In G.O.D. We Trust
I reached a huge milestone and achieved a lifelong goal this week in that I’ve finally completed my first novel, G.O.D. :-D
The book is set in the afterlife, in what I like to think is an original take on traditional religious mythology. It follows two characters, Lawrence and Ben, who have just died and are greeted in Limbo by Peter, the man apparently in charge of the organisation apparently responsible for their infinite fate. They discover that they have each been reincarnated several times during a 300-year overall lifespan, which has just reached its end. Following their Final Judgement appraisal meetings, one of them is sent to Heaven, the other to Hell, but neither gets what they expected from their destiny, least of all the chance to rest in peace.
G.O.D. is a project I’ve been working on since studying for my MA in 2005, but we’ve had a very rocky, on/off relationship. After writing the initial 10 chapters or so back then, I literally lost the plot with it and never really knew where to take it next. I became a bit fearful of it because it made me feel like I didn’t have the skill or intelligence to continue with it, and that was true at the time, so I left it to one side. It’s always been my intention to finish it and it’s always played on my mind, as it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, just about the only thing I’ve ever done that I truly believe in, and it has a lot of important things to say. But those were all the very things that frightened me about it, as it would be so easy for me to screw it up.
Creating this new cosmos, which also incorporates Earth and the world preceding it, has been a massive undertaking, and weaving the interconnected threads of three main characters (one of whom is an African lion) through it only made it more complicated. Family and friends have been asking me for years when it would be finished and I’ve never been able to answer that question until I actually finished it, as the book has been as much embroiled in my personal development as it has been in that of the protagonists.
It’s only now that I’m a little older and wiser (but not too much of either) that I felt I could finally handle combining the rules and regulations of the setting, the multiple histories of the characters and the intricacies of the plot in the imaginative and humorous way that I wanted, without losing the depth and poignancy of the underlying themes of religion, politics, humanity, identity, evolution and ecology.
Fortunately (!), I was made redundant in January, ending a gloomy 6 month period of tragedy, loss, adversity and terrible luck, which ultimately resulted in my gaining the time, experience and newfound determination to shut myself in, focus on what I really wanted to do with my own short spell on Earth, and get on with making it happen. Isn’t life funny?!
Sharing my writing with others has always been something I’ve naturally shied away from, but easing myself in with the website and this here blog has desensitised me a little, so I’m ready to be brave now, and the campaign to get G.O.D. published is already underway. I’ve started by giving the finished copy to a select group of respectable readers to get some feedback and see if any final improvements need to be made, and the next step is approaching literary agents. I’ve already made a hit list from which I’ve excluded those who don’t accept sci-fi or fantasy, aren’t interested in unpublished authors, won’t read unsolicited manuscripts, don’t want any new clients, blah, blah, blah (they’re too fussy for my liking already) and I’m in the process of preparing cover letters and several lengths and versions of the same synopsis to fit their strict individual submission guidelines. I’m hoping to action the next part of my strategy in the next few weeks.
Then I guess it’s up to the powers that be. I’ll probably need thick skin and a lot of yoga practise in the months ahead, but I’ll try to apply the same rules to publishers as I do prospective boyfriends - that if they refuse my advances and/or the offer of a part in my future, then they’re clearly idiots and it’s their loss, not mine ; ).
I’ll keep you posted with how it goes and if all else fails, I’ll reluctantly drag myself into the 21st century and self publish via e-book, so it will be available in the future somehow.
Meanwhile, even if G.O.D. isn’t a commercial success, I’m still proud that it came out of my head and that I wrote a book. I don’t know many people of similar background to mine that can say that. I’m celebrating my long awaited accomplishment with general smugness and a commemorative tattoo, which will be inked into my right hip in one week’s time. Other than that, I don’t quite know what to do with myself now. Maybe I should start by going back outside and talking to people again...
If you’d like to see more of my writing, including the first chapter and excerpts from G.O.D., visit http://www.shelleyirving.com.
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