AD Hartley

Back in 2014 I self-published a book. It wasn't my first manuscript, but was the first I was happy enough to publish. Boy, was I wrong. With all the over confidence of a rookie writer, I set it free upon the world when it was far from ready. I made all the classic mistakes. But eventually, I resolved most of the issues my impatience created and had a book I was proud of, available to buy. And then... I forgot about it. Well, not quite, but almost. Life just sort of got in the way. I stopped marketing it, stopped checking the laughable sales figures, stopped reading the occasional reviews and allowed it to float off into the virtual world, unloved and unread. Sales dried up and I had seemingly more important things to worry about. Then, earlier this year, someone purchased it. A notification popped up that a kindle version had been downloaded. It was a surprise. But, for the first time in a decade I thought about my book again. The story, the characters, the possibilities, and all...

I previously wrote a post about the books I remember reading as a very young lad , from nursery age through to pre-secondary school. Re-reading this post recently I started thinking about what were the next steps in my reading education as a child.  By the time I was ten I was reading quite a few adventure books aimed at young readers, many based on World War Two, which even in the 80s was a huge cultural reference point. I was also a fan of the  Choose Your Own Adventure series, which were very popular at the time. (Do they still print those?). Others I remember specifically were The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, which was later made into a wonderful animated film called The Iron Giant;  as well as  Stig of the Dump by Clive King and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, both due in part to the wonderful TV series which were broadcast in the mid-80s. But eventually, of course, the world of adult literature is forced upon you, usually at school. ...