Alex Roddie - writer of mountain fiction

(24 Apr 2013 07:14 PM)DavidHaynes71 Wrote: Wrote:  If you do, it'll be from someone who doesn't recognise a f****n belter when they read one! 
( For those who don't know, I wasn't swearing for no reason, Alex had a review which called OG Jones a F****n belter)

(10 Aug 2012 05:49 PM)alexroddie Wrote: Wrote:  Recently I've been contacting a number of authors who work in fields similar to my own, to ask them if they would like to read my work and provide blurb quotes/endorsements. So far, so good. One author I particularly admire (a leading expert on mountaineering history but not a fiction author) wrote me a very long and detailed response based on the short blurb and description I had sent him.

He raised a number of questions based on my blurb, which he feared were indicative of deeper problems in my novel. Partly these are due to the differences in viewpoint between the historian and the historical fiction author--eg. I have drastically warped history to get a better story, in a way this writer believes would make the story unbelievable. However, I am convinced only an expert in climbing history would notice anything and I think I've written the story well enough to suspend disbelief in the minds of 99% of my target readers.

Although his comments were meant in the very best spirit (and he said he is very keen to read the manuscript despite his misgivings), it has however opened a bit of a can of worms in my own head!

Based on the holes this writer tried to pick in my story after having read only the blurb, I'm now worried that people with a great deal of knowledge of climbing history are going to 'get the wrong end of the stick' and fail to appreciate that my story is pure fiction based loosely on real people and situations. Some of my characters are beloved figures from the history of mountaineering and I can appreciate some people won't want the real history to be altered in any way. I may have researched the subject for a good few years and be a climber myself, but I'm hardly an expert, after all.

I suppose I'm suffering from a mild form of imposter syndrome: do I really have the right to confidently create fiction in this subject? And does it matter if those with a very in-depth knowledge of my patch of history think the very premise of the book might not be believable (considering 99% of readers will only have a vague idea of that history?)

Very keen to hear any replies or advice, considering the book is written and hopefully going to be published in October ...

(29 Apr 2013 07:03 PM)alexroddie Wrote: Wrote:  Just noticed this great review for The Only Genuine Jones on my Goodreads page:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/600461897
"I was out of social contact for a few days i got so absorbed in this book! I'm not a climber, but this fact doesn't matter as the storyline and characters are so engaging. I loved this piece of historical fiction, i wanted to step back in time with them & join them all on their journeys! The only problem with discovering such a talented new author is that they haven't written much & I want to move onto the next book; so hurry up Alex and get writing :-)"

(29 Apr 2013 07:04 PM)Jonathan Hill Wrote: Wrote:  

(29 Apr 2013 07:03 PM)alexroddie Wrote: Wrote:  Just noticed this great review for The Only Genuine Jones on my Goodreads page:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/600461897
"I was out of social contact for a few days i got so absorbed in this book! I'm not a climber, but this fact doesn't matter as the storyline and characters are so engaging. I loved this piece of historical fiction, i wanted to step back in time with them & join them all on their journeys! The only problem with discovering such a talented new author is that they haven't written much & I want to move onto the next book; so hurry up Alex and get writing :-)"

That's alright, I suppose... 

Heck, it's fantastic!  Well done!  

(29 Apr 2013 07:15 PM)alexroddie Wrote: Wrote:  

(29 Apr 2013 07:04 PM)Jonathan Hill Wrote: Wrote:  

(29 Apr 2013 07:03 PM)alexroddie Wrote: Wrote:  Just noticed this great review for The Only Genuine Jones on my Goodreads page:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/600461897
"I was out of social contact for a few days i got so absorbed in this book! I'm not a climber, but this fact doesn't matter as the storyline and characters are so engaging. I loved this piece of historical fiction, i wanted to step back in time with them & join them all on their journeys! The only problem with discovering such a talented new author is that they haven't written much & I want to move onto the next book; so hurry up Alex and get writing :-)"

That's alright, I suppose... 

Heck, it's fantastic!  Well done!  

It gets better. The reader noticed my tweet about the review and has emailed me:

[font='lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]"Not joking about the out of social contact bit; I went down to Mexico for a week & was completely engrossed reading your book. Some local was trying to serenade me with local music in the cafe I was in, I actually almost told him to shut up as he was putting me off reading, then when he asked for a tip I told him I hadn't been listening so sorry no!"[/font]

Makes me feel proud to be an author