On a cold and wintry January afternoon in 2018 I finally plucked up the courage to publish my first novel.
I didn't have an agent or a publisher. So, alone, I tackled the cumbersome task of preparing and loading Changing Trains to that huge, enormous, bookstore in the ether called Amazon.
Changing Trains is a travel story within a travel story and my favourite thing about it is that it spans two timescapes - the present and the ever so funky, cool and uncool, high shoulder padded decade of excess known as the 1980s.
Sam, the main character is on a Eurostar heading from London down to New Aquitaine for the weekend when a chance encounter causes him to reminisce about an event in 1985 that changed the course of his life.
That event was a month's long Interrail trip across Europe. After a tense meeting with his grim reaper HR manager, Sam throws his job out the window and leaves his small-town home in Scotland to embark on a journey that will transform him from an uncertain, unworldly home boy into a 'modern European'.
The timing of Sam's journey is important because, at just the same moment, the European Union was on the verge of changing from being a small tired collection of post-war neighbour nations into a global economic powerhouse primed for a bright, new and prosperous future.
Sam's discovery of Europe - which he finds to be intoxicating, exciting and full of wonder - is, though, overshadowed by his own inner turmoil about his sexuality. Deep down, he knows how he feels, but he also wants to live up to what society expects of him.
He has a girlfriend of sorts in 'Yvonne' and meets plenty of girls who find him attractive on his journey. But while he beats himself up for not being attracted to them, he can also only surrender to the intense feelings that arise in him when those of his own sex approach him.
I wanted to write a story that showed, gently, how one young man with a zest for life and adventure was able to resolve the issues of his role in the world and his own sexual identity by filling a backpack and heading off on a journey of adventure.
There are countless ‘ordinary’ gay men and women in the world who, regardless of the environment they come from, have simply had to muddle through and come to terms with their own sexuality without any kind of huge dramatic outpouring.
Sam is dealing with his sexuality, and while it's not always easy, he is also getting on with his life and trying to fulfil other needs, such as gaining knowledge, having adventures, learning about new cultures and finding his social place in the world.
I hope you enjoy reading it. Do let me know if you do. It's available in paperback or as a Kindle ebook here.
M
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