What? You Have Written a Book. McDroll, Amazon UK Best-Selling author of "Kick It" and "Kick It Again" Guest Post

[Giovanni Gelati]

What? You’ve Written a Book?

 

How long have you had the idea that one-day you would love to write a book? I think many, many people hold this ambition or so I have found anyway since I’ve let the cat out of the bag and admitted to my friends and colleagues that I’ve been lucky enough to have some of my writing published.

 

People have been astounded but usually always say how much they would like to be able to write a book but then quickly qualify this by saying that they don’t have the time just now. Friends also wonder how I’ve actually had the time to write because they know that my ‘real’ job is pretty all consuming (I’m a primary school head teacher) and that I have two children who keep me busy most nights driving them around the countryside to their various clubs and classes.

 

Most people consider ‘writing the book’ is something they will tackle when they retire, when they have quality time to kick back and come up with that fantastic idea for a novel. This is all a bit of a giveaway though I think, and my prediction is that these people will never actually write the novel, they will always find some excuse for it ‘not being the right time’.

 

My friend and colleague Jay summed this up nicely for me when he explained that if people really want to do something, if they have that burning desire, then they will do it, busy or not. I agree with him because writing to me isn’t a chore, it’s a pleasure, it’s a burning desire, it’s an escape and it is totally fulfilling.

 

I can’t imagine not writing. I write because I want to but also because I have to. If you think writing would be a chore then you are never going to write the novel, much the same as I am never going to play the piano no matter how often I say that I wish I could.

 

I’ve now had three collections of short stories published with Trestle and it’s just been a fabulous experience. What a kick it is to see your book on sale on Amazon and to have people tell you how much they have enjoyed reading your stories.

 

My first publication KICK IT is a collection of crime/noir tales with a Scottish twist. Three of the stories are about a character called Gemma Dixon whom I just love writing about. She’s everything that I’d love to be; brave, bolshie and sure of herself. As a young CID officer, Gemma finds herself in all sorts of scrapes and not only has to deal with criminals but also has to defend herself against colleagues who think that she’s green behind the ears and as a woman, pretty useless in a man’s world. She soon puts them right about those misconceptions.

 

My second collection, KICK IT AGAIN, has a mixture of crime and emotional noir. I want you to really feel the pain of the characters that I write about and to understand what pushes ordinary people into carrying out extraordinary and often violent actions.

 

I do hope you will take a look at my stories and if you do, please leave me a comment on twitter where you will find me @mcdroll. Here’s to lots of success for Trestle Press writers over the Christmas period and into 2012!