Jasper Fforde responds to my email

 Background: Larna Versus The Lifepires is hugely inspired by the writing of Jasper Fforde, a UK novelist who wrote the Thursday Next series. Thursday Next is a strong female protagonist that has insecurities and strengths that makes you love her more. Jasper's bizarre world building is fun and witty and he sticks to it 100%. 

I wrote an email asking for his help in marketing and advice for getting the book off the ground. He sent me this.

Hello Michael.

First off, congratulations on getting your book written and finished. I know how much work is required to do such a thing, and it is a considerable achievement. So again: congratulations.

I don’t do mentoring as I just don’t have the time, but when I get home I’ll try and send you a few top tips from my archive.

It’s really no secret and quite simple: just keep on writing until it starts to work for you. I wrote for thirteen years and wrote seven books in that time, and that’s not an unusual timeframe for a writer to get published. It’s not you being rejected, it’s you learning your craft. And it’s an odd craft. A Dark art that no one really can explain what to do, but you have to discover yourself on a journey of writing and writing and writing.

Basically, keep on doing what you’re doing. There are no short cuts, just pound that keyboard, experiment with the form and find the voice that is yours. 

All best

Jasper

Sent from my iPhone

Thank you Jasper for writing novels that are incredibly fun to read and make comedy and heroism so relatable. I do not know why BBC has not optioned your books yet.

Here's an explanation of his story. You can check out his website here.

If you have read all (or part) of Larna Versus The Lifepires, you can put your review in Amazon and help spread the word. Here.