How "The Loss" Came to be...........


A lot of people have asked how long it took to write, what inspired me, etc etc

So here is a bit of a timeline of how it all went



Spring 2004

I'm working up and down the UK DJ'ing in various clubs (at this time I wasn't in radio) I was spending hours on trains and planes, and decided to start reading books to pass the time.

I was reading lots of biographies and true stories about people who had lost something, led interesting lives etc etc. Some disappointed, not so much with the content but by the way they were written. I began to wonder if I could do something better with a story of my own. I thought about writing some kind of biography on me, but I haven't done much.......certainly not enough to justify writing about me! Then I thought about what happened with my mum, the effects it had, and everything me and the family went through. MAYBE I had something. I could maybe write about me to fill in some history to the story. This led to the idea of a dual time line approach. Rather than just having a story about about someone dieing, I thought I could paint a history of the family, painting the story behind the relationships, and the ups and downs of family life giving the whole thing some more depth and substance. So I thought of doing this with "Then & Now" chapters.

JULY 2004

The rough drafts began of all the chapters, written on trains and planes.

I already knew the story and how it would go so I didn't have to worry about plot changes, and character definitions. It meant I could plan chapters out of order, knowing I could pull it all back together using the timelines and facts of what actually happened (it's a true story after all)

AUGUST 2004

Whilst handwriting rough drafts for later chapters, I began to type up the first draft (saving onto Microsoft word, and two back up discs......I've since discovered memory sticks!) It was going well and I thought it could be roughly finished by September. However.........

OCTOBER 2004

Started a new radio job 200 miles from home, which meant much more time was taken up and I had less time for writing. So progress was slow as handwrote rough drafts on more trains, and on holiday in Tunisia, and anywhere else I could grab half an hour.

DECEMBER 2004

It was a slow couple of months but on December 16th on a train station platform just outside London I finished the handwritten rough draft. I was still typring up the earlier chapters on the PC, but now the book was actually finished in earnest, with just the typing up of the first draft to be done

JANUARY 2005

By late January the first draft was all typed up. It was just left for me to go through the whole thing, making the sure the flow was OK, and to re-write a few bits here and there, and also taking a bit out. All in all this added an extra 5,000 words, but gave even more needed depth

FEBRUARY 2005

Once the re-writes and edits were all done it went off to the publishers for proof reading and copy editing. It took three weeks and I was pleased when it came back with just 60 odd words ammended! Some books have loads and loads stripped down, re worked etc

MARCH - MAY 2005

The cover design was a slow process. Trying to translate the image I had in my mind to the cover designer. I had wanted to use a photo but couldn't find the right image. All the library images at the publishers weren't right and they were going to cost me money to use, so I had to work on designing one.

I then had to make sure there were no copywrite issues with the quote on the cover. There wasn't/isn't.......well there is now!

JUNE 2005

Proof copy ofd the book came back. A few typos were sorted out and in.......

JULY 2005

Book released!



Thats basically how it came together!

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