Terry J. Newman (Author of Drayling) - Guest Blog

Today, I am happy to welcome Terry J. Newman to the blog. Terry is here to talk about his book, Drayling, so I'll hand you over to him...

Greetings from the Northern Hemisphere!

My name is Terry J. Newman, and I'm an English writer. I'm indebted to Nicki for allowing me this opportunity to tell you about my first novel, Drayling. It's speculative fiction/sci-fi, and was published, in paperback, in March 2011. It is now (as from 16 March 2012) also available as an e-book on Kindle.



To be honest, I'm not keen on the label "science fiction". It satisfies the book sellers, of course, because they then know what shelf to put it on (and it's the most appropriate of a limited number of alternatives) but, in this case, it's misleading. Sci-fi, to me, and I guess many others, conjures up images of spaceships and little green men, and Drayling isn't like that. It just happens to take place in the future. One lady confirmed this when she contacted me to say that she "didn't like science fiction, but loved Drayling". She thought it would be better described as "futuristic drama".

Here's a brief synopsis:

The small district of Drayling, in Southern 25th Century Britain, is typical of communities throughout the country, and its citizens live in harmony and contentment.

Following the death of the head of the national government, however, there is a significant shift in approach - which forces a small group of ordinary people to conclude that they have no alternative but to take radical action to protect their way of life.

This is their story.

Not wishing to spoil the read, suffice to say that this is a different kind of "science fiction" book - for the intelligent reader. To quote from the back-cover synopsis, "Reality collides with fantasy and philosophy as they embark on a mission of suspense, danger, deceit and death—with far-reaching ramifications."

The brief "bio" at the end of the book reads, "The author lives with his wife in Sussex. He is a member of English Heritage, The National Trust, Brighton & Hove Albion Supporters' Club and Mensa."

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about the book world is its subjectivity. Two peoples' views about the same book can vary so wildly that you'd think they were describing a different book. Drayling's no exception. The reviews have spanned the whole spectrum. So I try to focus on the positive ones, and tell myself that you can't please all of the people all of the time.

For that reason, I'll be delighted if half of the people that read it enjoy it.

So I say, "Go on—read it—Paperback or Kindle. See what you think—then send your comments to Nicki!

Amazon Link

Best wishes,
Terry J. Newman