Hello writers and readers,
Today I would like to tell you about a new book just published 15th October:
The Jigsaw and The Fan by Stewart Bint.
In a nutshell:
International novelist published by Dragon
Moon Press. Journalist/magazine columnist. Active awareness campaigner for
mental health and sepsis. Named on the 2016 list of "Inspirational Mental
Health Advocates that are changing the world."
Previous roles include radio presenter,
newsreader and phone-in host.
Married to Sue, with two grown-up
children, Chris and Charlotte, and a charismatic budgie called Alfie
Lives in Leicestershire, UK. Usually goes
barefoot.
Novels:
The Jigsaw And The Fan; Timeshaft; In Shadows Waiting;
Novellas:
Malfunction; Ashday's Child.
Short
story collection: Thunderlands.
Non
fiction: Up Close And Personal
Anthologies:
Awethology Dark; December Awethology Light; Blood Moon
Stewart Bint now puts a little bit of flesh
on the bones:
“I’m just an ageing hippy who goes
barefoot almost all the time and likes to entertain people through stories. My
books aren’t great art and they’re not great literature, but my readers tell me
they’re entertaining, so that’s good enough for me.
“I was born in the dim and distant past
(under extreme torture I have been known to admit to 1956). I have worked both
for the BBC and commercial radio as a newsreader, current affairs presenter and
‘phone-in host. Now I’m a novelist, magazine columnist, and Public Relations
writer.
Family life – I’m married with two
grown-up children, and an extremely charismatic budgie called Alfie.
I was written by the writing bug when I
was seven in 1963, through watching the original series of what has been my
favourite television series ever since: Doctor Who. Even at that young age I
was enraptured by the storylines which can take place at any time in the past
and future, and absolutely anywhere in the universe and beyond. I started creating my own worlds and
characters, writing my stories in little blue notebooks until my parents bought
me a portable typewriter for my 9th birthday.
And those make-believe worlds became
invaluable after my Dad died when I was 11. I retreated more and more into
those places where I was in control of my characters’ fate, knowing that
whatever happened to them during the story I would make sure they were okay in
the end. My worlds were certainly better thn the real one at that time.
In my twenties it was my ambition to
become a published novelist by the time I was 30. Hhmmm, I was 26 years too
late with that…achieving it when I was 56 in 2012. I’d kept on writing fiction
as a hobby, but it was only on holiday, bobbing up and down with a friend in
the Caribbean Sea when he said I ought to seriously try and get published.
So I dusted down an old manuscript, gave
it a thorough working over and submitted it. Now, with three novels, two
novellas, a collection of short stories, a compilation of my early magazine
columns, and a contributor to several short story anthologies, I’m mighty glad
I took his advice.
Links:
How much trouble can one disgruntled ghost really cause?
Stewart Bint’s latest novel has been
published as a paperback and ebook by Dragon Moon Press.
The Jigsaw And The Fan is described as
social satire.
Albert Carter has died, and finds himself
in the spirit world, to get sorted out at St Christopher’s gates. Having been a
successful shop steward picketing the management of Jebson’s Glue Factory on
behalf of his colleagues, he feels confident his final destination is Heaven,
with the rest of the decent, honest working class.
However, on arrival at St Christopher’s
Doomsday Ministry, an inspectors’ strike means all spirits in transit have to
be temporarily repatriated to Earth as ghosts, until the dispute is settled.
Albert’s ghostly assignment is his worst
nightmare: a wealthy Lord’s manor which operates on the hard-earned wages of
his own class.
Immediately on arrival, he decides to ruin
the capitalist family, and begins his unlawful haunting as the Ghost of
Marlston Manor. Watching him from the heavens is a host of guardian angels,
elders, overlords and scribes – all scrambling to undo the havoc that Albert is
blunderingly creating in his short stint as a ghost.
The final straw comes as Albert riles up a
“fright” of ghosts to collude and protest their sentences on Earth – and Albert
finally faces St Christopher.
So it’s pure satire, from start to finish,
looking at various levels of conflict.
And, as we all know, conflict of some sort
is at the heart of almost every story.
The conflict in The Jigsaw And The Fan
comes in many guises: Albert v. the
management of Jebson’s Glue factory; Albert v. Lord Maxwell Filchester
Barrington-Pottesherbert; Wallace v. Mozelbeek; and the inspectors v. St
Christopher.
Stewart Bint explains that the original
idea for the book stemmed from his days working for BBC Radio, reading the news
and presenting current affairs programmes during the time of the bitter miners
strike in the UK.
“I wanted to tell a story about the
futility of such disputes, looking especially at how both sides are as bad as
each other. Never having been involved personally in anything like that miners
strike…just interviewing miners, their families, and the police regularly…I
knew I could never capture the raw emotion that would be needed to make a
hard-hitting book a success.
“So I chose to satirise the miners strike
in this way, without actually mentioning it once in the book.”
