1. Why do you write novels?

I had an idea for a story that felt like a novel, so I decided to give it a go. I’d tinkered at writing monologues, sketches and playscripts (mostly for use in my church) but didn’t know whether I could write a novel. Having done it once, and again in writing a sequel, I want to keep going. I love the way a storyline and characters take shape over time. So far in my novel writing, I’ve often not known quite where the story will lead me, but then I get to certain points where I go ‘of course, that’s where it’s going,’ and it makes so much sense. There are the times when I’ve been writing in the evening, have shutdown my computer, got ready for bed, and then I’ve had to switch it back on again to capture my next few thoughts, or scribble some notes in a notebook beside the bed. I’ve also loved it when I read back what I’ve written, as I edit my manuscript, and I find myself thinking ‘I should make sure such-and-such happens, or a particular character needs to comment on that detail,’ and then I turn the page and find that’s what I’d already written, but I’d forgotten about it.

2. Who inspired you?

I’m not sure I can name a particular person, but the inspiration for my first novel – Joe with an E – came from watching an ITV drama series called ‘Butterfly’ about a transgender teenager and her family. I imagined aloud to my family about a potential story in which it was cisgender children who were a hidden minority, struggling to gain acceptance in society.

3. What’s the essence of your style? The part, if removed, is not your voice anymore?

Blimey, these aren’t easy questions are they?

I like plenty of dialogue, so my paragraphs are generally pretty short, because of all the dialogue.

I like to think that my main characters are logical thinkers – perhaps with a hint of my engineering, problem solving brain.

I’ve had fun playing with different perspectives in my writing – first person, third person, extracts from a logbook, transcripts from courtroom scenes. I guess that part of my style is to approach a story from different angles. I don’t think I’d enjoy so much writing a story which was all written from one character’s point of view.

4. What was your dance-around-the-kitchen moment in writing?

Getting an enthusiastic ‘yes’ from Andy Thornton, the illustrator who designed the beautiful cover for Joe with an E. I’d come across Andy at Greenbelt Festival in August 2023, where he ran a session called ‘Transgender 101’ – educating people on trans terminology and how to best be a trans-ally. I was impressed with his wisdom and common-sense approach. I didn’t know at the time that he was a freelance illustrator, but knew I needed to approach him about reading Joe with an E – I’d not had much success in finding trans or nonbinary folk who were willing to read all of my unpublished novel, I felt that I had a good story, but was also worried about inadvertently offending the very people I wanted to be an ally to in my writing. I’d also had people question my motives in writing the story (as a straight, cis man) – generally just people who were themselves straight and cis. I’d looked into paying for a professional sensitivity reader, but that’s hugely expensive for a not-yet-published-or-agented writer who isn’t sure whether their book has the potential to ever go anywhere.

I didn’t talk with Andy about my book whilst at the festival, but looked him up when I got home and saw that he was both an EDI consultant and an Illustrator. I loved the style of some of his artwork, so sent him an email with the first few chapters of Joe with an E, asking whether he’d consider doing the cover artwork and asking how much he charged. It took a few weeks and a follow-up email before he responded, but when he did, that was the dance-around-the-kitchen moment – that he’d said yes, and that he loved the concept of my book and what he’d read from the chapters I’d sent him. In the end, Andy not only designed a beautiful cover but also did a sensitivity read of the rest of the novel and drew out lots of positive things from it which I hadn’t been particularly aware were already in there.

Getting affirmation from the right people is so important. I had a similar moment of joy when award-winning LGBTQ+ author, Sarah Hagger-Holt agreed to read Joe with an E, with a view to giving me a quote I could use, and then came back to me having read it saying that she’d found the concept so original and so gripping that she couldn’t get it out of her head – what an endorsement!

5. What do you want to accomplish in your writing career?

This is where I should be all modest and self-deprecating and say something like ‘I just want to keep on writing and enjoying the process of writing’. But to be honest, I want to share what I’ve written with others, because if I enjoy writing, and then reading what I’ve written, I hope that others will too, and there is no better feeling in writing than having others tell you that they’ve enjoyed reading your story.

So I want to keep writing things that others enjoy reading, and get it out to as wide a readership as I can.

6. Can you ever envisage not writing novels - running out of ideas or energy?

No, I want to keep on writing, so I think I will. I write quite quickly when I have the opportunity to, but fitting it around my day job and other commitments, it’s by no means a quick process to complete a novel. Therefore, for as long as I am not in a position to write full-time (which I’d love to do if I could get it to earn me enough), I think I’ve got enough in my head to keep me going. I feel there’s probably at least one more book in the Joe with an E series – either another sequel (to make it a trilogy) or a prequel, or possibly both. I also have six chapters of something completely different – set in a school and with environmental themes – which I’d like to get back to soon and one or two other concepts bubbling around in there. So I think I have plenty to keep me going, for now at least.

7. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t become a teacher (ha, ha)!

I might advise my younger (Christian) self to be more tolerant and inclusive, but he probably wouldn’t listen to me.

Maybe it would have been good to have a go at writing a novel a few years earlier than I did – having discovered how much I enjoy it – but then I think I needed to start with the story that has become Joe with an E.

8. Away from writing, what are your passions, and what do they mean to you?

I am a Christian, although I’m not into writing ‘Christian novels’. I’m very proud of my church – the Methodist Church – that we are growing to be an increasingly inclusive church, offering same-sex weddings in church and affirming LGBTQ+ folk.

A key theme in Joe with an E is ‘Different is Good’ and the sequel to Joe with an E is called ‘Them and Us’. I’m passionate about improving inclusivity in all areas of society, embracing the rich diversity of humanity, and breaking down barriers that make us repeatedly divide ourselves into ‘them’ and ‘us’.

I’m also passionate about humanity taking the difficult decisions we need to in the next few months to make sure we don’t completely wreck our planet.

9. How would your best friend describe you?

Well, she (my wife) often says ‘you’re amazing you are’ when we talk about my writing. Which I’m glad about, because if she thought it was all a big waste of time, I’d probably not have had the energy to keep going with it. (My wife also wants to add that I can be pretty stubborn… but that that’s not always a bad thing!)

10. What’s a significant question to ask you, that no other interview has to date, and what’s the answer, only for New2theScene?

Are you optimistic about the new Labour government?

Yes, I think we should give them a chance. From what I’ve seen so far, they’re hugely better than the previous government and I’d prefer it if people didn’t keep saying ‘politicians are all the same’, and ‘they’re all in it for themselves’.

If we are to achieve a more inclusive, tolerant, richer society (not necessarily financially speaking), we need to support our government in making decisions that won’t directly benefit us as individuals and that might be difficult to swallow.

What’s that got to do with writing? Well, for someone who enjoys both reading and writing dystopian fiction, I’d prefer it to remain fiction.

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