ABIDE WITH ME: Photos and Extracts - Jubilee Special

THE SILVER JUBILEE 1977

Here in Old Blighty this weekend, we celebrate.  Good times.  Oh, yes.  Good times.  The Germans have been running the gaff over here for almost three hundred years - since good old George Hanover (George I) got the job in 1714.  After the Hanover's had a go, the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's took over in 1837, in the guise of the most famous German queen of them all - Victoria Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  Old Vicky, to be fair, did a sterling job.  And everyone was happy with their German governors, what with building the German Empire, and all that.

But then things got a bit hairy.  A bit awkward, you might say.  By 1914, back in the Fatherland, the naughty Kaiser Wilhelm thought he'd chance his arm at extending his borders a little.  Over the water in Old Blighty, his cousin, the king of England himself - George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (George V) - thought it prudent to make a show of solidarity with his British subjects and changed his surname to 'Windsor' - after one of his little castles.  

Hence, the House of Windsor was born.

(Historical information courtesty of www.britroyals.com)

So, this weekend, the whole nation celebrates the sixty year reign of Elizabeth Windsor nee Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and her Greek husband.

Me, I can't wait :)

Back to the book . . . 

In 1977, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee - twenty-five years on the British throne.  It's a time I remember well.  I would have been about seven or eight, and the street parties, the Union Jacks, the races in the streets in the heat of another scorching summer are embedded in my psyche as great days indeed.  

When the Silver Jubliee came along for John in ABIDE WITH ME, times were hard.  He'd had some knockbacks, you might say.  His dad wasn't in the best of ways, and the Hammers had been relegated to the Second Division for the first time in twenty years.  But the Jubliee - surely that would brighten the lads up.  Surely . . . 

A street race during the Silver Jubilee celebrations of 1977 (photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/madhava/with/3926721906/) 

'Come the day, there's a load of street races outside, you know, egg and spoon, and shit, and a big old party. All right for the littl'uns, I suppose, but I'm gonna be thirteen in a few months. What do I want with all that shit? Mum makes me do the runnin race, though. Feel like a right bleedin idiot. Come second behind some eight-year-old with a fucked lip. Mum said I weren't even tryin. Fuckin right. Gives me a clip round the ear for me troubles and sends me inside to sit with Dad.'

FROM ABIDE WITH ME p.59

 

Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg-Gotha working the crowds back in '77

'Street party ain't finished for hours yet. No way I'm goin out there again. Mum'd only drag me into another fuckin stupid race. So I'm stuck inside, and Dad's still bangin on about the fuckin revolution, sittin there in his Union Jack hat cos he's too scared to take it off. Mum's spent a load of dough we ain't got on shit and stuff for the fuckin Queen's fuckin Jubilee, and the Queen don't even fuckin know cos she's up at Buck-fuckin-House sippin tea with the rest of the fuckin inbreds. And I'm lookin at the flags outside, all them little flags, and all them people laughin and cheerin, and Kenny's old girl up at his window tryin to put his curtains up for the hundreth time, and I'm thinkin of Kenny, wonderin which one of us is in the real fuckin nut-house.'

FROM ABIDE WITH ME p.59-60

I would just like to point out the views of John and Dad are not necessarily the views I personally hold.

Honest.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Best wishes,

Ian :)

Cracking on with the novella - ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF JASON DEAN

Hi all :)

Well, with the hard graft of the ABIDE WITH ME Book Tour out the way for the time being, the book getting some great reviews, and the sequel taking shape in me head, it's time for me to get cracking on with something else.  And that something else is to finish the novella I started a few months back.

I was comissioned to write the novella by the legendary Byker Books publishing house over here in Old Blighty - purveyors of the Radgepacket series and all manner of fine stuff.  I'd never written a novella before, and was not too confident I knew my way around having a crack at it, to be honest.  Twenty-thousand words was the remit.  ABIDE WITH ME is sixy thousand, and most of the short stories I've written are between eight hundred and fifteen hundred words.  Apart from that, I had no idea what to write.

But then, the same thing happened as always happens when I sit down and focus for a bit.  The characters start talking.  In this case, the words I heard were 'You bastard, you ain't even give me a name yet.'  A pleasant introduction if ever there was one.  The voice turned out to be the main character from a story I'd written for the brilliant OFF THE RECORD anthology, put together by the super talented Luca Veste.  The story in question was called Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, from THE JAM classic of the same name.

The unnamed narrator of the story is a hit man with a penchant for literature - specifically, in this story - fine poetry.

I knew I couldn't avoid him.  I mean, to be fair, he was right.  Was pretty rude not to give him a name, wasn't it.

'All right,' I said.  'Come on in.  What have you got?'

He started talking.  I started writing, and within a very short while we were getting on famously.  The novella length still bothered me, but it became very clear this is what Jason - for his name is Jason Dean - had come to teach me.

'One day,' he said.  'Just one day, that's all I need'

One of the books that has inspired me throughout my life is ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, so the title of the novella sort of spelled itself out.

Having met Jason in the short story, I was expecting some literary references, but I never expected him to start with one.  I mean, he hadn't even told me his name yet.  Getting his own back, I suppose.  Here are the first words he said to me:

'Sometimes a Great Notion' – what a book that is. Ken Kesey. Everyone knows Kesey from 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' – those what've read it, that is. And if you ain't read it, I fully advise you to do so. It's a fuckin cracker. R.P. McMurphy – Jack Nicholson in the film – he's some character, he is. Switched on, but sort of sad. Empty. Complex, you know. Like there's a whole world of pain he ain't got words for. And that bit in the book where the Indian lifts up that sink, that big old fuckin sink and . . . Shit. I've gone and spoiled it for you now, ain't I? The Indian liftin up the sink bit. Still, hard fuckin luck. You should have read it in the first place.

My name is Jason Dean. And I'm lyin in bed. Beth, that’s me missus, she’s lyin next to me, far away as she can get, snorin gentle like a baby. Love watchin her sleep, I do. Even though she hates me fuckin guts.

Can't stand this time of the mornin, just before the sun comes up. Fuckin hate it. It's like if the world was ever gonna end, it'd feel like this. That tension, you know, where everything you've known all your life is about to change forever in a fuckin heartbeat, and it won't never come back. 

Some people say when the sun comes up of a mornin, it's a whole new world. 

Me, I reckon that's bollocks.  Give me the dark any day of the week.'

So, it weren't gonna be a bundle of laughs, then.

As Jason continued to tell me his story, I began to realise the pain this main was in - the reason.  And the reason broke my heart.

But he had a job to do, Jason.  A busy day. And a busy day for a hitman is bound to get a bit . . . messy. 

I'm just a couple of chapters from the end, now.  If all goes well, hopefully ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF JASON DEAN should be available on your Kindles some time later in the year.

Sorry, got to go.  He's just put on  a bit of Shostakovich.  He always does that when he's a bit upset.  Calms him, you know.  He'll be all right in a minute.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

Ian

ABIDE WITH ME: Goodreads Live-chat Transcript (Part Two)

 

 THE GOODREADS KINDLE FORUM INTERVEW - PART TWO

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to be the subject of a live web-chat by the lovely people of the Goodreads Kindle Forum.  It was a long and enjoyable night, in which I learnt as much about myself as others perhaps did.  

Funny, not until you're having to answer questions fired at you at a million miles an hour do you sometimes see the spaces between the words.

If you missed it, PART ONE of the interview can be found here

And here comes the final part . . .  

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

Ian

PART TWO:

Anyway, Ian. Do you think your publisher will stay with KDP Select after the ninety days and branch out into Smashwords etc?

Tricky one. I can't speak for Caffeine Nights, but my feeling about KDP is that the exclusivity demanded by Amazon leaves a bad taste in the mouth. That's why I would never use it for anything I may publish myself.

Smidgen, Splinters, Wafflemaker... The names of your characters are obviously important. Where do they come from?

Honestly, that's what their names are. Who am I to change a character's name, just because it sounds funny.

Bit of a Dickens thing going on there :)

I love Dickens, so probably deep in me psyche somewhere, he's sitting about, having a right laugh.

Perhaps you could run a competition to name incidental characters in the sequal?

I've seen a few people do that, and it's a great idea. Thing is, these characters have already got names. Would be a bit rude foisting another on on them. I like that word. Foisting.

Silus Mange? Able Cocknocker?

Ian, from some of the words you have been using in describing the way you write, it feels to me like writing for you is a very "spiritual" process... is it ?

Very much so. A sort of channelling sort of thing. Really hard to explain without coming across as completely loony, but it's just the way I write now.

I was actually going to say channelling myself... so i totally understand what you mean :)

Great news re sequel, will we see more of Harry Wilkins?
I warmed to him at the end of the book.

I don't know if Harry will play a part yet, as I have no idea what will be happening. In AWM, I had no idea where each chapter would lead. I just listened and watched inside my head, and wrote. It's like AWM2 is already written, and it's just a case of me tuning in and writing it down. I like Harry. I hope to see him again.

If pushed to compare your style to any other writer's I'd take a pass. AWM is so unique in its mixture of subtle elegance and graphic style, that's a hard thing to do. If pushed really hard I'd say Ellroy (the early Ellroy of the L.A. Quartet era.) Do you have any comparisons that you think would be valid. (C'mon now. Don't be modest.)

Blimey. That's a hard one. I know there are elements of Virginia Woolf in there - all the visceral stuff, you know. And the Ellroy clipped sentences, yeah, I can see that. LA Confidential was hugely influential when I read it. I had no idea you were allowed to write like that.
And I think Hemingway is in there somewhere too.

I'd also say that Ray Bradbury should be included. For the poetic images and mythic references of the characters. Arthurian legend comes right to mind.

Never read any Bradbury, AJ, much to my shame. He's on me list, though. And I did pick up a sort of mythic quality to the whole thing, with Kenny at the heart.

Can you see yourself writing a novel from a third person perspective as opposed to first person?

I'm not sure I could. It's the voice thing, you know. I do a few short stories in that sort of distant omniscient wotsit, but I don't know if I could stand writing a novel like that. I suppose I need to be on the inside, feeling what the characters feel, and third person is something I find really hard to write and achieve that same level of intimacy.

Do you start with a title and then write, or write then come up with a title? How do you come up with said title, is it a case of picking it out of a hat? (:

With the short stories, the title comes in pretty much immediately, although I never start with it. I always start with a feeling, a moment, and just go from there.
The title for AWM was provisionally Fortunes Always Hiding - a line from Bubbles - the West Ham song. Was a friend of mine that read an early draft and pointed out not only was ABIDE WITH ME a pivotal moment in the book - being sung at the cup final - but it was also the sentiment that tied the whole book together. When she said that, it was like the title revealed itself all in a flash.
I love it when that happens.

Kenny never actually spoke in AWM. Was this a conscious decision?

Funny, but I didn't realise either till I read the first draft. Then it sort of made sense. So a couple of places where he did speak, I made a conscious decision to alter them. So sort of conscious and sort of not, really.

Going through the reviews, it seems that one of the "things" that made your book a success with so many readers is the use of the East end local lingo. Was it easy to write? I mean if you're used to typing standard English stuff, was it hard to change, or did the words just come naturally?

It really was just a matter of listening to the voice speaking in my head, and making sure I wrote it down accurately. Because I speak pretty much like John in the book, although not quite so sweary, it wasn't too difficult as, say, if he were a Geordie or something.
And the standard English thing, I've never really done that to any great degree.

I know you write organically with very little planning. Any plans to write something that is more plotted beforehand?

I've tried, mate. On a couple of short stories. But it just doesn't work for me. Feels too constrained, as if I'm in control. For me, it's all about letting the characters tell their story. If I try and force them in a certain direction, they just sort of clam up. Can't blame them, really.

It's the dialogue (and in this case, the internal dialogue as well) that can make or break a novel. In AWM it rings completely true.

A lot of the dialogue, I re-enacted wandering around the front room, just so I made sure I'd got it right. Tescos queues were another one. Got some right looks there.
And as I said to AJ earlier, it's a real rhythm thing. A sort of feeling. I would get a little twinge if something wasn't quite right, a sort of jarring feeling. Then I'd just listen a little closer till I got it right.

Do you feel that the local language adds to the identity of a person/of a community? Do you feel that it helps a person integrate/feel part of that community to a certain extent?

I think a local dialect can be both inclusive and exclusive. During my counselling training, I was once in a class full of middle class Essex women in the power suits and their delicate sensibilities. When I turned up with my Dagenham top and my dropped aitches, yet still got top marks, I'd never felt more discriminated against.

I feel that Kenny kind of reminds me of Lennie from Of Mice and Men...

Funny, my publisher pointed that out as well, Rosemary. He referred to AWM as 'Of Mice and Men' for the East End. And I suppose the similarities are pretty clear. I think there are definite differences, but it's a valid comparison.

Terry Pratchett said at a signing that "Your subconscious knows the complete story, soup to nuts, but it doesn't want you to have it until you earn it by doing things like endlessly mowing the lawn or washing the windows or feeding the dog or doing other deadly dull chores until it gets bored and finally throws the thing at you with an All Right! Here it is! For God's sake,write it! Remark."
Does that kind of inspiration strike you when you need it most?

I love that. And, yep, I'm a great believer in the whole story being written, ready and waiting, until the writer is at a time in his life where he needs to write it.
And I like King's archeaology analogy as well.

I believe the same about reading a book... Sometimes if you can’t get into a book, maybe you are just not ready for what it contains. It is why i usually just put them to one side rather than sack them off completely (apart from the ones that are just rubbish of course, that is a completely different thing!)

Very true. I'm still waiting for the time in my life when I can start ploughing through that pile of Jackie Collins classics by the back door.

A tutor at college, a sculptor, said the work was waiting in the block of stone. It was his job to do the work and get it out, release it. Sounds like that's a bit like how you approach your writing Ian?
(this is getting a bit deep, huh!)

That's a great analogy. And yes, almost identical. Steven King said writing is akin to archaeology, all about working down the layers to the truth beneath - then writing the truth.
I love that sort of stuff ;)

How was AWM received locally?

One of my main priorities was that the West Ham sections of the book came across as genuine. To this end, I posted the relevant chapters on a couple of die-hard West Ham forums, and braced myself for the worst. The feedback was absolutely unanimous. The most commented comment was that it was just like being at the game, and all the other things rang completely true. The local book signings - Basildon and Romford - were fantastic, so I'm pretty confident I've struck the right note locally - which is nice :)

And considering you've been featured in a few local newspapers and all that... have people stopped you in the street to grab an autograph yet?

Not yet - thankfully. Although I was in the Romford Waterstones a couple of weeks back, and someone asked if I could sign a bookmark for them, if that counts :)

I liken the "unintelligent" Kenny/Lenny character back the mythic icon known as The Holy Fool so the pedigree for that character is an honourable trope in any form of fiction. Did you have in mind that archetype, Ian? Or was Kenny an existing person to whom you assigned the characteristics?

There really is a deeper layer there. And I think with the Holy Fool trope you're pretty close. You know me, mate. I just write. For me, Kenny is as real as anyone I know. If he represented a trope, I wasn't aware of it at the time. But then again, I suppose all the archetypes are an unconscious thing anyway, aren't they.
A couple of people have mentioned to me the resurrection myth, and thinking on it, I think there might be something in that . . .

Do you have any more booksigning sessions planned? Are you staying in your area or will you be travelling further over the months?

Walthamstow Waterstones is the last planned one, and that's tomorrow. I'll be at the Tonbridge Arts Festival on the 23rd June with a bunch of other Caffeine Nights authors, which should be a fantastic day. Romford, Basildon, and Lakeside Waterstones have asked me to do another signing later in the year, as have The Newham Bookshop. We're looking to hit Brentwood and Southend Waterstones later in the year also.

Not coming north of the Border then? Got some good book festivals up here, Lennoxlove's just along the road...

Would love to. But not being able to drive and not having any pennies or sticks or pretty much of anything to rub together, I reckon Walthamstow's the furthest north I'll get this time round :{

[Ian’s turn to ask questions]Anyone got any thoughts on the vast amount of naughty words in the book?

* Actually do you know Ian, I hardly noticed them. It was part of the idioglossia (I may have just made that word up?)

* Nope, even my mum and Dad said that although there was a lot, it was in character and helped make John 'John'

* I agree, I couldn't imagine John any other way, it just wouldn't be the same

So relieved your mum and dad weren't offended. Funny, by the end I knew if I stuck in an extra naughty one. It stood out a mile. And I really struggled with the final sentence, until I realised a naughty word was missing. Popped it in, and the whole world fell into place nice :)

* Dad has been recommending it to anyone who will listen! ! (praise indeed) Have even had to lend out one of my signed copies!

Blown me away, the different sorts of people that have been recommending the book. Proper blown me away :)

* They're great from a non-native point of view, lots of new vocabulary !

* Pretty tame compared to the language where i work actually! and IMO totally within the context of the book and characters...

The context was the thing for me. At no time did I feel the need to really apologise, although I was very conscious of the potential negative impact it might have on readers.

* Maybe it was also a kind of a filter to ensure that the book reached the required audience...
like if you didn’t get on with the language (vernacular and swearing) then the book wasn't meant for you...

Very wise. I love that. I must say, I was expecting far more of a negative response to the language than I've actually got. So I think you might have something there . . . :)
* Yeah but so many readers saw it as a positive thing too !

* When I read it I became conscious of how much me and my mates swear just in the course of normal conversation in the pub. So definitely realistic!

That's what I found with the whole book. Being a single narrative, I was able to read the whole thing out and pick up anything missing. Just that naturalistic thing, you know.

Can I ask both Ian and Stu... Do you find that you have a bond through writing (I mean other than being twins and all that)... or do you try to not get involved in each other's projects? (Edit: I don't mean in a non-supportive way)

Ian: :) The thing I find interesting, is how completely differently me and Stu write. We are very different characters in real life too. In a funny sort of way, I sometimes think my kind of writing fits Stu's more outgoing personality more than mine, and perhaps my more quiet nature is more akin to Stuart's beautiful prose. But it's not like that at all. We both feel a need to speak the truth as we see it. And therein lies the bond.
That's what I reckon.
What do you think, Stu?

Stu: I like to think that there's a mutual thing that although our stuff is completely different it is still in some way distilled from the basic values we grew up with.

[Last question of the night] AWM2… Is it going to be about Johnny again, or is it about other people but in the same background as AWM?

[Funnily enough, this question remained unanswered…]

ABIDE WITH ME: Book signing tips

So the first stint of the ABIDE WITH ME Book Tour has drawn to a close.  Six book signings, those being at five Waterstones branches around Essex and East London, and The Newham Bookshop, in, well, Newham.

Apart from learning a lot about myself during these weeks, one of the most gratifying things I have learnt is people still buy books in bookshops.  Loads of people.  Loads of books.  They even order books from bookshops.  Yes, my friends, Amazon have not yet taken over the entire world.  With the recent development of Waterstones decision to soon have a Kindle section in their stores, however, it may not be too long.

Anyway, back to the book signings and the things I learned.

1) POP INTO THE BRANCH BEFORE THE SIGNING

  For every signing I could, I popped into the shop a week or so beforehand.  I did this for a number of reasons - all as important as each other.  The shop have invited you as their guest for the day, so it's pretty polite to say hello and thank you.  It is also a great opportunity to speak to the staff and the manager - to build a relationship.  And to also get an idea of the layout of the store, to confirm the books have been delivered, and to discuss practical arrangements for the book signing itself.  For instance, where will the table be positioned in the store, what size will the table be, etc.  Don't be shy.  If they're offereing you a small table near the back of the shop, ask to be moved somewhere else, and ask for a bigger table.  Do it nicely, obviously, but this is your book signing, your day.  The store has invited you.  They can only say 'no'.  

Throughout every one of my book signings, however, every member of staff in every store was hugely accommodating.  Popping in beforehand can make all the difference.

Before every signing I could, I also dropped off a big wedge of bookmarks for the store to have sitting by the counter.  Punters love a free bookmark.  And it's a bit of free publicity too :)

Takes some photos of the shop, of any display they might have.  Anything.  Liven up your blog/Facebook wotsit before the signing.  Makes it real, you know :)

2) HAVE STUFF

At a book signing, you will have a table.  Sometimes a large table, sometimes a small table.  And on this table, you will have your books.  What you don't want is empty space.  The table is your shop window.  

Make it sing.  

Punters love something to pick up and look at, and most of all, they love a free bookmark.  I got my bookmarks from the good people at StressFreePrint, and I'd have to say not only are the bookmarks terrific quality, the ordering system is dead easy to use. They'll even send you a proof before confirming your order.  And if you can get some leaflets/flyers knocked up as well with a bit about the book on one side and some great reviews on the other, all the better.  

Any artifacts connected with the book are also something worth thinking about.  I had copy of the 1980 FA Cup Final programme between West Ham and Arsenal - a pivotal chapter in the book - sitting on the front of the table. I sold more than a few books on the back of West Ham supporters browsing through the programme.  

Balloons, balloons are great, but be careful they don't stick out to far from the table or you'll spend all day trying to sellotape them back on.  Trust me.  I know ;)

So here's what my table looked like after several trial and errors, seeing what worked and what didn't:

My nephew George(above) is available for weddings,  Bah Mitzvahs, and childrens parties - anywhere bookmarks need arranging in a fan-like fashion.  He's very good, and quite reasonably priced.

3) BE PATIENT

 Bookshops, like any other shops, have their quiet periods and their busy times.  All my book signings started at eleven in the morning, except for the Newham Book Signing - but that was a different animal altogether.  At one signing, I sold almost half my stock within the first hour.  At others, I sold nothing in the first two.  Stay relaxed.  Keep smiling.  Chat with the staff, have a coffee, eat chocolate.  If a punter walks by, offer them a bookmark.  Most will take one.  They will look at it.  They will ask what the book is about.  They might say 'no thank you', and move on.  But that's fine.  Nothing is wasted.  It was through these incidental customer contacts that I built the confidence I now have.  One of the best tips I had was from the brilliant Howard Linskey - author of The Drop and The Damage.  He said, during those quiet moments, just remember the store has invited you to be their guest for the day.  Never forget what a privilege that is.

4) BE NICE

Be nice to the staff, be nice to the punters, be nice to everyone.  Keep a smile on your face at all times.  These aren't just empty words.  It is all about building  a relationship with these two key groups.  Being pleasant, approachable, and adaptable can be the difference in between selling a book and not, being asked back by the store and not, and most importantly, the amount of coffee and muffins you are offered throughout the day by the lovely staff.

  Note: coffee and muffin

5) PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED NOT TO BUY

Not everyone who comes into the store will want to buy your book.  Honest.  They really won't.  If your table is set out well, and you have an approachable manner, some might stop and chat, ask you about the book, etc. with no real intention in buying it.  They might chat to you for ages.  Thirty, forty minutes.  If they buy, they buy.  If they don't, please resist the urge to grab them buy the throat.  It doesn't go down well.  Instead, say how great it was chatting to them and wish them a great day.  I had a lot of writers at the signings, and we talked about publishing and writing and all this book signing lark for ages.  Some of them bought a book, some didn't.  But remember, remember that privilege you've got.  You are in a book shop signing books.  How many writers do you know that would batter you senseless just for a sniff of a chance?  Allowing yourself to be battered senseless in a bookshop is also to be discouraged, and is best taken outside. And if you're thinking of keeping a baseball bat under your table or some other form of blunt weapon, don't do that either - or at least hide it well.

Just don't . . . 

6) DON'T GET HUNG UP ON NUMBERS

It's not all about the numbers.  A book signing is an opportunity for you to meet the book-buying public at first hand, to build your local profile, for the opportunity to have photos of you at the book signing on your blog/Facebook, etc.  It's an opportunity to create a relationship with the store that may well serve you well in the future.  High numbers rather than low ones are great, obviously, but not everyone will buy your book that day.  Some might go home and think about it, and buy it a few days later.  Others might tell a friend who ends up buying it.  A book signing is about you putting yourself out there into the world.  You and your book.  Be proud.  Be very proud.  But don't sweat the numbers.

7) DON'T SIT DOWN - EVER

If you can mange it, don't sit down behind your table all day.  Stand up.  Be proactive.  If there is a table between you and a prospective punter, it'll only get in the way - literally.  Throughout all of my six book signings, I didn't sit down once.  It was exhasuting, blimey, it was.  But I know if I'd been stuck in me chair the whole time, I'd have probably sold a fraction of the books I finally did sell.  So, keep on your toes, ready and waiting.  You never know where the next sale might come from. 

8) DO NOT DRESS UP LIKE A MEMBER OF STAFF 

Mind you, one of the downsides of not sitting down is you will be asked where the children's books are, where the autobiography section is, where the toilets are, when is the latest JK Rowling out, do you take vouchers, and a million other questions.  Which leads onto my next point . . . On your pre-signing visit to the shop, check out the staff uniform.  It really does pay.

Me and my mate, Pete.  One of us is dressed exactly like a Waterstones employee, the other is not.

9) TAKE SUPPLIES

By supplies, I mean chocolate, sandwiches, chocolate, drinks, and chocolate.  The store will ask if you want a break for lunch.  But why on earth would you want to leave your table for a single second when you are having the time of your life.  Don't forget the privilege.  And don't forget the chocolate.

 Chocolatey and chewy.  The food of the gods.  But try not to get any on the carpet - sorry Walthamstow :)

Just well, Purple Yorkies . . . come on :) Biscuity raisiny loveliness.  But like it says, not for girls. Sorry ladies.

10) BLOODY ENJOY YOURSELF

If, as a writer, standing in a bookshop, piles of the now published book you sweated tears and blood over spread out on the table before you; complete strangers taking the time of day to ask you about the writing, the story, you, congratulating you on your efforts, shaking your hand; people you've never met in your life handing over their hard-earned money in return for a copy of your book and a signature doesn't make you feel how wonderful this life is, blimey.  Don't waste the opportunity.  This is an opportunity not only to live your dreams, but to live the dreams of a million other writers in this world that might have to write a lifetime to be standing where you are today.  Never forget that.

I know this isn't an exhaustive list of the things I've learned through my first book tour, and if any others come to mind, I'll post them on the blog.

Look after yourselves, people.

Have a great day.

Ian 

ABIDE WITH ME: an educated comment . . .

Hi all.

Been a little while since there's been a non-Amazon/Goodreads review of AWM, but one popped up yesterday.

The review is from the site of Professor Brian Stoddart.  Professor Stoddart is the first person to review ABIDE WITH ME - so far as I know - that has his own Wikipedia page.  And here it is:

Brian Stoddart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Emeritus professor Brian Stoddart is an Australian academic who was the vice-chancellor of La Trobe University between 2005 and 2006.^[1] He is a well-known commentator on sporting matters, being involved in the foundation of the Australian Institute of Sport^[2] and being the author of many books exploring the history and importance of sports in society.^[3]




Blimey, eh . . .

How Professor Stoddart got hold of a copy of ABIDE WITH ME, I'll never know.  Just one of those serendipitous wotsits, I suppose, the world of writing seems to abound with.  Or just the vagaries of life.  If you want a definitive version of what the vagaries of life are, click here and the greatest band in the world - Half Man Half Biscuit - will tell you.

Right, where were we.  Oh, yeah, the review:

'Ian Ayris is described as having found his way to writing by some knockabout, undistinguished routes and occupations from his Essex origins. Abide With Me (as in the hymn sung at the antihero’s Dad’s funeral) is an astonishing depiction of a harsh life and social dysfunction in the London East End. 

Ayris has the astonishing knack of, and an obviously great ear for being able to effortlessly transfer the East End argot from the streets to the page so that you almost hear rather than read the words. He also conveys the tight social geography of the place, as his character describes going into areas “off his manor” but maybe just a mile or two away. When he is driven home from prison, he reflects that it is the only time he has been the “other side of the river”. In a global world this is an incongruously small patch.

Like Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch and John King’s The Football Factory, football provides a constant theme, in this case a life calibrated by the success or otherwise of West Ham, the “Hammers” or the “Irons” and the club whose history was told wonderfully by my American friend and colleague Charles “ Chuck” Korr.

Ayris tells of a grim life, a relentless grind with a lack of opportunity leading inevitably towards crime (a botched hold-up of a tatty local off-license shop) and a spell “inside” for the main character who sustains terrible physical abuse. An entanglement with a local crime boss has deadly circumstances but, in the end, a rough sort of retribution ensues. It is a terrific if gritty book and several cuts above the rest.'

Click here for Professor Stoddart's reviews of three other crime fiction novels that sound absolutely fantastic.

 And have a great day.

Ian

ABIDE WITH ME: Photos and Extracts - funerals and crematoriums

During the writing of ABIDE WITH ME, it became evident funerals, and by association - cemetaries - would play a part.  I knew these would be amongst some of the more emotive scenes in the book, so I had to get them right.  Like most people, I have been to the funerals of loved one.  I have suffered loss.  I was confident in describing the feelings involved in these particular scenes in the book, but I needed something to hang them on.  Something tangible.  At the time I'd come to these places in the book, though, I was so lost in the words and the lives and the deaths of these people, I went straight through the description stage, thinking I could pen them in later. 

One of the first things I did was to contact the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authority, regarding some of the details of a creamation.  They were very helpful, and provided me with everything I needed to know about cremations procedures in 1979 here in the UK.  But I was straying.  You see, I'd forgotten why I'd contacted them in the first place.  I'd contacted them because I couldn't rememeber the details of the cremations of loved ones I'd been to.  All I remembered were the feelings. 

And there was the clue. 

I'd strayed from the pov of John.  I'd strayed because these parts of the books were hardest for me to write - too raw, you know - and I was seeking comfort in details.  But if I was to stay true to John I had to jump back in and cry with him.  So I thanked the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authority people for their time and information, and filed it away in the bin.

I became John once more, and through his blurred eyes I described what he saw.

The first cemetary in the book is the City of London Crematorium, down Aldersbrook Road, in Manor Park, East London.  After one of the pivotal scenes in the book - which I won't describe here ;)  - John returns to the City of London Crematorium some years later:

London City Creamatorium - Main Gate (photo courtesy of Tomylees)

 

'I'm standin outside the gates of the London City Crematorium. The iron gates are shut. A big fuck-off padlock makin sure it stays that way. I fall to me knees and I'm lookin through the bars, holdin on tight, and it scares the shit outta me cos I dunno if I'm on the outside lookin in or on the inside lookin out.' 

From ABIDE WITH ME, p. 133 

Funnily enough, when I first wrote that little scene, I had no idea if the City of London Crematorium had big, massive gates.  I just thought it might.  Imagine my delight when after the book was finished I started going round some of the places I referenced in the book and found the City of London Cemetary had the biggest gates I've seen in my entire life.  I forgot to take a picture, mind, and the above photo comes courtesy of Tomyless over on Flickr.

And finally, not wishing to give any of the plot away (blimey that was a very bad, and entirely unintended pun, wasn't it), and especially for those who have read the book already, here's the one you've all been waiting for.

Tissues at the ready . . .

 Graves at Batking Cemetary

I'm not all finished yet with the Photos and Extracts feature.  A few more yet to go.

Have a great day, everyone.

All the best,

Ian

ABIDE WITH ME: Goodreads Live-chat Transcript (Part One)

THE GOODREADS KINDLE FORUM INTERVIEW - PART ONE

Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago I was invited to be the subject of a live webchat by the lovely members of the Goodreads Kindle Forum.  The format basically involved me sitting at the computer for two hours answering questions as they popped up on the forum.  Turned out to be forty-five questions in all, or there abouts.  A lot.  Too many to post on the blog all at one time, so I've divided the transcript into sections.  I've just received the transcript, put together by the super lovely Lorraine Arndell from the Goodreads Kindle Forum.

Here's Part One . . .

Hi all.

By way of introduction, a couple of words.
 

I first began writing seriously about four years ago. Since then, I have had thirty-seven short stories published both online and in print, and my debut novel - ABIDE WITH ME - was published almost two months ago.
 

Reading wise, I love Virginia Woolf, Hemingway, Dickens, Raymond Chandler, Derek Raymond, and loads of others. Too many to mention, really.
 

I live in Romford, Essex, with my wife and three children, and support the mighty Dagenham and Redbridge.
 

My writing tends towards the darker side of life, usually manifesting in the crime/noir genre, although not really by design. Just happens to fall that way, I suppose. I almost always write in the first person vernacular of East London, again, not really by design, that's just how the voices tell it . . . more of that later, perhaps . . .
Thanks for turning up at this virtual gaff, and just to let you know I'm open to anything. So whatever you want to know, whether it be about the book, writing, real ale, proper football, or life, just fire away . . . :)

How's the sales numbers on AWM going?

I've not had anything definite yet. But the two free days precipitated eight thousand downloads, split pretty evenly between here and the States. Sales at the book signings have been really encouraging too. I suppose the whole thing is too soon to tell, but I've got me fingers crossed.

Those are really good numbers. In the book dire events and dark circumstance are mixed with a kind of poetic beauty that stun the reader. Is that just a natural process for you or do you have to carefully consider how to place the moments of beauty?

I write in a completely intuitive fashion. Nothing is planned. It's all a matter of tuning in. Rhythm is a big thing for me. The rhythm is the barometer to which I know whether I've tuned in accurately. The moments of beauty usually come fully formed, word for word. I don't mess with that stuff. I just write it down.

I wondered Ian, did the characters pop up "fully formed" into your head, or did they appear slowly, as they do to the reader thru the course of the book?

Great question. The way I write, the characters exist fully formed inside my head. They reveal more of themselves the more I tune into them, so I guess it's about me paying closer attention to them than them revealing more of themselves.
Hope that makes sense :)

Ian, can you give us an idea of what the past two months have been like, with the promo and book signing?

Unbelievably exhausting. As people who know will testify, I am probably the least organised person on the planet. And one of the most forgettable. The whole thing has been a challenge beyond words. But I've loved every second and would do it all again in a heartbeat :)

You've written loads of short stories that have been really well received. How difficult was it going from those to a novel length piece of work?

AWM was based on The Rise and Demise of Fat Kenny, published in Radgepacket Three. To extend those fifteen hundred words to sixty thousand, I just went back to the childhood of the characters and started from the beginning. Because I don't plan anything, it was just a case of opening up and listening and watching, then writing it all down.

Did you have a 'favourite character' or one you most identified with?

Good question. Being a father, a son, and a brother to a sister, I know there are big parts of me in Dad and John. John carries the closest parts of me with him, but Kenny, I wish I could be Kenny. He's in here somewhere, but so hard to find.
I like Dribbling Albert too, mind :)

I loved 'Uncle Mildred and other stories' too. Great characters!

Cheers.
From the darker parts of my psyche, those ones . . . :)

Speaking of those "darker parts of your psyche," why the addiction to the infamous Purple Yorkies? Is it a quest? An obsession? :)

Nothing like a purple Yorkie. Although I had a Double Decker for the first time in years last week at the Basildon book signing.
It's now a close run thing . . .

What did do you to recreate seventies Britain in your mind while writing?
Did you get out your old toys?
Paint your living room orange and brown?
Listen to Slade?

Another great question. Basically, I don't do anything to recreate anything. It was just a case of zoning in, opening up, re-experiencing what it was like for me during those times. Sounds mad, but there was nothing I did other than latch on to the characters, and let them pull me into their world.

The man writes the kind of fiction that needs to be read. & he seems such a gentle soul. Only seems, mind you ...

Thanks for the kind words, mate. Funny, them dark parts. I think the counselling training really has helped me walk into those places with my eyes more wide open than I would ever have been able to do without it.

Your description of the football matches in AWM are so vivid it makes the reader swear he's been to the match. Have you ever considered being a sports writer?

One of the agents I first sent the book to was one of the top London agents. She declined the book in the end, saying it didn't really fit her list, but described the football chapters as 'masterful'. Sort of made me think, you know, and it would really be a dream of a job.

[Precision from Stuart:] We very much a football family - even to the extent that our sister has named her four sons after Man United players. Sad but true! But then I did name our dog after Dagenham and Redbridge's leading goalscorer in the season that we bought him.

Do you have plans for another novel???And if so will it be in the same genre or would you try something different???

I've a novella coming out later in the year, commissioned by a different publisher. It's much more crime/noir than AWM - a day in the life of a hitman with a penchant for brilliant literature and classical music.

As for the next novel, I've finally decided to write a sequel to AWM. Lots of people have asked me to, but I promised myself I wouldn't do one just for the sake of it. But I was coming home from Tescos the other day, and John's voice came into my head, so I know there's more of the story left to tell. I've written the first few hundred words, and plan to kick it off in earnest in a couple of weeks.

Are you now moving onto novels or will you write shorts again in the future?

I think I'll still by writing short stories, just to keep my hand in. They're a great discipline and having a back catalogue of short stories to potentially turn into novels sort of seems the sensible thing to do as well.
But for the immediate future, the sequel to AWM is the only thing on the cards. And I enjoyed writing the novella so much, I think I might try my hand at another one of those after that.

Is it easy to turn a short into a novel, is it the same as writing a novel from an outline, or is it trickier due to the fact that there is already a story in the short story?

I think the short sort of acts as a catalyst more than anything. All that eventually survived from the short story that became AWM, are the names of the main characters, and the relationships between them. The rest, just sort of drifted away to be replaced by what unfolded when I shut my eyes, and let it all happen.

So can you eventually end up with a short AND a novel with the same characters in it, or does the novel kind of eclipse the short story?

I think, in the end, the novel eclipses the short story, purely because the endings are different. But I think also they can be read exclusively too. It's only words, after all :)

To be continued . . .

ABIDE WITH ME: How I discovered my West Ham Roots

At the weekend, I had the oddest feeling.  West Ham won the play-off final at Wembley, and I was standing in front of the telly, watching the celebrations, with tears in my eyes, tingling all over.  The last time I reacted like this at the end of a football match was when my beloved Dagenham and Redbridge won the League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley, several years before.

But this was West Ham.  Where did that come from?

It got me thinking.  

I am not a West Ham supporter, although my very early years growing up in a West Ham area and have fanatical West Ham supporting cousins meant West Ham were the natural team to follow whenever they played.  My first experience of watching a football match on the telly was the 1975 FA Cup Final between West Ham and Fulham.  I remember making claret and blue paper chains, and having some recollection of watching the match.  I would have been five years old, so don't remember too much, to be honest.  When I thought about writing a book, this scene of watching the '75 Cup Final came into my head and became the essence of the opening scene of ABIDE WITH ME.

Two years after the '75 final, I was exposed to my first live game - again at Wembley.  The 1977 FA Trophy Final between Dagenham and Scarborough.  My dad worked with the Daggers midfield maestro, Joe Dunwell, and I watched us let in two goals in the last few minutes to get beat 2-1.  Yes, even by the end of the game, it was 'us'.  I distinctly remember the heartache and the disbelief..  And the Mighty Daggers have been my team ever since.

I could bore you with many, many of those 'tears in the eyes, body tingling' experiences watching the Daggers since.  But I won't.  

But why the reaction on Saturday when West Ham won?

It was obvious to me it has had something to do with writing the book.  And it didn't take long to dig deeper and find out what it was.  There is a whole chapter in ABIDE WITH ME devoted to the Hammers/Arsenal Cup Final of 1980.  The chapter is written through the eyes of the main character, John, watching from the terraces.  When I'd finished the book, and was in the initial stages of editing, my main concern wasn't the plot, or the characters, or the word-count, it was that this chapter, and all the other West Ham references in ABIDE WITH ME passed the die-hard Hammers test.  To this end, I put an invitation on various West Ham blogs and forums for die-hard Hammers to look at what I'd written, and judge it in terms of how genuine it was.  To my delight, the verdict was unanimously in favour.  Almost to a man, everyone said of the Cup Final chapter 'it was just like being there all over again' - and words to that effect.

This toe in the water began my first relationship to the members of the West Ham online fraternity which has continued through the publishing of this book to West Ham getting promoted to the Premier League a couple of days ago at Wembley.

And there have been the book signings, in which I have discovered the book is being bought almost exclusively to West Ham supporters.  I've chatted to dozens of Hammers over the last couple of months - from Basildon to Walthamstow, Romford to Newham - and had the best time of my life.  And I have found them to be decent, articulate, funny, passionate people with claret and blue running through their very veins.  I have met Phil Whelans from the brilliant STOP! HAMMERTIME podcast, I have met Robert Banks, author of the seminal Hammer's book 'An Irrational Hatred of Luton', I've chatted online with Jeremy Nicholas - legendary stadium announcer at the Boleyn Ground.  I have met an elderly woman at the Newham book signing on the way to the Brighton game, who gave me a detailed tactical lesson on why Sam Allardyce was not the right man for the job, after which she informed me she was off to buy some new knickers. 

You see, this football lark, it never is about the team or the division, or the result even.  It is only ever about the golden thread - in this case, the claret and blue thread - that connects dispirate groups of people, tens of thousands of people, ordinary people, extraordiary people, in a common emotion.

I was going out Saturday night at the same time supporters were coming back off the trains from Wembley.  And there were blokes, mates, fathers, sons, waiting for them.  And they were hugging, and punching the air, tears in their eyes.  

Blokes.  Lads.  Geezers.  Fantastic.

Here's a bit of ABIDE WITH ME that sort of shows what I mean.  It's moments before kick off at the 1980 Cup Final.  West Ham were in the Second Division back then, and Arsenal were one of the best teams in the whole country . . .

'Brass band’s out, marchin up and down, playin brass band shit. Then they stop in the middle of the pitch, all still, and start playin Abide With Me. I quickly turn to the bottom of page two in the programme where they've writ the words, and me and Dad sing it out together. Every man around us is singin hard. All readin the words off the programme so you can tell not a fuckin one of us goes to church or nothing. But here they are. Here we are. Men. Singin for our lives.

'Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide;
When other helpers fail; and comforts flee;
Help of the helpless; O abide with me.'

I'm so choked at the end of that first verse, can't barely get through the next one what with the tears runnin down me face. Dad's the same, and for the rest of the singin, we're just holdin on to each other. Man and boy. Father and son.
 

I hope to God we win. Hope to fuckin God. Can't stand to think what it'd do to Dad if we don't. See, when you're watchin it on telly or listenin to it on the radio, you can just turn it off. Kill the feelin. But when you're here, you're part of it, and it gets so it's a part of you. And there ain't nowhere you can fuckin hide.

#
A roar goes up right round the ground, like the sound of a buildin comin down. And here they come. Looks like we lost the toss for kits cos we've come out in our away kit. All white with light blue trim. Bit poofy, but we can't do nothin about that now. Dunno why, but Arsenal's wearin their away kit an all. Yellow shirts, blue shorts. About level as far as the poofy stakes go, but I reckon we might just've nicked it.
 

Everyone's lined up, and Bonzo's takin some suited up geezer to shake hands with our lads. Paul Allen looks littler than Becky, and the Arsenal look so fuckin huge, sort of steady, like they know all they gotta do is turn up. And it ain't just me wonderin why Johnny Lyall's playin Psycho up front on his own. I mean, one up against the Arsenal. We ain't got no chance of fuckin scorin with that.

Me heart's batterin me on the inside, hurtin. And I got Dad tremblin right next to me, closer than skin.

Whistle blows.

Here we go.'

I will always be first and foremost a Dagenham supporter.  Always.  But my experience this year following West Ham - most specifically following the emotional journey the supporters have taken - has rekindled in me something of that day watching the '75 Cup Final as a littl'un.

It gets a bad press, football.  And rightly so, sometimes.  But there is nothing else in this country that unites so many people in joy, anger, resentment, disappointment, euphoria, and laughter as football.  It is the catalyst that bursts open the banks of damned up feelings and lets them come roaring to the surface, unashamed.  

And I am proud to be amongst its fraternity.

NB. The above two paragraphs apply to every team in this country, from Sunday League to the national team.  Every team except Chelsea.  Obviously.