So tomorrow (19th November) is International Men’s Day, the day when Richard Herring spends his whole day trolling all the men who spent 8th March (International Women’s Day) going all P**rs M*rg*n and crying “Waaaaa, when’s International Men’s Day” online, by reminding them of their crying out for something that already exists, and asking them what they’re doing for it.
International Women’s Day is, in part, a day to put right the imbalance in the recognition of women’s achievements compared to men’s. So on the surface, you could be forgiven for thinking that to turn around and then insist men have one too is classic people-at-the-top behaviour, punching down because a cry for equality from a marginalised group is seen as taking something away from a dominant group who don’t like admitting their privilege, so they pretend that the calls for equality are just masking an attempt to oppress them. Us poor oppressed men, eh?
However, IMD is not about saying men are great. It’s about highlighting positive role models, and talking about values and responsibilities, as well as achievements – you can find out more on the official website. The aspect I want to highlight, which will come as no surprise if you’ve read my blog before, is the focus on men’s wellbeing. Men’s Mental Health is a passion of mine, being a long-term sufferer of clinical depression and anxiety. I’ve been talking about it for years and while it’s true that we are a lot more open about it than in the past, it still comes with a stigma for a lot of men. The message that it’s okay to talk about vulnerability, to own up to weakness, fear, stress, that’s a message that still needs promotion, because it’s still seen by some as un-masculine to be open about these things.
In 2019, there were 5,691 suicides registered in England and Wales. Approximately three quarters of them were men (this is from the Office of National Statistics). The highest age-specific suicide rate is for men between the ages of 45 and 49. I turn 45 this year, and while I can assure you that I don’t see that in my future, you can see why tackling this is a cause I want to get behind.
2020, meanwhile, has been a hugely difficult year for many of us. I’ve spent six months of it at home on furlough, before eventually being made redundant. And I’m one of the lucky ones – I secured a new job before my notice expired and, to be honest, with a natural tendency towards reclusiveness, lockdown wasn’t exactly a hard cross to bear. On top of which my wife carried on working, and I’d been in my job long enough that when redundancy did come, it came with a modest payoff, enough to tide me over while I found a new job. I count my blessings.
One of the ways I passed those six months at home was focusing on something I’d harbored ambitions for most of my life – writing. I dabble from time to time, sure, but with six months to kill and only so much gardening that needed doing, I embraced the laptop and finally started taking it seriously. I might never have this much free time again, and with job loss looming, there was never a better time to see once and for if I had it in me.
So I finally steeled myself for the one part of the process I’d always dreaded – putting my work in front of other people. I started by self-publishing, under the name Ray Adams, a sci-fi novella I’d been working on. I gave it a proper edit, got Sarah to proof-read it for me, and generally polished it up to a degree I’d never bothered to with anything I’d written before. I then bit the bullet and looked into Am*z*n’s self-publishing KDP program. (I know, I know, there’s a lot of issues with that company, and it wasn’t an easy decision, but at the same time the tools and market it provides for the self-publishing author are a big draw…)
So The Forcek Assignment by Ray Adams is now available for purchase, for kindle or in paperback, here. It’s a quick read, plenty of action, with a few spicy moral dilemmas thrown in. It follows a small-time ship’s captain dragged into the midst of a political conspiracy, and the pursuit of the mysterious entity pulling the strings from the shadows. I’m quite proud of it, and my dad liked it. If you like sci-fi, may I humbly suggest you buy it. And if you do, honest reviews on Goodreads or Am’zon would be appreciated. (The sequel’s out at the end of the year!)
Spurred on by that, I’ve also thrown myself into NaNoWriMo this year. This annual celebration of writing where keen amateurs such as myself pledge to write a 50k-word novel in a month is something I’ve started before a couple of times, only to peter out almost straight away. This year, I’m past the 30k mark and I’m pretty pleased with it so far. Pleased enough that I’m planning on making this available too at some point in 2021.
It’s not the only thing I’ve been working on, though. More in keeping with theme of International Men’s Day, bringing us back to where I started, and more personal to me, is Playtime’s Over. This is the story of a drowning man facing up to the consequences of his actions, and the choices he’s made, via a conversation, in his mind, with a manifestation of his subconscious. Heavy stuff, right? Except hopefully, it doesn’t read that way. It’s got, I think, a lightness of touch that saves it from pomposity. Certainly those folk that have read it so far have been very positive about it.
This one I am really proud of and as such, I took the bold (for me) step of approaching some people directly and asking them to read it. I want to thank them for doing so, especially Dan and Becky, who looked at it first. In Dan’s case, he read it before it was finished, and gave me the encouragement to continue with it. I should also thank Anna for her initial proofreading, and Dave, Jenny, Paul, Ben, Shontae and Stoo for their feedback.
The other person I showed it to was Henry, the owner of Norwich’s Book Hive. I knew Henry a little bit, as one of his customers, and he’s always been very genial, and helpful. So I thought, as a bookshop owner, maybe he’d have some thoughts or advice on what I should do next. I hadn’t approached him with the thought of him reading it, I didn’t want to presume, but he very graciously offered to anyway. Which led, and I still can’t quite believe I’m saying this, to him offering to work with me on it.
And publish it.
The Book Hive is also home to Propolis, and their slate next year (probably in the summer) will include Playtime’s Over by James Kinsley. The man who previously took a chance on Eimear McBride’s A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing, after it had been rejected by numerous other publishers, and saw it go on to secure awards and acclaim, took a look at my book and said “Yeah, I’ll give that a go.”
I have no words. Except, of course, I have quite a lot. I’m a writer now, see?
Not much else in the way of detail yet. We have a contract, of course, or I wouldn’t be saying anything, but we don’t have a publishing date yet, or even a cover design. We only decided on a title this week, and we’ve one final edit of the text to approve. But given the subject matter, International Men’s Day seemed the right time to let people know this is happening. You can rely on me to keep you up-to-date with any developments.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, then. And when next summer rolls around and you’re looking for something to read…
James Kinsley 