Guy Saville's soon-to-be-published thriller
My fellow Youwriteon-er, Guy Saville, had his exciting novel, The Africa Reich, chosen as Youwriteon Book of the Year in 2007, a huge achievement. I've only read the first few chapters, and can't wait till it is published this year so I can read the rest.
You can read about it at his website The Africa Reich.
When I did my long ago review of Guy's chapters on YWO I had no idea there was a literary form devoted to "What If?" historical fiction. I made free to mention to him that WWII ended in 1945 and jets were not common during that particular conflict. He was gracious, and I was embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteThat fact that this sort of success has come out of YWO is reason for hope for all of the really fine writers who populate that lovely and warm site. It is distressing that in order to rise high enough to get some notice one must negotiate treacherous waters populated with dullards, wackos and sociopaths, but Guy's success and Patricia's success are beacons to the rest of us.
As absolutely jealous as I am of those who took the top prizes in the first Book O' the Year competition, seeing what has happened for them still gives me hope, as it should all of the terrific, undiscovered writers on YWO.
Go Guy!
Alan, you're too modest.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that your book, The Baer Boys, was deservedly in the short list of five for YWO Book of the Year.
Here's hoping 2008 is great for us all.
Thank you as always, Alan, for your generous comments.
ReplyDeleteAlthough any major publishing success with AFRICA REICH would obviously benefit me the most (have always wanted to be a tax exile!), I like to think it would help everyone on the site too.
The more successes YWO members have, the more legitmacy the site will be given. Which in turn will mean more agents/publishers will visit it and - hopefully - pick up other writers there. As you and Lexi demonstrate there are some very talented people showcasing their chapters.
Anyway, thanks again for your support.
Guy is right. Simply the fact that in a relatively short time there have been several real publishing success stories come directly out of YWO can only be a positive for the whole community. There are a lot of writers' sites out there, but how many have produced as much in the real world as YWO?
ReplyDeleteGuess I had better review print out somebody's chapters before too long, eh?
Hey Lexi
ReplyDeleteJust popping my head round the door to wish you good luck for ABNA - it is tomorrow the lists go up, isn't it?
Will you sleep tonight? Though I guess the lists will be posted US time, so it might be the middle of tomorrow night before you know?
Anyway I'm rooting for you.
Oh, thanks, HJ.
ReplyDeleteNo-one knows when the list will go up. There used to be a clock counting down the hours, but it has mysteriously disappeared, causing outrage on the forum.
Sometime tomorrow...
Hey, im just wondering when the Africa Reich will come out?
ReplyDeleteJon, I don't know. I've emailed Guy, and hope he will pop in to tell us.
ReplyDeleteI do know that with the recession, a lot of publishers have put their plans on hold.
Hi Jon (and Lexi)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interest with my book.
Currently my agent is still touting it around publishers. Unfortunately the rejection slips are mounting up though. The main problem is that marketing departments think the ‘Nazis-win-the-war-and-conquer-Africa’ concept is too difficult for the public to get. (You can decide if that’s true and/or patronising to book buyers!)
However, there are quite a few publishers still to approach – so I hope this story will have a happy ending. Will keep you posted – and Lexi’s blog will be one of the first places to know.
All best
Guy