IT'S ALMOST 2016 BABY!
It's the end if 2015! Whoop! Whoop! I love new year because it really does give us a chance to reflect on the year gone and look forward to the year ahead. 2015 wasn't the best year for me as a writer, but it's finishing on a high with all of my books doing well in the charts and having some lovely reviews. It's given me a fresh impetus for 2016 and the year that I'm really going to tackle the literary world and make my mark!
So for the year ahead my biggest goal is to get a new book deal. I had a book deal for my first two books, but I didn't manage to get one for my last two. I think in hindsight (such a lovely thing) my choice of books wasn't the best. Don't get me wrong, I love both 'This Family Life' and 'Sunday Dinners' but they weren't perhaps the best choices for getting a book deal. 'This Family Life' was a sequel and 'Sunday Dinners' didn't fit snugly enough into any genre and so neither was going to be easily published. A big part of being of author is learning from our mistakes and hopefully I've done that.
For 2016 I'm already working on my new novel and I've 'sort of' changed genres - moved a bit to the left is probably more of an accurate description. When I started writing, I always wanted to write comedy and most of my books are comedies. But with 'Happy Endings' and 'Sunday Dinners' I veered away from pure comedy and into darker more dramatic areas. I love both of those books, but the trouble with that genre of book is that they don't really fit into a specific genre. They aren't really comedies, they aren't chick lit, or pure drama, or literary fiction or, well, let's just say they're books about love, life and all the bits in-between. What I've always wanted to write is a pure out and out romantic comedy. My next book is going to be just that.
I think I've tackled love in all of my books, but I've never done new love. In 'This Thirtysomething Life' and 'This Family Life' they were about a married couple. 'Happy Endings' was about couples that were already together. 'Sunday Dinners' was about a family and a thirty-year-old marriage. I've never done 'The Rom-Com'. So when I started thinking about my new novel, I knew I wanted to write a romantic comedy in the purest sense of the word. I even did a lot of research about writing romantic comedies and watched, read and completely immersed myself in the genre - I know, tough work! I learnt a lot and now I'm writing my rom-com, I'm really, truly excited about it.
The genre of the rom-com has taken a bit of a bashing in recent years and I think a lot of that comes down to a bunch of poorly written, cliché laden, badly plotted books and films that forgot the two main concepts of romantic comedies. You have to have comedy and romance. If it isn't funny it isn't a rom-com. If it isn't romantic it isn't a rom-com. I've watched so many rom-com films that are just blah. You can re-invent the genre while sticking to the main rules, which is what I'm hoping to do. An original story, with real characters that's hilarious, heart-warming and feels fresh and new. It's about the voice, the characters and the story. I want to bring something new to the genre. Something different that I only I can do.
For me 2016 is a year to sort of re-group and start again. I feel like I've learnt so much as a writer the past three years and from all of my books. I want to gather all of that together and produce a book that's going to take me to the next level. I'm going to work harder than I've ever worked before to make sure that my next book is the very best thing I've ever written. So far it's going really well. The first draft is exactly what I wanted it to be. It feels fresh and exciting. The characters are wonderfully flawed and funny. The plot is really new and the story is one that I don't think's been done before. I'm really excited for the new year and to get another book out there - hopefully with a new publisher!
Thanks so much to everyone's who helped me in 2015 and to everyone who's bought my books. I really love what I do, but without readers I couldn't do it. A happy new year to you all!
Big love,
Jon X
So for the year ahead my biggest goal is to get a new book deal. I had a book deal for my first two books, but I didn't manage to get one for my last two. I think in hindsight (such a lovely thing) my choice of books wasn't the best. Don't get me wrong, I love both 'This Family Life' and 'Sunday Dinners' but they weren't perhaps the best choices for getting a book deal. 'This Family Life' was a sequel and 'Sunday Dinners' didn't fit snugly enough into any genre and so neither was going to be easily published. A big part of being of author is learning from our mistakes and hopefully I've done that.
For 2016 I'm already working on my new novel and I've 'sort of' changed genres - moved a bit to the left is probably more of an accurate description. When I started writing, I always wanted to write comedy and most of my books are comedies. But with 'Happy Endings' and 'Sunday Dinners' I veered away from pure comedy and into darker more dramatic areas. I love both of those books, but the trouble with that genre of book is that they don't really fit into a specific genre. They aren't really comedies, they aren't chick lit, or pure drama, or literary fiction or, well, let's just say they're books about love, life and all the bits in-between. What I've always wanted to write is a pure out and out romantic comedy. My next book is going to be just that.
I think I've tackled love in all of my books, but I've never done new love. In 'This Thirtysomething Life' and 'This Family Life' they were about a married couple. 'Happy Endings' was about couples that were already together. 'Sunday Dinners' was about a family and a thirty-year-old marriage. I've never done 'The Rom-Com'. So when I started thinking about my new novel, I knew I wanted to write a romantic comedy in the purest sense of the word. I even did a lot of research about writing romantic comedies and watched, read and completely immersed myself in the genre - I know, tough work! I learnt a lot and now I'm writing my rom-com, I'm really, truly excited about it.
The genre of the rom-com has taken a bit of a bashing in recent years and I think a lot of that comes down to a bunch of poorly written, cliché laden, badly plotted books and films that forgot the two main concepts of romantic comedies. You have to have comedy and romance. If it isn't funny it isn't a rom-com. If it isn't romantic it isn't a rom-com. I've watched so many rom-com films that are just blah. You can re-invent the genre while sticking to the main rules, which is what I'm hoping to do. An original story, with real characters that's hilarious, heart-warming and feels fresh and new. It's about the voice, the characters and the story. I want to bring something new to the genre. Something different that I only I can do.
For me 2016 is a year to sort of re-group and start again. I feel like I've learnt so much as a writer the past three years and from all of my books. I want to gather all of that together and produce a book that's going to take me to the next level. I'm going to work harder than I've ever worked before to make sure that my next book is the very best thing I've ever written. So far it's going really well. The first draft is exactly what I wanted it to be. It feels fresh and exciting. The characters are wonderfully flawed and funny. The plot is really new and the story is one that I don't think's been done before. I'm really excited for the new year and to get another book out there - hopefully with a new publisher!
Thanks so much to everyone's who helped me in 2015 and to everyone who's bought my books. I really love what I do, but without readers I couldn't do it. A happy new year to you all!
Big love,
Jon X
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