Some Things That Are And Have Been Happening

Thank you for subscribing to my Substack. Generally it’s more of a new writing newsletter than an actual news newsletter but sometimes quite a few things are going on, and/or being given away, and now is one of those times, so I wanted to tell you about those things.

The paperback of my novel Villager comes out in paperback in the UK on March 30th, and in the US and Canada the following month. To celebrate its publication I’ve decided to give away five signed copies. The competition is open worldwide and to enter you just have to leave a comment on this post, asking me a question about my work or something related to it. I’ll choose what I think are the best five then post them and my answers to them here closer to publication day. I’ve also had some postcards made of some of my dad’s art, and will include one of those with each book, which means you can use them as a bookmark, rather than turning down the corner of the pages, like I - it shames me to admit - sometimes do to keep my place on books I’m reading. (If you’d like to pre-order Villager direct from my publishers and increase its chances of being stocked in lots of shops, you can do so here. And here is a review of it from the Guardian in case you are not sure what it’s all about.)

Speaking of my parents’ art, my mum, Jo, has kindly given me some of her original linoprints for a special giveaway (see above for a couple of examples): if you take out the cut price annual subscription to this Substack before the end of today, Friday March 17th, I’ll send you one of them next week. If you go further and take out the founder member option, you’ll receive one of the bigger prints. Again, this offer is open worldwide. If you’d like to see more of Jo’s art, her Etsy page is here, and this is something I wrote about it a few years ago.

I am booked for a few talks in April around the launch of the Villager paperback. Excitingly this includes visits to two of my favourite record shops in the whole universe: Bridport’s Clocktower Records, where on April 22nd, Record Store Day, I’ll be doing my second live event with RJ McKendree aka Will Twynham, who’ll be playing songs from the book’s soundtrack (our first event there last summer sold out so it’s an idea to get in quickly and grab tickets in advance here), and Sound Records in Stroud (you can get tickets for this one by emailing the shop at soundvinylrecords@gmail.com or calling them on 07984 146359). I’ll also be at the Redruth Book Feast, in conversation about Villager with Lucy Cooper, at lunchtime on April 23rd.

My second novel, 1983, recently funded in less than 24 hours. If you are one of the people who helped make that happen, thank you! For me, increasingly, writing a book has to not just be about getting a fizzing sack of words that are already in my head onto the page but learning a lot of new things, too, and while 1983 is very much inspired by my childhood and isn’t really what you’d call a political novel, I’m really enjoying the way that my research is teaching me more about the place I’m from and the sociopolitical climate I grew up in. I read Alan Sillitoe’s Saturday Night And Sunday Morning many years ago and getting started on 1983 gave me the nudge I needed to read more of his stories, which - even though they take place long before I was born - feel richly, honestly marinated in Nottinghamshire struggles and the familiar language of my youth. I got completely, fantastically lost inside Andy Beckett’s Promised You A Miracle: Why 1980-82 Made Modern Britain, as I feel certain Andy must have done while writing it. It made some very complex social and economic concepts accessible and fascinating, and made my recent binge watch of Thatcher: A Brilliant Revolution more interesting and informed. During the early episodes I was right back there, in front of my nan’s telly, age eight, watching her grind her teeth while listening to that woman with that voice: the only times I can ever remember her being angry. The documentary began like nearly all TV ones do these days, machine gunning you with highlights of what’s to come, as if instantly terrified of losing your attention, which tends to instantly lose mine, but I’m glad I persevered because what followed was unusually patient and detailed (apparently Thatcher loved dusting and was constantly running her hand across surfaces to check they were clean; when the Falklands problem arose, Dennis had to get out the atlas to find out where they were) and balanced, and, while it didn’t make me believe its central subject was any more likeable or compassionate or less destructive than I already did, it was full of intelligent, pithy voices (Kinnock, Clarke) and hit hard with a gradual accumulation of evidence that the political world of the 80s was an infinitely more adult one than the place where we all live now, and - amazingly, given its reputation - a less avaricious one.

This week I attempted the herculean task of reorganising my record collection by genre. Has it worked? I’m not sure. Various problems came up, including the fine line between ‘Psychedelic And Beyond’ and ‘Americana’, and where to store an artist whose career has spanned many styles without breaking up their catalogue. Overall, I think it’s served its purpose, which was to make finding music to suit my mood a little easier, help me remain honest about my listening habits, and - above all - refamiliarise myself with some records I might have neglected. Stuff I most enjoyed listening to during the sort out included the first Beacon Street Union LP (apart from the annoying novelty tracks), the self-titled debut LP by Ian Thomas which despite a very unpromising cover is - during its best moments - great in the same addictive sunkissed way that ‘Don’t Cross The River’ and ‘Sandman’ by America are great, and the ferociously funky ‘Nasty Gal’ LP by Betty Davis which was surely the most exciting and energised piece of music released in the year of my birth. For the moment, I have filed the sold-out, now very rare first pressing of RJ McKendree’s ‘Wallflower’ LP in the Wyrd Music From The 21st Century section, but I might change my mind and put it in Soundtracks or Psychedelic And Beyond. Conveniently, I’ll have a second copy of it soon, as I’m glad to say that, by popular demand, it’s being reissued to coincide with the Villager paperback. You’ll be able to order it very soon from the RJ McKendree Bandcamp page.

That’s all for now. But look out for more writing here in the next few days. Without wanting to fully give it away, I’ll just leave the following illustration - by Robert Lumley - as a taster on the theme…

All the best,

Tom