A Thousand Miles From Nowhere-third edition on Amazon
















A THOUSAND MILES FROM NOWHERE


"I looked at him with a mix of curiosity and disdain.
His eyes would change from a beautiful gold to sudden deep dark empty pools, devoid of emotion.
His skin was deathly pale, his body achingly thin, almost emaciated.
He must have once been attractive, before the drugs brutalised his body.
He was the dealer, the pusher man.
Both loved and loathed by all those who knew him.
I felt a moment of fear and foreboding in the pit of my belly; did I really want to do this?"

Hmm, I have to admit to liking the above extract from my book (though why I should have to ‘admit´ to liking any of my own writing is a bit beyond me -must be my ‘Englishness’!) The Novel also has me laugh out loud at times (Yes Goddammit! laughing at my own book!) the rather ironic dry British humour as well as some silly parts, not remotely sophisticated humour, just damn right silly but again I digress; here we are back to the same novel and third edition, and why I hear some of you asking, would you publish your own novel three times in a row?
I first self -published on Amazon as an E-book only: This was a highly liberating experience, no matter what the outcome, just the mere fact of getting one’s writing out there for the world to see whether it be five, fifty or five hundred readers, it’s a positive step and an achievement.
It also gave me the chance to receive constructive criticism and the chance to improve on both this novel and future writing.
I then made contact with a small independent publisher who gave me the opportunity to reach a wider audience whilst also helping me make improvements to the original manuscript. On the publisher’s advice I changed the original ending to one that was slightly more romantic and ‘happier’, something that never felt a hundred percent right for me. The novel was marketed as a memoir, due to its high autobiographical content-this too was a mistake in hindsight on both our parts. So, despite having started other novels, written articles and poems, I haven’t truly been able to move on with my writing whilst ‘A Thousand Miles From Nowhere’ remained ‘unfinished’ in my mind, after so much hard work too.
So this leads us to what will be the third and final edition of my debut novel with a new cover and back to the original and more fitting ending (in my opinion at least). It is also now in the ‘Fiction’ category which again I feel is a better move- I know what is real (quite a lot!) as do those featured in the story but it was never written as a ‘memoir’ and was never in chronological order. I’d much rather leave it to the reader to wonder what is real and what is not (if really that was ever important to the reader in the first place) and ultimately just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Perhaps now, after this final edition I can breathe a sigh of relief and move on. It’s high time I get back to writing and take up where I left off on my works in progress whilst continuing to improve until hopefully one day I produce something completely different and better still…

A journey of experimentation and sexual awakening set in Spain.

Saffron, a young twenty something, leaves behind the grey skies of the UK to embark on a road trip. Her mission: to blot out the pain of a devastating love affair. She encounters a country still in the grip of those first heady years of freedom, a fledgling democracy in place and where the peseta still reigned supreme.
What ensues is a journey of hedonism and excitement as Saffron embarks on a series of affairs and dangerous relationships.
From travelling Rock bands to polygamists and conmen on the run, nothing is ever what it seems.
Despite her intentions to 'Find herself' she is drawn instead to some less salubrious characters as well as certain mind altering substances that do little to clarify her thought patterns.
An attempt to open the doors of perception gives us a bizarre glimpse into the world of hallucinogens in a place aptly named 'Sodom and Gomorrah.'
No matter the twists and turns the story takes: travel, adventure, drugs, sex and passion; at its core is the absence of the one person who pushes the story to the end.

Love, loss, friendship and tears; from moments of darkness to laughter and comical encounters; Saffron eventually realises there is one person you cannot escape from; yourself.

Post a Comment

1 Comments