Jon Blake's Blog - Posts Tagged "last-free-cat"
Last Free Cat in the USA
"The Last Free Cat" is due to be published on September 1st in the USA. This is really important to me, since the book was not greatly promoted in the UK and has only now begun to get the recognition which, with all due modesty, I have always believed it deserved. I read all the reviews on Goodreads and am profoundly grateful that readers have taken the trouble to write them. The book was written with a passion, not only for cats but for justice, and I cannot overstate how crucial it is for me to find that it has touched or inspired people.
I haven't written another book like "The Last Free Cat", but here are some I would like to humbly recommend to those who liked it:
"Oshie" - a short book for juniors whose hero has cerebral palsy.
"The True Beautiful Game" - a novella for teenagers about a snooker-mad boy meeting his long-lost father.
"Geoffrey's First" - a novel for older teens about the coming-of-age of an arrogant misfit.
"The King of Rock and Roll" - an empowering fantasy for juniors.
You may struggle to find some of these due to the short shelf life of books these days, but I am considering converting the best of my backlist to ebooks shortly.
I haven't written another book like "The Last Free Cat", but here are some I would like to humbly recommend to those who liked it:
"Oshie" - a short book for juniors whose hero has cerebral palsy.
"The True Beautiful Game" - a novella for teenagers about a snooker-mad boy meeting his long-lost father.
"Geoffrey's First" - a novel for older teens about the coming-of-age of an arrogant misfit.
"The King of Rock and Roll" - an empowering fantasy for juniors.
You may struggle to find some of these due to the short shelf life of books these days, but I am considering converting the best of my backlist to ebooks shortly.
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!
I do not live in England
I've just had to correct a Google Books profile of me which asserted, without apparent evidence, that I live in England. There have also been a few reviews of The Last Free Cat, similarly, that claim my YA novel is set in England. And funny enough, we did a house swap with a US expat in Bavaria last year, and saw on her calendar the word ENGLAND! over the dates she was to be in our house.
All of this perhaps stems from the illusion, particularly common in the USA, that the names "England" and "Britain" are interchangeable. This is not the case. England is one nation in a group of nations which make up the nation of Great Britain, the others being (contentiously) Northern Ireland, (possibly not for much longer) Scotland, and the country in which I live, Wales. Wales has only partial sovereignity through a devolved national assembly; while the Welsh are highly unlikely to vote for total independence, no-one questions the fact that Wales is a bona fide nation, with, besides anything else, its own language, increasingly popular as the medium by which children in Wales are educated.
I am emphatically not a Welsh nationalist. I came to live in South Wales over a quarter century ago largely because of the area's internationalist and socialist traditions, which sadly have withered with the destruction of the coal and steel industries. But I certainly do love living in Cardiff, and am annoyed as anyone when Wales is marginalised or patronised.
The landscape of The Last Free Cat almost entirely derives from Wales. But I rarely use specific places in my stories, which perhaps explains why I am less well known here than literary figures who have sold a lot less books. Then again, I'd never call myself a Welsh writer. Anyone who reads '69ers' will be well aware of my origins. But just to make it doubly clear, I do not live in England now!
All of this perhaps stems from the illusion, particularly common in the USA, that the names "England" and "Britain" are interchangeable. This is not the case. England is one nation in a group of nations which make up the nation of Great Britain, the others being (contentiously) Northern Ireland, (possibly not for much longer) Scotland, and the country in which I live, Wales. Wales has only partial sovereignity through a devolved national assembly; while the Welsh are highly unlikely to vote for total independence, no-one questions the fact that Wales is a bona fide nation, with, besides anything else, its own language, increasingly popular as the medium by which children in Wales are educated.
I am emphatically not a Welsh nationalist. I came to live in South Wales over a quarter century ago largely because of the area's internationalist and socialist traditions, which sadly have withered with the destruction of the coal and steel industries. But I certainly do love living in Cardiff, and am annoyed as anyone when Wales is marginalised or patronised.
The landscape of The Last Free Cat almost entirely derives from Wales. But I rarely use specific places in my stories, which perhaps explains why I am less well known here than literary figures who have sold a lot less books. Then again, I'd never call myself a Welsh writer. Anyone who reads '69ers' will be well aware of my origins. But just to make it doubly clear, I do not live in England now!
40 years on, not yet gone
Those who have enjoyed 69ers will have read (in the opening chapter) a fictionalised recreation of my experiences in an early 70s progressive rock band, struggling to emulate Yes, ELP etc around the church halls and pubs of Southampton. Since that time I ran the gamut of musical styles in a variety of bands – West Coast, punk, folk/world music, new wave, pfunk, acoustic duo, playing on through heart failure and the grim struggle to survive as a writer before finally giving up the boards around the time my son was born in 2007. By then I’d probably written a hundred songs, the best of which came late on, in my forties. Apart from the Adamsdown Song and Adamsdown Sings projects (google for details), I thought my playing days were over. However, two events this year changed my mind. The first was seeing Leonard Cohen performing at 78 with more vivacity than a lot of those acts at the IOW in 1969. The second was being asked to perform at a gay wedding. I’m not known as a great fan of the institution of marriage, but I knew how much this meant to my ex, so prepared a couple of songs. When I took to the mike I was surprised to find my 3 year old and six year old had spontaneously decided to perform with me. It was a great experience. I looked again at my song catalogue and thought, bloody hell, why have I never really done anything with this stuff? I am known for being fairly good with words: I also have tunes and a weight of experience. So I really hope you, dear reader, will check out what is at my music site and if you like it spread the word. My first gig is on November 22nd and hopefully there will be many more to come, health permitting. Bookings welcome!
