Nigel Jay Cooper's Blog, page 2
October 10, 2021
World Mental Health Day – some thoughts
It’s #WorldMentalHealthDay… so I don’t know who needs to hear this, but give yourself a break, you’re doing brilliantly.
I was beating myself up earlier because I’m reading quite slowly at the moment… I’m only managing to read about a book a month (if that). As an author, you’re constantly told you’re failing if you aren’t inhaling 752 novels a second, hoovering up every zeitgeist, everyone in your genre and every other genre to boot. If you’re not reading everyone, all the time, how can you ...
October 8, 2021
Uboxing video: new covers
In preparation for my third novel ‘Life, Slightly’ (which will be available for pre-order soon), the covers of my first two books Beat The Rain and The Pursuit of Ordinary have been revised so they all work together.
This is the first time I’ve seen them in the flesh! They’re beautiful, absolutely beautiful. So happy. 
Beat The Rain is a slightly adjusted version of its original cover, while The Pursuit of Ordinary is a completely new cover.
Can’t wait to show you the cover of Life, ...
September 2, 2021
Beat The Rain, a reading
I’ve decided to experiment with doing a few readings to camera from my first two novels, in preparation for some wider marketing and publicity for my third novel when it becomes available for pre-order next month.
Honestly, I’m really nervous about doing it but really what’s the worst that can happen? You either won’t watch or won’t like it – but some of you might.
This excerpt is a character in Beat The Rain who knows they’re about to die.
These passages are ...
Reading, Beat The Rain
A reading from Beat The Rain. If I’m honest, all this did was confirm to me that I’m not going to feature in future readings/excerpts as I literally can’t watch myself back because it makes me cringe :D … in future, I think I’ll use pretty background and the words instead of my face.
Note: this excerpt is from the interludes of Beat The Rain where an as-yet-unnamed character muses on their life and imminent death. There are probably happier or funnier excerpts I could have chosen but I’ve alw...
May 10, 2021
What good is perfection, anyway?
As it’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek I thought I’d say a few words about my 2nd novel, The Pursuit of Ordinary.
The main character, Dan, has a range of mental health diagnoses, starting with bulimia through to (but not limited to) depersonalisation disorder. This is all before he begins hearing a voice – Joe – in his head.
In short, he has *a lot* going on.
I took the mental health aspects of the novel incredibly seriously. I did a lot of research. One of the main...
April 10, 2021
How I destroyed ‘Other People’s Lies’ to create something better
Some of you may remember I finished my third novel – provisionally called Other People’s Lies back then – last year. Roundfire Books (who published my first two novels) offered me a contract for it, which I was obviously over the moon about… but.
The book wasn’t sitting right with me. Niggles. Endless, irritating niggles in my mind that wouldn’t go away.
It was good, it had elements I was happy with. I’d had an offer from a publish...
February 25, 2021
Writing, publishing deals and (possibly) going crazy
Some of you may remember I finished my third novel – provisionally called Other People’s Lies back then – last year. Roundfire Books (who trad published my first two novels) offered me a contract for it, which I was obviously over the moon about… but. Niggles. Endless, irritating niggles in my mind that wouldn’t go away.
The book wasn’t sitting right with me. It was good, it had elements I was happy with. I’d had an offer from a publisher, I s...
August 28, 2020
Toads don’t wear tutus
Mrs. Toad wants to be a ballet dancer but is, by her nature, ugly. Dr. Otter has refused to work on her no less that seven times:
‘Insert feathers into that skin? A beak? You’ve got a family, Mrs. Toad. A wonderful husband. Go home and be thankful.’
‘But I want to be beautiful,’ she implores him.
‘You’re a toad,’ he always replies.
Back at home, she glumly watches the swans dance across the lake. Last week, she bought a pink tutu from Madame Beaudel the pussycat. Beaudel, ...
August 14, 2020
Being brutal to be kind: becoming a word slasher
Turns out I haven’t written a blog article since January 2019. I’m sure you’ve been weeping uncontrollably waiting for this update, so weep no more.
Some of you may remember I finished my third Novel – provisionally called Other People’s Lies – earlier this year. Roundfire Books (who published my first two novels) offered me a contract but I made the (probably insane) decision to decline the offer.
Bottom line, the novel in the form it was in wasn...
April 4, 2019
The Pursuit of Ordinary a finalist in The People’s Book Prize
Writing is full of ups and downs, confidence and self-doubt. If you ever want to see a writer embarrassing himself by publishing a blog article while in the ‘low, I’m a pile of shit’ stage, read my previous blog article. I’m not linking to it here for obvious reasons.
Anyway, the point is, there are ups too. Namely, the fact that my second novel The Pursuit of Ordinary is a finalist for The People’s Book Prize for Fiction.
I’m exc...
