Well, it’s been a long time coming, but I finally finished my second novel and it has been acquired by Legend Press with a publication date of spring 2013. It’s a story about the fluidity of identity on the internet, how we present different faces in different situations, can rip up or change an identity at will, and often exist more in terms of what others think or expect of us than who we really are. The main character in the book, Jeff Brennan, exists in this online world and juggles multiple identities, so when someone mistakes him for a famous blogger, it seems natural to maintain the pretence and accrue the many benefits that go along with his new identity. But of course, it ends up being more complicated than that…
I’m excited to have finished the book after all this time (it’s 3 years since On the Holloway Road was published, and I started writing A Virtual Love before that), and excited to be working with Legend Press again. I was hoping for an earlier publication date, but they have a full schedule of launches for this year and want to make it their lead title for the start of 2013 (well, maybe that was just flattery, but it sounded good to me anyway). It’s good, anyway, because I’m getting a lot of writing done here in Barbados and want to keep the momentum going. Maybe I can get book 3 finished before book 2 comes out 🙂
If you’d like to see more recent posts on A Virtual Love, click here.
There are 20 comments
Hey Andrew – this sounds very interesting indeed! I am very much looking forward to reading it – I shall exercise some patience. Most jealous of your Bajan lifestyle! Helen
Congratulations Andrew looking forward to reading it.
Hi Helen and Charles, many thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the kind words. I’m looking forward to reading it too – I’ll have forgotten what’s in it by the time it comes out 😉
Congratulations, Andrew. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Congratulations Andrew! Sounds like a very interesting book!
Thanks Caroline and Nivedita! It’s strange at the moment, as I’m so involved in writing my third book right now but still have a long time to wait before A Virtual Love comes out. Anyway I’m looking forward to it as well. Thanks for the comments!
Congratulations, Andrew! I like what you shared about the book, looking forward to seeing it in the bookstores in this part of the world. I’ve missed your posts but now I know why you were so busy. 🙂
Thanks Delia! Yes, it’s been a busy time, and taking a bit of a break from the internet really helped. The connection where I’m living at the moment in Barbados is not great, so that helps me not to spend too long online as well 🙂 Getting lots of writing done.
Many congratulations! Such exciting news. I know what you mean about forgetting what you wrote – academic books are dreadful in that respect, several years can pass between submission and publication. The premise of your new novel sounds extremely intriguing. Might we recognise anyone of our virtual friends among your cast of characters? 😉
This is wonderful news, Andrew! Congratulations! I can’t wait to read ‘A Virtual Love’! You were a bit quiet for a while and I was wondering about it. Now I know why 🙂
I forgot to mention one more thing. I love the new look-and-feel of your blog and website and your picture which appears on the homepage – you are looking like a philosopher-rockstar-writer 🙂
Thanks Vishy! Yes, I spent a bit of time “offline”, just working on my writing and getting a few things sorted out, as well as enjoying Barbados. But I’m back now. Glad you like the new look! I’m still working on it, and things may change more in the next few weeks.
Congratulations Andrew. I have yet to read your first.
Thanks Geosi! No worries – it was not on sale in South Africa as far as I know. I love that, in this age of the internet, people on the other side of the world are even aware of my book 🙂 (Quick sales pitch: if you ever do get the urge to try it, The Book Depository offers free worldwide shipping!)
Hi Andrew, it is the first time I got onto your website and I must say it, looking great 🙂 I admire the fact you actually get your writings finished and published, I am – so far – way too messy for that… I am very happy for you and as you get inspired in Barbados, I am getting inspired right here in Gibraltar, working a night shift 🙂 Thank you for that!
Hi Sofia
Thanks for visiting! I’m glad you like the site, and thanks so much for the kind words 🙂 I know all about the night shift – have worked many of those myself in the past. I hope you get through the messiness (I know all about that too!) and make lots of progress with your writing. Hope to see you here again!
Congratulations, Andrew. The premise sounds very ‘now’ and I think a lot of people will be able to connect to the lead character. Because, in a way, just by being on Facebook/Twitter, we assume an identity, not exactly an alternate one but all the same, slightly different.
Wish you all the best for your new novel. 🙂 🙂
Hey Manali, thanks for visiting me! Yes, that’s the sort of thing I’m exploring in the novel – the way we define ourselves according to the world’s view of us instead of by who we really are. Of course we don’t do it to the same extreme as the main character, but I think most of us do it to some degree. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Congratulations, Andrew! As a couple commenters have already mentioned, the concerns of the novel sound incredibly relevant to the fragmented, multi-faceted existences we conduct both online and off-. The notion of how we can, as you put it, rip up or change an identity at will, is one that particularly grasps my interest. It’ll be exciting to see how you’ve treated with this in A Virtual Love — I look forward to reading it.
(I’ve also just read the blurb for On the Holloway Road on Amazon… wow. A book’s premise after my own heart!
Hi Shivanee,
Thanks for visiting! I appreciate your comment, and am really happy that you’re intrigued by the premises of both my novels. They’re quite different, so people who like one won’t necessarily like the other. But if you’re interested in both, then we must have a lot in common 🙂