Today, 23rd June, marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of my first book, the Fighting Fantasy adventure Spellbreaker.
At least, for some reason, 23rd June is stuck in my head as the date. It was on or around this date that I went into WHSmith in Leamington Spa and found the book on the shelf and then spent so long poring over it that I ended up getting a parking ticket. I was just blown away by the fact that I had written a book and that it had been published, and could be picked up in an actual bookshop by actual people. The fact that I had a copy of my own from when I had visited the offices of Puffin Books in London some weeks previously was irrelevant.
Sadly, I lent that very copy to someone a few years later and never saw it again. The copy I now have is the one I gave to my parents, complete with my personalised dedication to them and a very immature autograph. My signature these days resembles something you'd see on an ECG monitor.
It took three years to get to the point where I had my first book on sale, if you ignore all the years of 'practice' that had gone before that. In my final year of school, I wrote to Puffin asking if I could write gamebooks for them. Eventually, Marc Gascoigne, who was the Fighting Fantasy consultant editor at the time, wrote back to me kindly explaining what I need to submit to be considered for publication but warning me that my chances of publication were very slim.
I proceeded to start writing
Outlaws of Kaan, and duly submitted the first 100 sections and a detailed synopsis of how the adventure would pan out. Marc considered my proposal and politely declined, so in the Christmas holidays, after my first term at university, I re-wrote and re-submitted by proposal. Unfortunately, it still wasn't up to scratch and Marc turned it down again. It was time to try something else.
I let things rest until the summer holidays and, in between working as a gardener, of all things, I worked on a proposal for a new adventure called Spellbreaker. This one was better received, but I was still asked to make some changes and resubmit. I did so and this time Marc thought it was good enough to show to Richard Scrivener, the Fighting Fantasy commissioning editor at Puffin Books. In my Easter holidays, after my proposal had been scrutinised by Richard, I was asked to make a few more tweaks and then, at the start of my summer holidays after my second year at university, I received a commissioning letter from Marc the last line of which I still remember was. "I'll let you go now and pass out with happiness."
From that point on I became one of FF's regular stable of writers, providing one book a year for the series until Puffin Book pulled the plug in 1996.
Fighting Fantasy opened all sorts of doors for me, including ones that lead to Games Workshop, Abaddon Books, and Doctor Who, and only last year I assisted Steve Jackson with writing
Secrets of Salamonis, and Sir Ian Livingstone and I are currently
working on a book together.
Looking back, it feels like quite some achievement. I have been published every year since Spellbreaker came out, in one form or another, and I now make my living as a jobbing writer. But you find me in a sombre mood today. The reason? My age.
My father died suddenly of a massive heart attack aged 70, whilst doing what he loved. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure four years ago and since last summer I have had a couple of health scares related to my heart. Therefore, in my mind, I only have 20 years of writing left, at most, which leaves me thinking, what do I want to spend my time writing, since my remaining writing time is precious?
I am a writer, it's what I do, and beyond being a husband and a father, in a large part it is how I define myself. I will write for as long as I can, but I also have to be sensible about what I write, because my family need the money I earn from writing. But on the other hand, I don't want to fritter away my time writing something I'm not wholly invested in. (You won't find me writing Moshi Monsters books these days.) But equally, some of my ideas for gamebooks are pretty niche, and adventure gamebooks are already a niche market.
I don't have any answers to these questions at present. In my immediate future I need to finish
YOU ARE THE HERO - An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks and
The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game. I know I want to write another
ACE Gamebook, ideally in time for the UK Games Expo 2024, but beyond that I don't know.
Nonetheless, I shall be raising a glass to Spellbreaker tonight and toasting the future. Just in case.
