I’ve never written a blog post before, so this is all virgin territory for me. All I ask is that you’re gentle with me.
My plan for this small, insignificant corner of the internet is to fill it with mindless waffle and babble. For this first one, though, I’m going for shameless self-promotion.
If you’re already here, I’m assuming you’ve probably read one of my books or been strong-armed into visiting, so I may well be preaching to the converted.
I just want to tell you a bit about my latest book, Love Postponed, and some of the story behind it – the stuff you won’t find out from reading the Amazon blurb.
Love Postponed is semi-autobiographical. Most of the stories in it are true and really did happen. In fact, the dafter the scene, the more likely it is to be a completely true-life incident. Not all of them are, mind. It’s up to you to decide which were made up in the name of fiction and which were genuinely lived by a daft lad from Leeds.
One thing I can promise you, though: the football is the real deal. I went to all the games that are in the book, so they’re genuine memories, the lot of them.
If you’re still reading, we’re now friends, so I’ll give you one to get a tick on the board. The scene where Tony darts across the road and hits his head on the street sign? That happened. And the scarf still has the bloodstain.
All those personal sacrifices – blood, sweat and tears – were worth it to see Gordon Strachan lift the league championship trophy in front of the crowd on the last day of the season. I doubt anyone would disagree with that. (Well, maybe a few people in Manchester.)
And that photo with Jon Newsome holding the trophy on the front cover? My dad took it.
The other question a few people have asked me is why I called it Love Postponed. I realise it’s not that obvious, so let me clear it up. That season wasn’t just about a city falling head over heels in love with its footy team again. It was also about a lad falling in love with a girl. That’s the soppy custard bit. As for “postponed”, it has a convenient double meaning. Firstly, the opening game of the season against Crystal Palace was postponed. Secondly, once you’ve read the book, you’ll realise the love story suffers a few postponements of its own along the way.
I really enjoyed writing it, so much so that when I finished, I actually missed it.
If you’d like a bit more background, the good folk over at the MOT forum kindly ran a piece on the book, which you can read here.
If you fancy a copy, you can buy the paperback or Kindle version on Amazon.
Next time: waffle, as promised.