Besotted ... a bit of a delay

Besotted has become my opus magnum, the book that has taken me over a year to write.  For reasons that some of you will undoubtedly be aware, I lost a lot of work on this particular book in January of this year.  I've slaved over this book for months, when usually I can knock out 10,000 on a particularly good evening.

Besotted is about a tragic character living in a fucked up situation.  It won't be an easy read, but I'm hoping that people will want to read about Benjamin Beerenwinkel, find out what happens to him through the journey the book will take them on.  I've spent a long time completing this book, and it would be wrong to rush it out to publication until I know for certain that it's the perfect draft.

Most writers, they suffer this fear that their work will be ridiculed, that people will think it isn't good enough.  Well, I've got that arrogance, borne out of years of taking shit, which means I don't really care what people think.  So long as I'm happy with the final draft, then I can't ask for anything else.  I would hope that some people will like it, but if some people don't, well, I won't lose any sleep.  Books are very subjective.  My main inspiration is Chuck Palahniuk.  To me, he is like a modern-day Bukowski (though Bukowski, another of my heroes, drank like a fish (much as I do) whereas Chuck comes across as pretty damn clean living).  When I read Fight Club (before the film came out), I realized that I had to start writing transgressive fiction.  But here's the thing.  Even Chuck, for me, has written a couple of "bad" novels, books that didn't really float my boat.  No writer can please all of his or her fans all of the time, but so long as we're happy that the work we've produced, the work that's been signed off for publication, is the best draft possible, well, we've done our job.

Anyway, keep watching this space.  Besotted will be out in December.  Just in time to ruin your Christmas ...