The Writer as Time Traveller...

Several years ago I wrote a novel that I mistakenly called Steampunk. It was one of the best things I have written and got lots of interest from publishers. For whatever reason, it was not taken up.

Travel forward about six years and two published novels later and I find myself thinking 'okay then - what am I going to do for novel three?' It is a no brainer, really. Take all that experience I have gained and re-work Steampunk...

So The Bone Surfers is born. The thing is, a novelist's first published novel is not necessarily the first thing they have ever written. It may not even be the best thing they have ever penned. Like me, they have probably written loads before and one or two may be complete gems. So when book three comes out and critics think, hey - he's really improved, I'll be thinking - nah, he's just been time traveling.

25 Years after the fall of the Berlin Wall

It was a shock to discover that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It brought back lots of memories because I stopped off to witness it on my way home from Romania. Some of the inspiration for my debut novel TORN draws on experiences I had back then in the winter of 1989-1990.

Like this image of an East German guard talking with a young West German lad through a hole in the wall. He was off somewhere on his bike and took the opportunity to do what young people do so well. To build bridges.

I took the photo near Checkpoint Charlie, the scene of many a spy movie... and came away from that trip with a deep sense of how war (even Cold War) separates people in a completely arbitrary way. After all is said and done we are just people with differences that could be resolved with words instead of guns.

TAKEN makes the 2015 CILIP Carnegie medal nominations!

25th July 2006 Mr Leo on his birthday with unbelievable clouds

How cool is this? My second novel has found its way onto one of the biggest literary awards in the world - the Carnegie CILIP award! I am well chuffed, especially as all of those people who know about such things tell me that second novels don't do awards.


It's a wonderful surprise, especially as TAKEN is one of my favorite stories. I explore lots of themes and feel really close to my characters. One thing that worries me though is the LEO reference. Apparently one of the criteria the judges will be looking at is believability. None of the judges will believe that Izzy could experience something so weird! The thing is - it happened to me. Cue the X File music.

Reviews of TAKEN and TORN in the same week!

Over the last week or so I have had some great emails from readers in Illinois:

A review of TAKEN by Mekenzie Wheeler on 17th Oct 2014

I am an 8th grade student from a smalltown in southern IL. I particpate in many sports and I love to hunt, fish, anything outdoors. I don't have much time for reading. However, in my English class we were told we are starting a book project.

For my book, I selected TAKEN. I started reading it and just couldn't put it down! I love the story between Ash and Rio. How they fell in love. You made it to where I felt like i knew these charecters personally. I was in disbelief when I read Izzy passed on. I didn't want this book to end.

My mom was very suprised to see me reading. I think it made her happy. Thank you for creating such a powerful and detailed story.

Yours Truly,
Mekenzie Wheeler

 

 And this review of TORN by Jack Rumer on 15th Oct 2014

Mr. David Massey:

Hi, my name is Jack Rumer and I go to Pella High School. In English we are doing book reports and I wanted to send you a business letter telling you how much I enjoyed reading Torn. Your book caught me by surprise with its action and suspense.

When the British Army was told that the Navy Seals were coming to the base, Heidi said, 'There are plenty of other bases the Americans could use.' I understood that she didn't like the Americans, or didn't like someone in the American forces. I enjoy reading and your book was very enjoyable to read. I especially enjoyed the intense fight scenes and how the Navy Seals came into the story to find Aroush for General Macallum.

I also liked how you included the Young Martyrs in the last battle scene when they were all fighting the terrorists. In total, yo ur book was the best book I have read all year. You have inspired me to become a writer and to find inspiration in all things, good and bad. I was wondering, is there a second book to this series? I would really enjoy reading a second part of this story.

Sincerely,
Jack C. Rumer

Vicarious Adventures

As I plumbed in the new washing machine this morning it struck me that this is not what I signed up for as a writer. I should be in some French Gite downing wine, smoking a cigar and thinking of the next novel while I am waiting for the baguette to be delivered. Instead I'm up to my knees in old drain water and doing battle with a hose.

Doing practical stuff does give you time to muse though. I found myself entering alternative worlds in my imagination just so that I could escape this one. It's not a bad strategy, used I think by the majority of 11 year olds in maths lessons. I'm thinking of doing something similar next time I'm stuck for an idea...

About Writing

Well, unless you are JK or Stephen King, I think this boils down to how much writing can you fit around your day job? The answer for me is little or nothing. I've tried the 1000 words a day thingy and never have the time or the space to commit. If Harvey isn't whining for his food something else will be cracking off. Then (as a published author) there is Twitter, FB, Blogging and the like which seem to be custom built to stop writers from getting on with the task of well, writing stories and such.

So - for me the only option is Christmas... I am a Christmas writer. A regular 'Father Write-mas'. Both TORN and TAKEN were birthed in the festive season. When the world slows down just enough for me to jump off and hide in some cubby-hole, then I can get down to it. It would be so much easier if I had a few elves to delegate to.

I do dream of the pipe and the fireplace or some dream shack in the Tuscan hills, which writer doesn't? Until those materialise I'm afraid that the real world has to suffice. Ho hum. or should that be Ho Ho Ho?

My Inspiration for TAKEN

I've just done a blog post for Scholastic USA - here's the unedited version.

In 1944, neurologist Ludwig Guttmann was asked by the British government to found the National

Ludwig Guttman

Spinal Injuries Centre at the UK’s Stoke Mandeville Hospital. His brief was to rehabilitate wounded servicemen who seemed to have no hope of recovery. Guttmann knew that the odds were stacked against him, but he was also a huge believer in the power of sport to change lives, believing that sport was an excellent method of therapy for those with a physical disability - building physical strength and self-respect. So, on July 29th 1948, to universal scepticism, Guttmann organised the first sports competition for recuperating soldiers. The Stoke Mandeville Games, as they became known, soon proved their worth and it was at these Games that the Paralympic Movement was born. More recently we have seen offshoots like the Warrior Games and Prince Harry’s Invictus Games.

I was planning TAKEN as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were under way in London. This was the first games in which a disabled athlete was to participate not only in the Paralympics but also in the Olympics. I had watched the emergence of South Africa’s ‘Blade Runner’, Oscar Pistorius for some years. In 2012, he made history by being the first double amputee to compete in the 400m against able-bodied athletes. Controversy had raged over whether or not Oscar’s blades gave him an advantage but they were proved to be no advantage at all. In fact a Blade runner is much slower out of the blocks. However, by finishing second in his heat with the very respectable time of 45.44 seconds, Pistorius proved to the watching world that disability could be overcome, that disabled athletes were indeed worthy of the world’s attention. From that moment I wanted a blade-runner in my second novel. Some months prior to the Olympics I had visited Headley Court – the place where injured UK veterans are rehabilitated and two things struck me. One is that many amputees can be on

Me with Nick Carter at Headley Court

the road to recovery in as little as six weeks and the other is how many injured veterans refuse to let depression set in, choosing instead to set about some charity challenge and do good for others. On my tour I saw how prosthetics are now so good that many lower leg amputees can walk almost as well as they did before their injuries. My host for the tour was Wing Commander Nick Carter, a chief consultant who had no idea that I was planning to write a novel about disabled veterans setting off on a round-the-world yacht trip. Imagine my surprise when, in the course of my tour, the Commander mentioned that he had just returned from a yacht trip to the Arctic with a group of severely injured veterans. When I shared my idea he was keen to tell me all about the challenges they had faced – including getting a double amputee onto an iceberg.

This was confirmation for me that TAKEN would have a resonance, that I could write a real-world novel and still incorporate a supernatural element. My novel would have real life superhumans – injured veterans who would endure the same hell as Rio and Jen but whose disabilities would just become so many different abilities.  TAKEN was born. As I write, the Invictus games have ended and the Warrior games are about to begin and I hope that TAKEN celebrates the indomitable human spirit just as vigorously. TAKEN is about never giving up, it is about finding good in the most terrible situations and it is about forging a future however dark the past.