For Bella, storytelling is about control — even if the publishers aren’t buying it, writes John Longhurst.
BELLA, THE PUBLICAN, beamed as Mick and Bazza approached the bar:
“I have finished my first book, So the drinks are on me.”
Mick squinted an eye and rubbed his chin:
“By gee, Bella, I thought you would have read more than one book by now, but it is never too late to take up reading. Keep it up, it is good for you.”
Bazza groaned and Bella gritted her teeth:
“I have just finished writing my first novel, Mick. In fact, I have already received my first rejections from publishers.”
Mick took a sip, furrowed his brow and straightened his shoulders.
“Oh, right. Well, that is not a good sign, Bella. Now my advice—”
Bella cut him off with a chuckle and a shake of her head:
“Save the advice, Mick. It would be great to be published, but it is not the motivation. I enjoy writing and delving into a world where I control everything from the weather to the shoes the main character decides to wear. At the tap of the keyboard, characters can be happy, sad, in love, out of love, thoughtful or reckless.”
Bella paused and fixed her gaze on Mick:
In fact, you can write a character out of the story if you do not like them. Anyhow, Mick, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected 12 times by various publishers. Stephen King’s Carrie was rejected 30 times and yet he managed to go on and sell 350 million copies of various works. The list goes on. James Joyce and George Orwell had works rejected… and listen to this early response to William Golding’s Lord of the Flies:
‘Time the Future. Absurd and uninteresting fantasy about the explosion of an atom bomb on the colonies. A group of children who land in jungle country near New Guinea. Rubbish and dull. Pointless. Reject.’
Bazza cleared his throat:
“And do not forget the literary hoax back in 2006, Bella. Some of Australia’s leading publishers and agents received a chapter of a novel, apparently in progress, from an unpublished writer, Wraith Picket. The manuscript was rejected and variously described as confused and overwritten. It was, in fact, a copy of Chapter 3 from Patrick White’s Eye of the Storm. Of course, Patrick White is the only Australian to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1973.”
A long pause before Mick leaned in:
“Now, let me get this straight, Bazza. Your advice to Bella is that she should submit her manuscript to publishers and agents under the name of a famous author. Who do you have in mind?”
Bella sighed.
“Ah, Mick, if I made you a character in my next novel, I would... never mind, I have customers to serve.”
John Longhurst is a former industrial advocate and political adviser. He currently works as an English and History teacher on the South Coast of NSW.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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