The Ballad of Bono and Maggie

It's been a while since my last post and since I published my first novel. At the time I wrote the book, the UK General Election was looming. I was keen to get something out in time for the election and it really helped to motivate me to complete the novel. I learned a lot promoting my book and got some good feedback. However, I quickly realised it wasn't quite the finished book I wanted to share. I removed it and started to work on revisions.

So what's changed?
1. The characters. While I really liked my character Zoe, I felt Adam wasn't fully formed. I made him slightly tougher, more indifferent and, crucially, less of a shy musical talent and instead one who was desperately searching for inspiration and approval.

2. Editing. I tightened up the story, reducing it by several thousand words and getting advice on being more economical with the language. It now reads much more smoothly.

3. Name and cover: The original name for the novel was a generic catch-all for the General Election, but it wasn't very inspiring. Instead, I came up with a name that reflects the two main characters. Zoe is referred to by others as the next Margaret Thatcher (or perhaps Theresa May!) and what better musician than Bono to use for the character, Adam, who wants to change the world through his music. Therefore, 'The Ballad of Bono and Maggie'. And I got a cover designer to create an eye-catching design far beyond anything I could do.

The book is now live on Amazon and I'm about to run a free book promotion. It would be great to have your feedback!

A woman's place is in the...

I recently met a lady called Emma on Twitter, who has produced some fantastic t shirts stating “A woman’s place is in the House of Commons” (link to purchase below). Feminism and politics is too big an issue to cover in one blog post, but I wanted to explain why I’ve written “The Election” with a female politician protagonist.

Zoe Fletcher is one of the two main characters in my novel. She starts off as a student debater at Durham University and quickly fights her way to the top of her student society to become President. Right from the outset she faces misogyny and sexism from the “old boys” of the club. However, Zoe triumphs at university and she quickly rises up the ladder of a political career in Westminster. Of course, she faces some opposition along the way but I haven’t painted too stark a picture for what it’s like for women in politics.

The thing is, I don’t think women of my generation are as encumbered as previous generations. In 2015, women leaving school and university have exactly the same opportunities as men of the same age.  Somewhere along the way a gap appears and perhaps there is still a glass ceiling. But I think the ceiling is beginning to crack. Just look at the recent General Election leaders’ debates featuring Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood – they have made David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband look decidedly dated. The men strain to assert their authority and credentials as leaders, but the women seem confident in their style of consensual politics and appear as far more natural leaders. I’ve also been in contact with some fantastic female parliamentary candidates on Twitter who I’m certain will make a massive positive difference to government if elected.

I sense the tide of politics is changing in favour of equal representation for men and women (but still only around 25% of female PPC though, which needs to change). I wanted to write a political story from a woman’s point of view as I don’t think there’s too much of that out there at the moment. Of course, I am a man writing from woman’s perspective so how can I really know what I am writing about?

Judge for yourself by downloading my book from Kindle! - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE

If you want to buy Emma’s t shirt, here’s the link - https://www.etsy.com/shop/finprint

Why I wrote a political romance novel

I've just published my first novel on Kindle. I've styled it as a political romance story, which may seem like an oxymoron. These are the reasons why I've chosen to write my story:

Cynicism - There's too much bad feeling towards politics in the UK at the moment. A lot of people think the main parties are all the same and it's still male-dominated. I wanted to introduce a new female political character, Zoe Fletcher, who is different from the same old names we've seen before and wants to make the country a better place. I've taken her back to her student days and tried to show what motivated her to become involved in politics in the first place.

Apathy - Despite the recent advent of election fever it remains true that real life politics just isn't as exciting as fiction. One of my lead characters is a musician and I've tried to create a story that links the real world to politics. It's not just a political story set in the closed halls of Westminster. 

Opportunity - I'm not a marketing expert but you've got to agree that if I was going to write a novel about politics, then the UK General Election is the time to release it. While it's not all about politics, I hope that this story will gain some traction during an important time. It also gave me a vital deadline to aim for when I started the book in January, as I knew it had to be ready by now. Deadlines are important to me, just ask my wife. 

Challenge - I can't think of a political story in fiction or real life that's ever been a straightforward love story about two people. If you can, please let me know. It's too easy to descend into smut and intrigue, which I think has it's place (and there's a bit of it in the book) but I wanted to see if my characters operate beyond that. You can decide if I've achieved that. 

My first novel, The Election, is out now and can be downloaded (currently for free) at this link - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE 

I'm genuinely interested in feedback so please read and let me know what you think. 

Best wishes, Phil