Hi All
I literally have eight minutes spare to write this so apologies if it seems a little rushed.
I just wanted to say that happily, A Tiny Feeling Of Fear (my third novel) went off to be typeset today. There were a few minor hiccups with the editor and proof reader that have now been ironed out. There are one or two EXCLUSIVE art limited edition pre-release copies available here, but you’ll have to be quick: Exclusive Copy
I wanted to blog quickly because I want to spread the word about mental health. One of the main reasons for writing ATFOF was to open up about the feelings that I believe most people are too scared to confront or discuss. Andrew Walker, the main character in A Tiny Feeling of Fear suffers terribly from anxiety issues. He has, until now, decided tried to hide this from the world. Now, he decides that it is time to be entirely truthful in an attempt to save his own life.
I think it is vital now in society that this issue is openly discussed. That we no longer need to hide behind these issues. As Andrew says; “We have fixed everything physical barring cancer, yet we daren’t speak out about our mind.” If I install a new printer on my computer, some other application crashes. It refuses to work properly, there is some sort of crash. If I open the wrong website and click the wrong box, I inadvertently change the system settings and my computer crashes. That is just a computer. Think how much more sophisticated the brain is. It is no wonder that things happen to our thought processes which we don’t understand. It is no wonder that from time to time we suffer feelings that threaten to overpower us. We doubt ourselves. We worry. We become anxious.
I am on a mission to get people to speak openly. To stop worrying what other people think. To take away the assumed ‘shame’ of not being ‘normal’ (the latter being a phrase that I should be discarded entirely). I firmly believe that ‘normal’ is to have these feelings.
A Tiny Feeling of Fear is, above all, a story of hope. Obviously, it has a twist. It wouldn’t be me if not. I really hope you all enjoy it and I’d like to thank my daughter, Annabel for inspiring me to write it. I’d also like to thank the patience of my publisher and agent, Gail; my (two) editors, Charlie and Jill.
I have no doubt that you’ll read a lot about ATFOF over the coming months.
Please do get I contact should I be able to help with anything or if anything in ATFOF rings true with you and you want to talk about it.
Best wishes, as always
Joff