Guest Blog Post: Author Graham J. Sharpe

This is the first Guest Blog Post that I have hosted on here and I'm super happy. I have heard great things about Graham J. Sharpe's debut novel, Purple, and I can't wait to read it....

The Writing Process

Graham J. Sharpe

I think any writer would be lying if they told you that writing is easy. For me, it was a really long process. School was never my thing. I was bullied because I’m gay, and eventually I dropped out because fellow students could not accept me for who I was. Besides being bullied, I really hated the classroom environment. It took me a while to figure out that it wasn’t writing that I disliked but rather the idea of having someone tell me what to do.

One day I was talking to a friend and I realized that I had a good idea for a story. At that point I had taken a few creative writing courses, but didn’t have a college degree. I really didn’t think I had any business writing a book, but eventually I decided to go for it.

It took me a few years to write Purple. When I’m not writing I work as a flight attendant and combine travel with writing. I completed my first novel during the sleepless, jet-lagged hours spent in hotel rooms around the world. In the early days I wrote Purple on a notebook and had a friend type it out. I would write a little, put it away and then randomly start again.

I didn’t have a plan. In the beginning I didn’t even know who I was writing for. At first I thought it might be a short story for nine-year-old kids, but then the plot developed. I quickly realized that some of the main themes in Purple - bullying, friendship, trusting our intuition and dealing with loss - would appeal to an older demographic. After about three years I started writing more seriously. After two more years I finished the book.

I started to look for a literary agent and was referred to a London-based literary consultancy called Cornerstones. I wanted some feedback and I think that’s one of the biggest things new authors have to get over. It’s very scary at first to have someone read your work, but it really is important that you have an outsider look over it. Cornerstones read the entire manuscript and told me it had potential but needed some editing. I spent a further eighteen months rewriting.

I met an artist through another friend and she had some fantastic ideas for the cover. At that point I thought, “Well, maybe I ought to just publish it on my own.” So that’s what I did. Last September I published Purple as an eBook on Amazon, and I couldn’t be happier with where the book is today.

I think the most important thing that new writers need to remember is not to get discouraged. Take a break when you need one, have fun with the writing process and don’t give yourself a deadline. Creativity has to take its own course. Take your time and the words will come. 


Purchase Purple at Amazon paperback / ebook


About the Author:

At the age of 12, author Graham Sharpe regularly danced around the lounge to Kate Bush's “Wuthering Heights.” Today, he still hasn't decided what he'll do when he grows up. So far, the East Sussex, England-based writer has worked in an ice cream shop, trained as a hairdresser, studied sociology and psychology, written for and performed with a touring theatre company, and backpacked across far-flung countries with loose change in his pocket. Graham now combines travelling with writing and he completed his first novel, Purple, during the sleepless, jet-lagged hours spent in hotel rooms around the world.

Visit the author's official website. Check out his book in my "To Be Read Books" post here.