Jon Blake's Blog - Posts Tagged "humour"
Snails and Lovers, 69ers etc
Had my favourite anxiety dream last night - just about to go on stage, realise I don't know any of the lines. Could be a metaphor for life. It took me back to 1969, appearing as Peer Gynt in the King Edward VI school play, experiencing massive anxiety but coming through, something I'm very proud of. A few months later I was standing next to Dylan at the IOW festival, an experience I put to good use over 40 years later in writing the adult novel 69ers, about which reviewers have been so kind.
I used a pic of me as Peer Gynt for the front cover of my e-book Snails and Lovers (can't afford to pay illustrators to do these!). The book was originally entitled Geoffrey's First - its failure to sell in huge quantities was a great blow to me, but maybe if it had done, I wouldn't have bothered to write 50 more! I do hope people who enjoyed The Last Free Cat will give it a read. It's a rather less mature work, but with many more jokes, and I do think its evocation of a teenage relationship stands the test of time. Kim, the female lead, is probably one of my best creations: the real-life Kim is now a professor in Sheffield and a leading campaigner for gender equality (in the academic sense of campaigning, not the type which gets you locked up).
I once got a fan letter from Tasmania about Geoffrey's First, telling me I'd written a really great book. I'm ashamed to say I never replied to it. Not taking enough care to build links with my fans has, I'm sure, contributed to my becoming less successful than expected, but I've always appreciated readers' feedback and will make very sure you know it nowadays!
I used a pic of me as Peer Gynt for the front cover of my e-book Snails and Lovers (can't afford to pay illustrators to do these!). The book was originally entitled Geoffrey's First - its failure to sell in huge quantities was a great blow to me, but maybe if it had done, I wouldn't have bothered to write 50 more! I do hope people who enjoyed The Last Free Cat will give it a read. It's a rather less mature work, but with many more jokes, and I do think its evocation of a teenage relationship stands the test of time. Kim, the female lead, is probably one of my best creations: the real-life Kim is now a professor in Sheffield and a leading campaigner for gender equality (in the academic sense of campaigning, not the type which gets you locked up).
I once got a fan letter from Tasmania about Geoffrey's First, telling me I'd written a really great book. I'm ashamed to say I never replied to it. Not taking enough care to build links with my fans has, I'm sure, contributed to my becoming less successful than expected, but I've always appreciated readers' feedback and will make very sure you know it nowadays!
A surprise from the libraries
Every year about this time I get my Public Lending Right payment from UK libraries, which gives me a good idea which of my books are the most popular. Much to my surprise the runaway winner this year was Peace And Love At The House of Fun, borrowed over twice as many times as Daley B or The Last Free Cat. This was kind of poignant, as this was the book which Hodder's marketing team decided to rebrand halfway through publication, so that there are copies called by the original title beside copies called Stinky Finger's Peace and Love Thing. Hodder made the change because they didn't think the series was selling enough to justify their outlay: the first book sold about 20,000, the rest all about 10,000. Sales dipped following their rebranding (which was probably inspired by the success of the lamentable Horrid Henry series, with which they tried to compare my books in publicity), and the series was ended after one more volume.
Perhaps as a result of this, I've always considered Peace and Love possibly the weakest book in the series, but seeing its popularity in libraries I reread it and was pleasantly surprised how much good stuff it contained, the kind of stuff which (with all due modesty), David Walliams could not write in his wildest dreams. The quality of the book, however, will mean nothing to the publishers of today, who more than ever are ruled by the pitiless test of sales - despite the countless examples of songs which fail to chart, appear in an ad, then go to number 1.
I have one ambition for the series now, and that is to get my rights back from Hodder and republish, possibly in e-book format, still hopefully with David Roberts' illustrations (luckily he's one of the biggest fans of the books). In the meantime please look out Peace and Love and let me know if you think my opinion of it should be lowered!
Perhaps as a result of this, I've always considered Peace and Love possibly the weakest book in the series, but seeing its popularity in libraries I reread it and was pleasantly surprised how much good stuff it contained, the kind of stuff which (with all due modesty), David Walliams could not write in his wildest dreams. The quality of the book, however, will mean nothing to the publishers of today, who more than ever are ruled by the pitiless test of sales - despite the countless examples of songs which fail to chart, appear in an ad, then go to number 1.
I have one ambition for the series now, and that is to get my rights back from Hodder and republish, possibly in e-book format, still hopefully with David Roberts' illustrations (luckily he's one of the biggest fans of the books). In the meantime please look out Peace and Love and let me know if you think my opinion of it should be lowered!
Thimble shortlisted for Lollies!
Thimble Monkey Superstar has been shortlisted for the 2017 Lollies (Laugh Out Loud awards). This is quite achievement for a book published by small Cardiff publishers Firefly Press, and for a writer who many people seem to have forgotten! One reason this has happened is that there was a period of several years when I hardly wrote anything while raising my young son Jordi, who has cerebral palsy. Now an outstanding young writer in his own right, Jordi is the model for Jams, hero of the book. I'm not sure if Thimble is the first chidren's book with a CP narrator to be shortlisted for a major award, but hopefully he won't be the last! We do need votes however - the Lollies are decided by popular vote, and (not unusually in this day and age) I am up against celebs! For more about the book, and links to where you can vote, go to my website at www.jonblake.co.uk.
