"NORMAL OR NOTHING LIKE IT" QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Just over a week ago I held an online book club with my friends to discuss my novel, “Normal or Nothing Like It”. It was such a great night. A group of friends hanging out, catching up, having a drink and discussing the novel. Releasing a novel has been something very different for me. I come a theatre background, so you know immediately if people have liked your work or not. It’s pretty obvious when a friend in the foyer didn’t enjoy the show. Making films takes longer, but once it is out, word comes back quickly. Literature is different. People don’t read it straight away and some read faster than others. So the occasional note from a friend was great, but I still had no idea what people thought as a whole. The book club was so wonderful to chat to people and discover that they got it. They understood what I was writing and why I did write it. Phew.

I decided I would write a blog and answer some questions asked on the night and answer some other questions from friends:

Q: What was the inspiration for some of the stories and characters that are so different from your life?

A: When writing the novel, I really wanted to cover as much of the 40s experience as possible. I thought about the things I have dealt with and what people I knew were dealing with. I also thought about issues people could face. I have never bought a house before, but I know that so many overcommit themselves when they do. Or I often think about the parents when a young person is arrested, just how do the parents feel? I wanted to explore these issues and try and make them as real as possible. And, yes, there were a few characters who were based on people I know and the experiences they have dealt with.

Q: Why a novel?

A: I have been wanting to write a novel for a long time but I was scared. I am known as a dialogue writer and a novel is not that. I love theatre and film, but sometimes the collaborative experience isn’t always easy. A novel is the work of one person, and that is alluring.  I did write a novel, but getting it published became heartbreaking. I had this idea rattling around my brain for a while and wanted to write it but was too scared. Then when I was in the US in 2019 the idea wanted to come out. I wrote ideas while in New York and then the morning after arriving in LA, I knew I had to start. Every time I stopped for coffee or lunch, I would write. By the time I left, the first chapter was done. I kept writing, though slow. Then lockdown happened in 2020 and it gave me time to really focus on the book. It was then finished in a few months and I felt such an amazing sense of achievement and was really happy with the result. I definitely got the novel writing bug.

Q: There were lots of people with different shapes and sizes in the book, was that important?

A: Very much so. As a “fuller figurer” gentleman, I wanted to write stories that many people could identify with. If I wrote a book about 40-year-old models, it wouldn’t be real, or the experience of the people I want to read the story. I also really loved having the character who appears in the book most, Blake, be a bigger guy. Our bodies change as we get older, hair goes or changes, weight loss is not as easy. It is important to stay true and write people that others can see themselves in.

Q: Why did you decide to self-publish the book?

A: In the end it was an easy discussion. A lot of friends had done it and were really happy with the process. Trying to get an agent and publisher broke my heart when I originally tried to publish a novel. It almost made me give up writing a novel. This was so much easier. People release films independently, as well as music. Literature is just another forum that is really embracing people doing it themselves. It was a great process for me and I will be doing it again very soon.

Q: How did you decide how much of yourself to put in the book?

A: There is always so much of me in what I write, sometimes it is more obvious and intended, but there will always be me in there – it’s the only way I know how to write. I did put a lot of myself into the character of Blake, but he is not me. Most of the things that happened to him didn’t happen to me, but identifying with the character allowed me to write like it were me in that situation. The same could be said for a lot of the characters.

Q: What was it like launching the book in lockdown?

A: To be honest, it was a bit of a nightmare. I had two launches planned. One for Sydney and one for Melbourne. The Sydney one was booked in a café in Penrith. I had held off the release of the book to coincide with my birthday, and had 80 people booked to come celebrate. If I had held it earlier it could have gone ahead. But you know what they say about hindsight? Then the Melbourne launch was supposed to be the following week at Hares and Hyenas and was going to be great. People have been wonderful and buying the book, but I know a lot of people have held off until they see me. Sales have been good, but, they can always be better. And wow I would have loved to have attended both these launches.

Q: There were some really strong descriptions of dementia, did that come from personal experience?

A: My aunty has dementia and is living in a care facility. My grandfather also had bad dementia before he passed. It is a scary thing and I fear it. I guess I took that fear and put it into words, and the chapter really dealt with something so many people my age are going through, caring for parents with decreasing health. Aging is a horrible thing and so many of us have to help care for our parents. I thought they needed their own story.

Q: How long have you been holding onto these stories before you got an opportunity to share them?

A: Some ideas I had for some time and others came as I was planning or writing. I always have a million ideas floating around my head, so often it is the one that fights really hard to come out that ends up having me want to write.

Q: Why do you say lip instead of plural lips when you discuss lipstick, ie, “red lip colour”?

A: Ha ha, was not expecting this question. It has been the trend I have seen lately. In fashion sense, people refer to it as a “red lip” and I have followed the trend. Literature goes through trends and I followed this one without thinking, just wrote what I personally.

Q: What’s next?

A: The novel I spoke about before, that I tried to get published years ago, I have been re-editing and will release in time for Christmas. I decided to re-read and still enjoyed it. I did some work and am ready to send it off for editing. It is called “Electricity” and is a Young Adult Fiction about teens who discover they have the ability to conduct electricity with their hands. Stay tuned for more details.

Thanks to those who asked questions and I hope if you haven’t yet, that you will consider purchasing a copy of “Normal or Nothing Like It” – available for order anywhere that sells good books or hit me up for a signed copy.