Stranger than Fiction

This one was originally from 20th February 2013 - 'Severe Discomfort' is a real, printed book at last, 'Welfare Reform' and an obscure railway town in south Hampshire are in the news, but I have no experience of publishing, no contacts and no budget to promote my story...


Courtroom drama, humour, romance... and benefits? 

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was on the way to publishing my first novel.  Well, it's taking its first tentative steps into the wider world even as I write...

The funny thing is that when I started writing 'Severe Discomfort', the shrinking Social Security system and demonisation of claimants didn't seem a particularly topical subject.  Since then, 'Welfare Reform' has become one of the big issues and potentially a matter on which the Opposition can, if they're brave, put some really clear water between themselves and the 'Nasty Party'. 

But the real surprise, having set my tale in 'an unnamed railway town in south Hampshire' - but clearly one on Southampton's doorstep - is that for the next week or so, with Chris Huhne's downfall and the Eastleigh by-election, the railway town in south Hampshire that forms the backdrop to my tale is going to be the centre of the political universe and, with the kind of timing that I usually save for my infrequent attempts at surfing, I've faffed and farted about for just long enough to miss that particular wave of publicity since it'll be another two to six weeks before 'Severe Discomfort' is available from bookshops or Amazon.  Not that I want you to buy it from the tax-evading behemoth, of course - if you want a paper copy, support those nice people at Completelynovel: see below.

Still, no matter.  The 'Welfare Reform' debate isn't done by a long way, but there is the merest hint that the tide might be starting to turn with terrible tales of hardship from the 'Bedroom Tax' and hopefully David Cameron, George Osborne and dispicable IDS are all heading for some 'severe discomfort' of their own. 

In the meantime, if you haven't had enough of my warped sense of humour and unashamedly Socialist views on social justice, you can get an extra large dose here, for free:

http://www.completelynovel.com/books/severe-discomfort--1

If you enjoy the story, give it a good review.  If you really enjoy the story, tell your friends and buy your Luddite friends who don't read books online a paper version.  And watch out for 'Continual Supervision' the sequel - currently at the final proof-reading stage with a trusted, eagle-eyed friend - because, as any football fan will tell you, it's a game of two halves!