JAN BOLTON AKA JOSIE CHRISTIE TALKS ABOUT HER DEBUT Novel

I’m Jan Bolton and I have been writing short stories since I was fifteen. Mostly for the amusement of family and friends and although I have previously had a poem published, I didn't actually make the decision to try and write a novel with a view to going to press, until lockdown. 

Unsure I could write a full-length novel I decided to write a novella. Less intimidating. For the uninitiated, this is a piece of work between approximately seventeen and forty thousand words. This seemed achievable.

So, I started small. I opened a blank document and told myself I’d write. That was my only rule. I didn’t aim for eloquence. I just aimed to tell a good story that would grip the reader enough to keep turning the pages. 

There were days when I only wrote a paragraph. Others only a sentence. Some days I turned on the laptop and stared at the screen but slowly, something happened. Amazingly the story began to grow.

Writing my first book taught me that inspiration comes and goes, but that persistence is effective. There were moments when the words came easily and the characters felt alive. On those days I lost all track of time. 

Then there were long stretches where writing felt like dragging a stubborn animal uphill. Those were the days I learned to be disciplined. I learned that a novel is only written when you consistently fire up the computer and get down to it.  

Halfway through the manuscript, I hit what I now know is a very common wall. I re-read what I’d written and questioned it. Convinced it was pointless, unoriginal drivel. This is the stage where many would be novelists throw in the towel.

What saved me was distance. I abandoned my manuscript for a while and joined a writing group.

The class meet every two weeks. We are given a few prompts and we go away and write a short story. The session runs for two hours and we have a much welcome coffee/tea break in between. 

I was right to take a break. The class fired up my imagination again and I went back to my book with renewed enthusiasm. 

I stopped worrying about making it perfect, knowing that editing would come later. That shift from trying to get it right first time, to simply just getting it done changed everything. I wrote a further two novellas in the same genre and that is when I decided self-publishing might be the route for me.

Sitting down one lunch time with a friend we talked about the possibility of publishing the three novellas in one book.  

The more we discussed it, the more we thought it viable. The outlay was well within my means. At the same time, self-publishing was no longer what it once was. It had become an acceptable way to get a novel out there. 

Suddenly, it wasn’t just about the writing. We had to think about editing, cover design, formatting, pricing, marketing and a title for the book. 

Luckily the friend I’d discussed it with had previously worked in desk-top publishing and he took on the task of formatting the book and designing the cover.

We settled on the title Triangular and I wanted it published under a pen name. In the hope that Christie may bring me luck I used my paternal grandmother’s name, Josie Christie. 

There were times when having to make so many decisions felt completely overwhelming but at the same time it was empowering. The cover reflected the heart, literally, of the stories.  

Self-publishing taught me that writing a book is only half the journey.  

The day my book was officially released on Amazon I was excited. It would be bought by people I would never know.

When the first 5-star review came in from a reader in Canada I was ecstatic. 

If there’s one thing I hope you take from my experience, it’s that you don’t need permission to create. You don’t need to wait until you feel ready. You become ready by doing. 

Writing my first novel didn’t make me fearless. It made me familiar with fear and willing to do it anyway. 

Self-publishing didn’t make the journey easier. It made it mine and for me that was the greatest reward of all.