We are pleased to hear that TLC Free Reads alum James E. Taylor has published his first novel. James initially came to TLC for manuscript assessment in 2009. In its early stages, his manuscript was assessed by TLC reader Sarah Bower. The current iteration of the novel is a literary-crime crossover with plenty of tension and drama, and was published by Troubador in June 2016. When the Water Falls tells the story of a child struggling to cope with events, against a backdrop of the heaven and earth laid down for him. It is also the story of the man he then becomes, returning – years later – to call those worlds to account.
About his journey to publication, and on working with TLC, James E. Taylor said:
My grandmother used to say something like this: you sit in a cave and watch a persistent spider, then you step out and replicate that persistence on a grander scale and, eventually, success follows. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have said that this was all very well but Robert the Bruce wasn’t doing anything half as tricky as trying to publish literary fiction − even where that fiction crosses firmly into the thriller genre.
The first few drafts of When the Water Falls were written several years ago and, just when the spider image was losing its allure, I won back to back Arts Council awards in my local region. Manuscript assessments at TLC followed. Each assessment was a leap forward and I am immensely grateful to Sara Maitland, Sarah Bower and Elspeth Barker.
Nevertheless, life often has a habit of getting in the way. Moreover, multi-genre fiction (crime/psychological and religion too anyone?) is not an easy fit for the agency world. So after returning to the fray and having several near misses, I decided on a new approach. In truth, the confidence instilled by the expert TLC reviews had stubbornly refused to fade.
Fortunately, a mutual friend introduced me to the editor S. J. Forder. Armed with TLC’s inspiration and my editorial makeover, I set about searching for the right independent publisher. As a result, the eBook of When the Water Falls has just been published, courtesy of Troubador, and is now available at all major online retailers. Thankfully, the novel itself is as topical today, if not more so, as when it was first conceived. Now I need some more luck.
If my grandmother had said be persistent and get lucky, I think she would have been spot on. So, what does that mean, Robert the Bruce and Daft Punk? Not quite, because, as a writer, without TLC in the mix, I don’t think I would be here at all!
When the Water Falls, a synopsis:
It is 1971. Tom is seven years old and knows most of what he needs to know about his faith. Or, at least, he’s supposed to. But he has just watched a woman kill herself and he soon learns that suicides are denied a Catholic burial and can never enter the Kingdom of God. Then a fatal accident robs Tom of his mother and he and his brother are sent away to school. The move is intended to restore balance to their lives. Instead, it brings chaos and greater devastation…
You can buy the book on Amazon here, or direct from the publisher.
