I noticed something the other day which seems relevant to this blog. It was in my Spanish class. It’s organised by the local authority and aimed at helping immigrants fit in better to society (being an immigrant is an interesting position to be in, given how many politicians these days make their living moaning about them, but that’s a story for another day). The point is, the class is very traditional, and usually consists of the teacher teaching, and us students sitting very quietly, and in my case trying to understand, and sometimes stay awake. I’m aware it doesn’t sound a very good class, but it has one huge advantage, it’s free!
However, we’re currently practicing for an exam with a speaking test, so we each have to prepare a three-minute monologue about some aspect of life, which we then have to say in front of the whole class. Which means that, after accumulating hours of sitting almost silent with this group of people, I now have to open my mouth in front of them. And it makes me really nervous. But not just me. Even those students who seem very outgoing and extroverted (when we chat outside of class) say it scares them. And all of us make heaps of mistakes too, as we start speaking. But then, once we get going and into a rhythm, we all relax into it and it’s not so bad, and we get a lot better at the Spanish too...
And I think the same thing happens with this blog. If I leave a long gap between posting (which I often do) I start to feel that my next contribution better be something pretty special – because I’ve had all this time to come up with it, and that’s what people will expect. The problem is, I haven’t been spending that time coming up with anything special, I’ve been watching the Traitors on the BBC (have you seen it?) or thinking that I should really get around to cleaning out the garage, or wondering where my socks go, in between putting them in the wash and them (not) coming out the other end. And these aren’t special thoughts which are going to stop you in your tracks if you read them on a blog post, so I don’t say them, or indeed anything. And then the gap between postings gets longer and the pressure builds even more, so I need to come up with something even more amazing to break the silence – and so it goes on.
But also, just like in my Spanish class, once I do manage to break the silence, I soon find a bit more fluency and decide I quite like writing these posts. So this is a long-winded way to say I’m going to try and post a bit more regularly – to avoid falling into that trap. I’ll do my best to not go too far the other way, and tell you every little thing in my life. But I will keep you updated on the garage status. Currently, still a mess.
On that note(ish), this week is the sixth anniversary of the publication of The Things you find in Rockpools, and that does seem a good excuse to say something. This remains by some margin my most popular book, with close to a quarter million downloads, and quite a few more if you include the Spanish, German, Czech and Russian translations, and the audiobook versions. The protagonist, eleven-year-old Billy Wheatley is probably my favourite character to write too, and certainly the easiest, though if that’s because he’s similar to me, I’m not sure. Certainly I quite like the coincidence that my eldest child is eleven at the moment, which gives me a good opportunity to see where I got the age right, and where I got it wrong.
Anyway, the book has just ticked past 9000 reviews on Amazon, 89% of which are four or five stars, which is really amazing. I think most readers don’t fully appreciate how us writers – or at least this one – aren’t real authors, but just people who sit in their spare bedrooms and write down the stories they make up in their heads – these weird waking-dreams that appear and we do our best to sustain and capture. So for this story to reach so many people, and connect with them, really does feel quite remarkable. And it’s also true that Billy has changed my life, in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I was sat there writing it, with a pencil in my mouth and my head in the clouds. Without the relative success of Rockpools we wouldn’t have moved to Spain, and I think it’s pretty likely I’d be working in a real job back in England. So I’m incredibly grateful to him, but more-so to all those people who’ve read the Rockpool books, and recommended them to their friends. A big thank you!
And it seems a good moment to offer a special deal on the Rockpools books (although I guess I’m talking mostly to people who’ve already read them here – but maybe it’s an opportunity to recommend them?) So I’ve made the first book in the series, The Things you find in Rockpools free for next week (17th -21st February), and discounted the other books down to just 0.99 for the week too. A good moment to get involved in the series if you haven’t yet!
Get The Things you find in Rockpools FREE here on Amazon
Finally, I’m sometimes asked if there will be another book in the Rockpools series, and I usually say that I would like to write one, but I haven’t yet. The problem is that the protagonist grows up a little in each book. In the first he’s eleven, and by book four he’s a teenager at college. And given that one of the best aspects of the character is his childlike innocence – it’s gets harder to pull off, the older he gets. So the answer is I don’t know. I haven’t had the idea yet that’s going to let me write him, but I’d certainly never say never. At some point I am going to sit down and revisit the Rockpools world, in the meantime, the influence goes on, not least in the naming of this blog.
I’ll leave you with the original cover for the book – which is still my favourite but which was banned by Amazon’s over-zealous AI bots for apparently showing a scene of child torture. I later learned that even Amazon ignores the threats these bots make - in this case to send drones to close my amazon account and blow up my house - but I decided it was probably best to not get on the wrong side of AI, if you know what I mean.
Keep writing the blog, Gregg. It’s great entertainment. I am a faithful reader since day 1.
I loved the Rockpool series. Would love another adventure with Billy. But I did kind of chuckle when he was in college and drinking at clubs, as you have to be 21 to drink in bars in Massachusetts and I don't remember you mentioning he has a fake id. I am having had a hard time getting through for The Desert Run for some reason. I'm still working on it, though.