Guest Post: Drayling

Drayling
by Terry J. Newman

Guest Post:
Greetings from across the pond!

My name is Terry J. Newman, and I'm an English writer. I'm indebted to Charlene for giving me this opportunity to tell you about my first novel, "Drayling".

It's speculative fiction/sci-fi, and was originally published in paperback in March 2011. It has now been made available as an ebook on Kindle. To be honest, I'm not keen on the label "science fiction". It satisfies the book sellers, of course, because it tells them what shelf to put it on (and it's the most appropriate of a limited number of alternatives) but, in the case of “Drayling”, I think it's misleading. Sci-fi, to me - and I guess to many others - conjures up images of spaceships and little green men... and "Drayling" isn't like that.

It just happens to take place in the future.

One lady confirmed this one day when she contacted me to say that she "didn't normally like science fiction, but loved Drayling". She suggested that it would be better described as "futuristic drama".

Here's a brief synopsis:
The small district of Drayling, in Southern 25th Century Britain, is typical of communities throughout the country, and its citizens live in harmony and contentment.

Following the death of the head of the national government, however, there is a significant shift in approach - which forces a small group of ordinary people to conclude that they have no alternative but to take radical action to protect their way of life. This is their story.

Not wishing to spoil the read, suffice to say that this is a different kind of "science fiction" book - for the intelligent reader. To quote from the back-cover synopsis, "Reality collides with fantasy and philosophy as they embark on a mission of suspense, danger, deceit and death - with far-reaching ramifications."

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about the book world is its subjectivity. Two peoples' views about the same book can vary so wildly that you'd think they were describing an entirely different book...and, of course, Drayling's no exception. The reviews have spanned the whole spectrum. One reviewer very politely said that it would be better if she didn’t write a review, as it would do sales no good at all. On the other hand, Laura Carter wrote the following review for “Readers Favorite”. (I promised to credit her if I quote it):

“This is such an astonishingly well-thought out book. The world building is fantastic and the author has created a thorough history as to why the world has ended up this way; something which is often neglected in other books of this genre. The book is so detailed it almost appears at times to be a true story, something which I as the reader personally found incredibly enjoyable. I found myself thoroughly engrossed in this masterpiece of a book as it is simply perfect in every way. This is a book that will be loved by all fans of dystopian fiction and mysteries but also by anyone who just wants to read a book that will blow them away with every detail.”

I try to focus on the positive, and tell myself that you can't please all of the people all of the time. I honestly don’t mind if someone says it’s rubbish. I’d be far more disappointed if no one read it.

So I say, "Go on - read it! Paperback or Kindle. See what you think - then send your comments to Charlene!

Amazon  Goodreads

Thank you Terry for sharing your book with my blog!