Dare to Page Jump!

Page Jump!

I've never been an adrenaline junky.  I like the ground under my feet and the sky above me.

Years ago, when I had the opportunity to do a bungee jump I considered it for about three seconds, then decided it wasn't for me. The thought of two weeks of anxiety in the run up to doing the jump followed by sixty seconds of euphoric relief didn't seem to add up. Why? Because I could imagine how what it might be like, hear the rush of wind through my ears, feel the uncomfortable build up of pressure behind my eyes.

Yes, the actual event wouldn't be quite the same as I imagined it, but anyone who writes, or draws, or does something creative will have one thing in common - a fertile imagination. So I could also imagine my feet ripping from my ankle sockets, the rope snapping and my skull compressing into the soft matter that was once my brain as I hit the ground below me.

Too many variables, too much imagination. Or maybe you'd call it cowardice. Either way it means I'm not the sort who seeks out thrills, puts my body in harms way to get the blood pumping through it.

But that's not entirely true. My brain does seek those thrills, especially when I'm writing. I've noticed a growing obsession, a self-destructive streak in my storytelling that I've called 'Page Jumping'.

The first time it happened I had two characters from my début novel, Sorrowline, trapped in a room at the top of a hotel. My original plan was that they would sneak out of an unlocked door and make good their escape. But as I started writing it down the door became locked! Then the characters barricaded the door and set fire to the room. What were my characters doing? What was I doing? There was no way out, not that I could see, not that I had planned. I'd page jumped. I'd thrown myself off the edge of my planned narrative and didn't know what I was going to do next - didn't know where or how I'd land.

I could have deleted the few pages of chaos, gone back to my plan, but I chose to run with it and see if a parachute would open. During the night my sub-concious (who I believe knows exactly what he's doing, and likes to mess with me) offered up a solution that had been foreshadowed a few chapters earlier. Spookily it all fitted into place. My narrative parachute had opened, but not before everyone, including me, had bricked themselves wondering what was going to happen next. And if the writer doesn't know how to get out of a situation there's a good chance the reader won't see it coming either.

And its not just me that seeks the creative thrills of page jumping. Tony Jordan, creator of Hustle and co-creator of Life on Mars, discusses this very point:

The more I've page jumped the more addicted to it I've become. Its not always worked out, but in most cases its added an unexpected richness to my work. Its not for the faint hearted or the obsessive planners, but if you've not tried it yet - go for it! Page jump!

Pre-Order listing

 Sorrowline pre-order on Amazon.co.ukToday I discovered my debut novel, Sorrowline, listed on Amazon's UK site, thanks to a nod from Curtis Jobling. It's really exciting to see it 'out there' for pre-order.

This is quite a surreal moment in my adventure to eventual publication, all the more strange as I'm still editing the final manuscript, and the book cover is only in the very early design stages. And yet, if you really want to, you can place an order for the book now, a full nine months before its official publication date - which appears to be the 3rd of January.

So, like many other excitable authors before me, I hit the purchase button! Yes, it makes no sense. I'll get some complimentary copies eventually, but it was something I just had to do. And when the wintery day comes that I see a physical copy in a bookstore I'll do exactly the same again and walk out of the shop a very happy man, like a slightly younger, less successful version of this well known writer:

"My name? Yes, its N M Bushnell."

Getting Published - part 1

So, I promised I'd do some blog posts about how I got published. Well, ok, but this could take a while.

I've always wanted to write a novel. I think everyone does. Its one of those things that, if we just had the time, if we could just focus, we could get that brilliant idea down and get it done. That's how it was for me.

I'd tried a few times before, only ever getting as far as 30 pages before self-doubt caught up with me. I couldn't write a novel and it was silly of me to think I could. I had a grade B 'O' Level in English, and a CSE grade 1 in English Literature. I'd never been to University, I didn't know any authors and there was no way I could ever hope to be one.

But the dream persisted.

For years I did nothing about it, but gradually I started to write more and more. At first it was TV and radio scripts: the length was less daunting, only 30 pages for a half hour script. I could manage that, just about. Doing a few of those gave me confidence, and I hammered out a couple of 60 minute scripts for TV pilots that no one has yet to pick up. But the lack of success didn't seem to matter, I was enjoying learning, trying to get better.

But I still thought I'd never manage to focus on writing a book. I decided I needed help, and I turned to Stephen King. At this stage I'd never even read one of his books, (I know!). When I grew up I was into comics and heavy sci-fi. Horror didn't really appear on my radar. But for whatever reason I picked up a copy of his book, 'On Writing'. I took it on holiday with me to Scotland and devoured its contents.

Suddenly I saw what I was doing wrong, I understood why every attempt to write a book had stalled and died. It came down to one fundamental secret that King understood: fear and self-doubt dog us all, writers even more so. Once you've started a book you cannot look back for a moment or the Devil of Doubt will catch up with you and whisper thoughts of despair into your ears.

King taught me this: write every day, read every day. Like the best scientific formula its elegantly simple.

I came back from the Highlands fired up, determined to try again. I committed to writing every day, and reading every day, and I swore I would not look over my shoulder at my work-in-progress. I would keep ahead of the devil.

The next day I began to write up an idea I'd started about 6 months before. As usual I'd done a few brief chapters and lost my way. I took this germ of the idea and started again.

To be continued...

Announcing Sorrowline

Finally, after a busy, brief few months that have felt like an eternity I can finally shout about my brilliant two book deal with Andersen Press. Here is the press release:

Andersen Press Have Bought Rights In Two Children's Novels, Sorrowline And Timesmith, By Debut Writer Niel Bushnell

Andersen Press have bought rights in two children's novels, SORROWLINE and TIMESMITH, by debut writer Niel Bushnell. Both are about Jack Morrow, a boy who discovers that he can time travel through the 'sorrowlines' - lines that connect every grave to the day of that person's death.Editorial director Charlie Sheppard bought UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Juliet Mushens at Peters Fraser & Dunlop.
Charlie Sheppard said, 'I'm thrilled to be publishing these books. I haven't read anything so original in quite some time and Niel is a great addition to the growing Andersen Fiction list.'
Juliet Mushens said, 'The books are incredibly atmospheric and exciting - Niel Bushnell is a brilliant new writer and SORROWLINE is just the start of a great career.'
German language rights have already sold to Heyne in a two-book pre-empt.
Andersen Press plan to publish SORROWLINE in 2013.

And here is a little bit of blurb:

The past is not a frozen place. Graveyards are not dead ends. And if the Sorrowline lets you in there is a hidden world of adventure waiting behind every gravestone.  

Just when 12-year-old Jack Morrow’s life is falling apart he discovers his natural ability to travel through Sorrowlines: channels that connect every gravestone with the date of the person’s death.  Confused and alone Jack finds himself in 1940. He embarks on an adventure through London during the Blitz with Davy, his teenage grandfather, to find a mystical Rose that might just save his mother’s life, a mother who he has already seen die. But the terrible power of the Rose of Annwn, is sought by many, and the forces of a secret world are determined to find it first. With a league of Undead Knights of his trail, commanded by the immortal Rouland, can Jack decipher the dark secret hidden at the heart of his family? Can he change his own destiny and save his mother?  

Prophecy and history collide in this epic new children’s fantasy adventure series.

Its great to finally see this out there. Sorrowline is no longer something that exists just inside my shinny head. Soon it will be on someones bookshelf, (at least that's the hope. I have visions of an Alan Partridge style visit to the pulpers.)

I'll be back shortly with more updates - and a bit more on the process that got me from the slush pile to publication.

Draft 6 finished!

So is the draft 5 or 6? Or maybe 4 or 7? I've lost track, whatever number it is its been quite the overhaul. The first 80 pages have been beaten mercilessly into shape, and the rest has had some weighty re-tuning. The word count has dropped from 71k to just under 62k, but I don't think I've lost anything essential. I hope it all still hangs together.

This is the Readability Stats from Word. It puts the readership level at grade 4, which is 8-10 year olds. This is pretty much spot on for where I wanted to be. I think its a book for 9 and over, with plenty of overspill into the teen and YA market.

Northern Writers Awards - application posted

I've sent in an application to the Northern Writers' Awards 2011. I've put Sorrowline in for the Northern Promise Awards.

NORTHERN PROMISE AWARDS
These awards aim to provide support for new writers whose work shows particular promise. Writers awarded support under this category may also be offered mentoring to develop their work, detailed manuscript appraisal and feedback alongside a financial award.

Change of title - The Timesmith Chronicles

Met up with Curtis Jobling last night for a curry. He was up in Saltburn doing another school project.We spent the night talking books, especially about his imminent launch in January. We also discussed Yard Boy and he pointed out how the title reminded him of Yardies -

During the 1950s, the British Government encouraged immigration to the country to fill existing job vacancies. Within the Caribbean community, new arrivals from Jamaica were sometimes referred to as "Yardies" due to their perceived lower financial status, though the term could also be applied with nostalgic affection. In the following years, gang violence or behaviour on the part of Jamaicans became known in wider British society as "Yardie culture" and the participants "Yardies". The terms "Yardie gang" or "Yardie gun violence" were largely used by the British media to described violent crimes in London's black community. The gangs in London are specifically known to have occupied and operated in their infamous grounds of Brixton, Harlesden, Stonebridge, Hackney and Tottenham.

I'd never really considered this, but of course first impressions really count. I was aware that a Yard Boy in America is someone who cleans out your yard or garden.

I told him that it was part of the Timesmith Trilogy, something he really liked. He suggested using that up front, and have the title as the secondary line. He suggested The Timesmith Chronicles, and I suggested Sorrowline.

So its not Yard Boy any more, its The Timesmith Chronicles, Book One, Sorrowline. Sounds good. Yard boy will still be used inside the book, but not as the title.