

Japan - what's changed in the 20 years since I was last there?

Welcome, travellers. It's been a while. Pull up a log, rest those weary feet. Wash them first, please! 

 

I’m recently back from a 3-week trip to Japan to eat my own weight in noodles and convenience store fried chicken. As I’ve been reminiscing since my return, I’ve had some thoughts on the experience. In particular: how Japan has changed in the last 20 years?

 

Why 20 years? Well, about 20 years ago (when I was a doe-eyed 21-year-old with aspirations and a smaller waistline) I took a handful of Japanese lessons and I moved from dull-as-a-ditch middle England to Sendai city (Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) for a year. It was my first time living alone, I could barely speak the most basic Japanese and couldn’t read or write in the language at all. In fact, beyond aikido and the Naruto anime, I didn’t know very much about Japan except that it looked pretty cool. It was a gutsy move (well done, Young Me!) with many highs and lows which are stories for another time.

young me

 

I didn’t cover all of Japan during my recent visit, of course. That’s impossible. For the purposes of this comparison, I recently travelled to: Tokyo, Sendai (and Matsushima), Kamakura, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Kanazawa. I went to many more places when I lived there.

 

So, that’s the context of this post-travelogue. And now a small disclaimer: I am but one flawed mortal, these observations are based on my experiences and my very weathered memories. I hope nobody takes offense, as that is truly not my intention, and also request that you please bear with my ubiquitous naivety.

 

Okay, let’s get into the meat (yakitori or tonkatsu?) of it…

 

Things I noticed that were different from 20 years ago:

·       
More foreigners. When I lived in Sendai, it was rare to see a foreigner aside from other English as a Foreign Language teachers. Unless, perhaps, if you were in Tokyo or another major tourist spot. This time around, there were foreigners all over the place and in relatively high numbers. Perhaps this is because the yen is relatively weak at the moment, making Japan relatively cheap. Or perhaps there’s a change in government policy to encourage more visitors. Or perhaps people are just going coocoo for natto (highly doubtful – have you tried those fermented beans? They’re like spiders’ eggs mixed with blue cheese). As with many of my observations, I don’t really know the reasons behind the differences, but this one stood out.

Spider-man is a foreigner...

·        More English. I distinctly remember feeling like an infant when I lived in Sendai. I couldn’t read or write, my spoken Japanese was very sub-par and very few Japanese people spoke English. In fact I was late to my own welcome party with work colleagues, because they gave me the name of the restaurant and none of us had thought about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to find the restaurant name amongst the 10,000 other restaurant signs in Sendai. Google maps was not a thing on phones back then, so I was stranded. This time around, pretty much all the signs had an English translation. And a lot of the Japanese people I communicated with spoke a fairly good standard of English. Bear in mind, I was mostly talking to people in the tourist industry, so I doubt it’s reflective of the main population, but even some chefs and bartenders spoke some English, or a combination of English and Japanese (as I was attempting to speak in Japanese whenever I could. Ah the awkward pleasure of seeing someone panic when I asked in Japanese, “Do you speak English?”). This all made it so much easier to travel around the country.

a sign in Japanese - what could they sell??

·        Fashion. Far less kawaii (“cute” – think Bo Peep or Alice in Wonderland or cute anime girls), and much more “chic grandma” (beige / pastel colours with some decorate sewing features). Maybe with the exception of Tokyo, where there were still some pretty out there apparels and hairstyles and hair colours. I recall some of my students talking about never dyeing their hair because that “isn’t Japanese”. I wonder if that opinion has changed or if it was because they lived in a more remote area so had more traditional views.

there's still plenty of cute stuff

·        Google Maps and Translate. This kind of tech didn’t exist when I lived in Japan. In fact, I didn’t even have the internet on my mobile phone. These tools are absolutely game-changing. So, well done to the Google folk. Google Maps is more sophisticated in Japan than the UK, as it tells you exactly which train station entrance to go through, which platform to locate and even which carriage of the train is best for you. Google Translate isn’t perfect but you can get real-time translations of text or speech at the touch of a button. I would have given my left arm (my right one’s better than my left) for those tools 20 years ago.

this is Japan

·        Fewer bins. My memory is admittedly hazy, but I do not recall bins being an issue 20 years ago. But now? I often struggled to find bins to recycle rubbish and carried it around with me, sometimes all day. It’s common to dispose of some items at convenience stores, but in particular I struggled to locate recycling for bento boxes and some drinks containers. Perhaps I just ate out less and used my bins at home. PS: I’m not complaining or trash talking (h oho ho, see what I did there?), I just noticed it.

my beloved trash

·        Smoking. 20 years ago, a lot of people smoked all over the place. Restaurants, bars, hotels, train stations, possibly even schools (did I imagine that?) But now smoking seems mostly reserved to bars or in small “smoking rooms” at certain venues (train stations in particular). It’s a positive move in my opinion as an ex-smoker (menthol cigarettes were my deathstick of choice, each felt like brushing your teeth with toothpaste and tar) as it made it much easier to avoid smoke.

a smoking area, stolen from google images

·        Drinking booze is more expensive. Aside from karaoke venues (where you can get “all you can drink included for a great price) I found drinking out to be much more expensive. There’s more craft beer in Japan now, but some of the craft beer bar prices are very high. For example, a tiny beer could be about £3, and a big one more like £9 on occasion. Many bars also charge a fee just to be there, so having one or two drinks in a bar quickly became expensive.

sad beer

·        More fried foods and cheese. I am not a big fan of fried foods, they make me a little nauseous. I like traditional Japanese foods and remember eating a lot of bowls of rice, thinly-sliced meats and laughably-small salads. You can still get those things, and much more (just ask my Buddha-style belly) but I noticed a lot more fried food options, and quite a lot more cheese. Weirdly, cheese was kind of rare back in the day – me and my friends would go to a very specific “Western” (as in, from the West of the world rather than pistols at dawn) restaurant for cheese fondu to get our cheese fix. Now, there’s no such struggle. Cheese addicts will be properly catered for.

accidentally went to a tonkatsu place, struggled

·        Less karaoke. This might just be a distortion based on two factors: One, I went to karaoke pretty much every weekend when I lived in Sendai. And two, perhaps our hotels this trip were just not in the karaoke-esque areas. But yeah, it felt like there were fewer karaoke spots. I was, however, very pleased to find that nomihodai (“all you can drink”) is still an option and very reasonably priced (£8 an hour, which is great when – like me –  you can drink a lot).

hooray for karaoke

·        Nobody said “Can you use chopsticks?” or “Oh, you’re good with chopsticks!” This was a very common occurrence when I lived in Japan. I think Japanese people had been told that foreigners use a knife and fork, therefore can’t use chopsticks. Maybe a lot of people couldn’t use chopsticks, if Asian food was less common in their home country. But this time, nobody said it. I was very pleased when some kind locals said my Japanese was very good. They were being incredibly generous with that, but it made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Or maybe it was the sake.

another theft from google, but yes I can use chopsticks

·        Fewer videogames in the arcades. Another pastime of Young Me was visiting the videogames arcades and hitting a taiko drum poorly, watching in awe as some Japanese schoolkid moved at 10,000 beats per second. You can still do that (in fact, the exact same game is still in most of the arcades I visited this trip) but there was more emphasis and space dedicated to gambling games such as pachinko and medal-winning games (coins you can win, and then I think you trade those for money but I’m not sure). Also there are WAY more “grab” machines where you attempt to win prizes with a grabber, like you’ve seen with the little aliens in Toy Story. Those machines are a big deal now, but I don’t really remember them being around that much 20 years ago. At first I wasn’t interested in the grabbers and thought they were a waste of money, but then I won two toys in just three attempts, and got a bit addicted.

winner! At the grabbing game, not necessarily life

·        Taxis. Not so many of them! Perhaps because of ride-share apps, I’m not sure. But I was glad to see that the taxis still had doily covers on their seats so you could imagine your grandpa was driving the cab.

Ooh shiny and doily 

·        Loads of dentists. Why so many and why are most of them on the second floor of shopping malls? Well it’s convenient, I suppose. It just stood out as a little unusual to my not-overly-concerned-about-dentistry brain.

no dentists were harmed when I stole this image from the internet

·        Dogs in prams. I loved it, but it was surprising to see so many little dogs being wheeled about in prams, many of them wearing costumes. Are they a stand-in for children? Perhaps. I assume the pram is to prevent their delicious and delicate paws from getting burned on the hot streets, and the outfits are to earn cute points.

 

wish I'd taken my own pics of this but it's not really the done thing to take photos of people and I wasn't sure about their dogs

That’s pretty much all of it. Again, I hope nobody is offended by any of this – please rest assured that this all comes from a good and positive place. I loved revisiting Japan, it raised old memories from a forgotten place, and gave me plenty of great new ones.

 

Have you been to Japan? If so, what surprised you? If you’ve been more than once, did anything change over that time?

 

Peace out, Pikachus. 

at the Pokemon Centre with my favourite Pokemon

Russell Jones

A long road to publication -- the bucket list

Hello there, stranger. It's been a while, hasn't it? We are indeed ships in the night, ghosts along the corridors, farts in elevators. 

Well, I come with some good news, at long last! My novel, "Bucket List" is due to be published in 2024 by Polygon Books. Polygon (part of the Birlinn Books family) are a local (Edinburgh) publisher, so a fine fit for this novel, which is set in my fair city -- the Scottish capital.

I'll tell you a bit more about the novel momentarily, but pull up a pew and lean in to listen, because I've a tale to tell first. It's a tale of my long journey to publication. It's a parable of warning, perhaps, but also of hope. I think it will be of interest to writers, or those thinking of becoming writers. This is the abridged story of my journey to novel publication.

Before the tale begins, it's worth noting that this refers specifically to "traditional publication of a novel". I've published 6 poetry collections, 1 graphic novel and 3 fantasy novels (through a primarily online-publisher) before, but having my novels traditionally published is something I've been trying to attain for about a decade now.

So let's flash back ten years or so: I had just finished my PhD, whilst being self employed as a writer of commercial thingymajigs (mostly website reviews, often dating websites -- if you've been on a dating site, I've almost certainly reviewed it -- but also a whole range of bizarre and boring sites). I had an income I could survive on, and thought "Now I've finished my PhD, this is the perfect time to really give writing a novel a try."

I was canoeing in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, when I saw a monkey on one of the mountain-like islands that sprouts from the water. It struck me that it'd be really cool if I could speak to the monkey, maybe even encourage them to jump onto the canoe. That gave me the idea for a novel: The Talkers (about a girl who seeks her parents' murderers in a world ruled by Talkers, powerful individuals who can psychically control animals). I wrote the novel and send it out to publishers and agents, with little to no success ("great writing, but no" was about the best response I got).

I wrote another novel, The Happy Land (about a girl who seeks a time-bending kidnapper into another dimension) and pretty much the same thing happened. By this point I'd sent my novels to about 70 agents, some of whom said I was a good writer but ultimately "no". I was despondent after so much rejection, but if my career in poetry had taught me anything it was that I had a thick enough skin to keep trying. Elephant Jones they call me. If by they, I mean nobody.

I had resigned myself, however, to the realisation that The Talkers and The Happy Land were my warm-up novels. They weren't going to succeed for me. And in a way I was correct, but in other ways I was wrong...

I'd given up on those novels, but my partner saw a competition and said I should submit The Talkers. It was the "Half the World Global Literati Award" -- a new competition with a $50,000 prize. Well, it was worth one final punt, right? So I submitted and, much to my surprise, my novel was shortlisted.

The last leg of the prize was based on public votes and I lost, which was a kicker because I really could have used the money (reviewing websites wasn't exactly raking in the dough). However, I also shared the news with some reporters and it must have been a slow news week because The Times ran a double-page spread about me ("Author of rejected sci-fi novel is in the running for $50,000 prize"), and the Bookseller reported it too.

Suddenly, agents were getting in touch with me. I had several offers of representation. I spoke to them about my novel and career, and decided to go with the one who seemed most enthusiastic about my work.

I finally had an agent, hooray! Looking for an agent is rubbish, probably my least favourite part of the whole process of being a writer. A long period of edits passed with my agent (there were 13 drafts in total from my first conception to it being ready to send to publishers). The novel was submitted. I was dreaming of huge book deals, my trilogy complete and loved, maybe even movie and TV deals (I had a call with TV/movie agents in LA whilst they were on their car phones, and it felt quite surreal but very exciting indeed. I may have done a little wee. I didn't. Or did I?) Things were happening! And then... 

They didn't. The book nearly sold, but it didn't sell. I fell back to earth. I wrote another novel with the support of my agent, adjusting it to what they had heard editors were looking for and we both loved it. But that too didn't sell. I was devastated -- I'd spent about five years writing these novels, putting other things aside and living by relatively meagre means. My agent was reassuring: you're a great writer, we'll get there eventually. And they had some major hits with their other clients, so hope was still alive, just. It had a weak pulse and bad breath.

I worked with the agent on a plan for a dystopian novel, but in the meantime I applied for a job as an editor for a publisher of LitRPG (a subgenre of GameLit, which is essentially novels where characters live by game-like rules as they level up and progress in fun adventure stories) because I needed money -- I had expected to make some money from my books by that point. The LitRPG publisher didn't have any editorial work in the pipeline so asked me to write my own series, and since it was pretty much a guaranteed publication (and therefore income) I agreed. Over the course of 18 months I wrote and published a trilogy of around 500,000 words. That was pretty fun, but intense. It taught me how to write quickly, and that I need a plan. Although that trilogy brought in some money and I mostly enjoyed the process, it wasn't enough moolah to sustain that pace and I wanted to return to work on a project with my agent.

But by that time, however, the pandemic had struck. I no longer wanted to write a dystopian novel any more because... well, life seemed quite dystopian! I wanted to think about a more positive and exciting prospect. So, I spoke with my agent and we agreed on my new idea: Bucket List -- an uplifting novel about a widow who wins the lottery, and then spends the money completing her bucket list with a young offender. 

I wrote Bucket List and sent it to my agent. She liked it and thought it was very well written, apparently, but said she was now too busy to continue working with me. I got dumped via a short email, and it totally sucked. I felt like I'd been sent back about 8 years, agentless and with no publications (other than my LitRPG trilogy, which had also been less successful than I hoped). This was a real low point for me, but I did at least like Bucket List and had a back catalogue to potentially sell in the future. Bucket List was a funny book, one which I thought would bring some happiness into people's lives during a pretty dark time for the world, so I had faith in it.

Following this setback, I let myself mourn for a bit (I usually do this with a bottle of fizzy wine and a cuddle of my dogs), and then sent Bucket List out to a few agents (I think about 6-7). Most of them didn't respond at all, but the one I was really keen on (a new agent who was local, recommended by a friend) got back quickly saying they loved the book and wanted to meet. It was great news, especially after such a disappointing few years.

((For comparison: when I first submitted to agents, I tried about 70 and it took about 5 years to sign with one. The second time, I submitted to about 7 and it took about 2 weeks to sign with one. I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere, but I've no idea what it is.))

My new agent was full of energy and enthusiasm for my work, they gave incredibly useful and specific notes (which is what I need as a writer) and wanted to support my career as a writer of many varied things (I don't really write "similar" books, I like to write whatever takes my fancy). We went out on submission with the redrafted Bucket List and, despite pretty much everything in publishing being super slow at that point, we got an offer. Skip ahead through some negotiations and meetings, and Bucket List has been signed for publication in 2024 with Polygon.

Perhaps more surprising (and I went back and forth over whether or not to say this publicly since it might be viewed as bad practice, but it worked) I only wrote 2-2.5 drafts of Bucket List by the time it sold to Polygon: my first draft (with some slight adjustments) and one redraft with my agent (with a few minor edits after). This is very unusual, as most of my books undergo about 7 drafts before I feel they're ready (and The Talkers went through 14). So, the book which was the quickest and easiest to write was the one that finally got a traditional publication deal for me.

What's next? I have another book about to go out on submission, I'm currently writing a first draft for another uplifting novel, and I have a few more books in the planning stages, as well as a back catologue of about 5 unpublished novels. Spin those plates Elephant Jones, spin them good!

About ten years have passed since I first started this journey to traditionally publish a novel. Tenacity is what worked, I think. And if I were to give advice to a new author, I think that being tenacious is important. It's not an easy road at all, but I'm glad to be bringing out a story which I think could connect with people, and maybe even help people. I plan to publish many more novels traditionally (and otherwise), and it's great to finally have this ticked off my own bucket list.

To read more about Bucket List,  you can visit Polygon's page here.

Russell Jones

2022 Round-up: what the hell?!

2022 Roundup

 

Hello fellow travellers in the sphere of chaos! It’s been a long time since we last spoke, and – much like meeting relatives at a wedding party – I’m here to give a roundup of recent(ish) events. It’s been a mixed year of highs and lows, and I think that cocktail is quite important to endure and for others (especially writers, given my occupations) to recognise that it's not all unicorn poo and rainbow dust, so here’s the dirt and the diggidy:

 

AGENTS

Con: In January, just before my birthday, my then-agent dropped me. I gotta admit, it was pretty devastating and felt like a major step backwards in my career. Finding an agent is usually a long and arduous process full of rejection (I was rejected 70 times before landing an agent) but I guess that’s the way the cookie sometimes crumbles. And my, what stinking crumble it was.

Pro: Not long after being dropped, I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful new agent in Caro Clarke at Portobello Literary. Caro has really championed my writing, is really supportive and offers great feedback. They also did a lot of hard work to get my book into editors’ hands. Good things happened, but as of this moment I’m still waiting to sign on dotted lines, so I shouldn’t say too much (but come on, you can put 2 and 3 together, you maths whizzes).

WRITING PROJECTS

Con: I wrote no poems this year. I think the poetry well has been dry because of the pandemic (it’s too big, I have to write poems about small things… or weird things in outer space). I hope it will return some day! I did, however, write a novel this year, but it was a real struggle (more than any other I’ve written, in some respects). I felt it wasn’t coming together well enough, and maybe it’d be for the scrap heap. That happens now and again, but with all the time invested in a novel it’s a bummer. However…

Pro: Many edits later and it’s much improved. My agent, Caro, seemed to really like it so there’s hope for the poor thing yet! It’s easy to get downhearted by early drafts, but (as I like to tell mature students) editing is like sculpting a pile of crap into a statuette (made, potentially, of crap).

 

BOOKS/SALES

Con: It’s been a slow year publication-wise, as I published no books. Compared with publishing my epic fantasy trilogy over one year in 2020/21, it was a bit daunting not to know when the next advance might be coming my way. The whole traditional publishing industry seemed to move at a glacial rate, and when you’re living on book sales it’s a worry.

Pro: Despite no big publications in 2022, I do have a novella coming out in 2023 and at least another novel due in 2024. My “Beast Realms” series sales have slowed, but I’m still getting welcome chunks of money each quarter.

AWARDS, JOBS ETC

Con: I applied for quite a few things this year, including three or four jobs. I got one of the jobs (see below). That’s not a total loss though, as working a regular job would detract from my writing time, and mostly I love writing each day. I also missed out on a residency in South Korea, and a few other little residencies. But I’m too long in the tooth now to get overly bothered by failure. Welcome to writing!

Pro: I was lucky enough to get funding from Creative Scotland to help me edit a novel I’m currently working on. The money was hugely useful and allowed me the time to work on things. I also became a writer in residence at a primary school in Stirling, where I’ll be looking at “improving the future” with the kids next year. After losing a lot of work during the pandemic, it’s nice to be somewhat in demand again.

SHORELINE OF INFINITY

Con: Mark Toner and Noel Chidwick (the two founders of the magazine, who I’ve worked with since issue 1) have stepped back from the magazine and almost everything that involves. They’ll be very missed in the Shoreline engine.

Pro: But we also have new team members who are wonderful and will bring a lot of new, different energy to Shoreline of Infinity. We also gained Creative Scotland funding for our magazine and events, which is fantastic as it means we can pay everybody for their work and contributions! Here’s hoping we are equally as successful next year. We’ve put on 4 or 5 great events, and published 4 magazines this year. No small feat.

PERSONAL

Con: I won’t lie, this has been a hard year. I spent the latter half of it feeling very anxious, primarily because I learned to drive and had a right old mare of a time with my instructor. I think the pandemic also affected me more than I realised, and found that even some simple things (which I wouldn’t blink at in the past) became difficult. It’s been one of the hardest years of my life to date, but there’s been lots to like as well…

Pros: I went to Greece and (finally, after cancelling multiple times since 2019) Florida. Okay, we were hit by a major hurricane, but it was still a lot of fun. I passed my driving test and (whilst I still don’t like driving) am now taking Pass Plus lessons to build my confidence. I also feel I reconnected with my dad a bit more, as he was great during the driving kafuffle – he came to Edinburgh and took me around in my car, so I could re-take my test (after my nightmare instructor abandoned me), as well as taking my dogs into his home when we went to Florida (and our dog sitter cancelled just a few weeks before we flew out). I managed to see my sister, her wife and kids too, which is a rare treat. I’ve also seen more of my friends in Edinburgh, which is really important to me – I’ve missed them, and hope they stick around!

 

THAT’S ABOUT IT

Yep, I think that’s about it. As you can probably see, it’s not been an entirely jolly time, but maybe the bad bits help us to appreciate the good bits. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and all that, right? I feel like I should be Superman by new year.

 

I hope you’re all doing well out there in Internet Land. Peace, all!

 

Russell Jones

"Deep Wood" awarded funded from Creative Scotland

Ring the bells and fetch the hatchets! My novel-in-progress, "Deep Wood", has been awarded funding from Creative Scotland!

The funding is to help me focus on editing the novel so it's ready to rock in the wild world of publishing, which includes redrafting and hiring the critical eyes of a couple of beta readers.

Huge thanks to Creative Scotland for seeing the value in this novel, and here's a little information about the story itself, which is a slight side-step for me genre-wise. It's called "Deep Wood" and is a psychological drama with horror elements...

Wanting to fix their fractured relationship and escape the strains of city life, a couple (a therapist and an artist) move to a remote forest community, where they are forced to face their failures and fears as monstrous shadows infiltrate their lives.

I'm looking forward to whittling this woodland novel into shape before (all going well!) sharing it with the world. Until then, keep your eyes on the trees...

Russell Jones

Re-Agent

Unless you're a close friend or family member (Are you? I don't remember you at my barbecue and you don't have my Jonesian nasal features) then you probably didn't know that around 6 weeks ago, I separated from my agent.

It was sad, but there was no argument, no big moral debate or industry-defining angst. It just didn't work out for us.

However, I am pleased as punch (and Judy) to announce that my fiction is now represented by Caro Clarke at Portobello Literary, who signed me up for Bucket List (see details in other posts). 

Not only is Caro incredibly enthusiastic about my work -- which for me is super important in an agent -- but they also have an extensive and successful background in books rights management and (perhaps even more importantly) a very VERY cute dog!

So, in short: please direct all fiction-based quieries to caro@portobelloliterary.co.uk from now on. Ta muchly! See you at the next barbecue?

Russell Jones