‘CREATING STANLEY’
This is a novel told in two voices; that of the un-named woman writer, and that of Stan, her protagonist. In each chapter the first section the writer speaking of her own life, then we go on to read the part of the narrative she writes that day. There is a merging of the two realities.
How did this novel come about? Well two things happened almost simultaneously: firstly, I began to hear the voice of the female writer in my mind; she was obviously unhappy, nervous and a little timid, but very distinct; secondly, one morning I came out of my bedroom onto the landing, the bathroom door was slightly open, and I could see Peter standing in front of the mirror, shaving. That was it. Apologies to Peter for using him, but ‘the fat, white man in the bathroom’ began the whole novel.
I’d become somewhat irritated by a sexual saga that created a storm in the media and amongst many women readers. It was made into a film in 2015, with follow up films that I never bothered to watch. Possibly, subconsciously, I wanted to challenge that stereotype of a conventional sexy male; of conventional sex in general, maybe. I didn’t become aware of this until long after I’d finished the book. Now I see that my novel challenges several conventions within our society: our approach to mental health; the increased availability of pornography and its possible links to sexual abuse; the rise of unemployment and the problems of finding new roles, especially for older men. I set the book in the year 1998, as I wanted it free of social media. But today, the above issues have not been resolved and in many ways social media has caused more damage within our society, certainly in regards to some mental health problems.
I personally found the novel much harder to write than poetry. It requires the writer to inhabit the world she’s creating for long periods of time. That world has to be real with its boundaries and signposts; the continuity of narrative has to be maintained, and the characters have to evolve. The poem may take many edits on the road to perfection, but editing a novel takes stamina and determination over a prolonged period of your life. This book has taken me years to write. As some of you will know, it first appeared under a different title as a self-published novel. I confess I was never happy with it. My life got in the way several times: getting concussion twice in one year certainly didn’t help; not having the time or energy to devote for the re-writes, didn’t help either. That’s why I turned to poetry and found a rich seam of communication that I loved to use.
However, the woman writer still haunted me. Her voice would come to me in the night when I couldn’t sleep. She’d complain that the story wasn’t finished. Last year she won me over and I began it again. And thanks to some amazing beta readers, I worked out what to change within the novel and re-wrote a different ending, one that satisfied me.
Now, I feel happy with the book. So much so, that I’ve begun its sequel.
Josephine Lay 06/06/2202
CREATING STANLEY by J.J.R. Lay launch date is Tuesday 21st June 2022 via Zoom, https://www.facebook.com/events/5469613223102309?ref=newsfeed
Link for your free HELM ticket, https://bit.ly/3GtAn4s
I am excited and a little nervous about this launch, this is something different... I will be reading extracts and talking about Stanley, of course.
Also, come and see two other poet novelists who will each be reading a poem and an extract from their recently published novel; the wonderful Claire Dyer and the fabulous Emma Purshouse plus another author & friend, the brilliant Debbie Young, who'll read from her new novella, ‘Mrs Morris Changes Lane’.
Pre order a signed copy of CREATING STANLEY from, www.blackeyespublishinguk.co.uk/shop
(Copies can also can be ordered through any book shop worldwide or through Amazon.)