jmcobleyauthor

 It's hard, isn't it? Difficult, I mean. Staring at a blank page. I'm doing it right now. I've never quite found writing so difficult. The actual physical act of it is easy enough, but these days I don't want to write unless I have something to say that matters. And that's because of two things: one is the times that we are living in, full of lies and division, brimming over with hate and conflict, ignorance and fear of the other as well as the familiar. So, what is a writer to do? My writing has gone through many phases, but it's only in the last few years that I've taken myself seriously enough to think I could write something that matters. Hubris is a dangerous thing. In 2021, my literary historical novel 'A Hundred Years to Arras' came out, trumpets blaring for about two weeks. Plenty has been written recently about my publisher, so I won't comment here except to say that I thought it would be my big chance, a stepping stone to other oppo...

This post originally appeared on my Wordpress site on 2nd March 2024 Here's a little insight into what it's like being an author at my level... 1. I'm not a 'brand'. I'm too old and too ordinary to be a marketable brand, so that automatically counts against me as far as agents and publishers are concerned. 2. I write literary fiction. That's not a genre that sells as much as some others, so that automatically counts against me as far as agents and publishers are concerned. 3. I  don't have the budget to spend on marketing myself beyond social media. Very few writers do. It might be annoying to see us constantly promoting our books, but if we don't do it ourselves, no one else will, apart from a few lovely people who do it out of the kindness of their hearts. 4. One negative review can crush us, but one okay-to-good review can elevate us beyond belief. 5. It's incredibly difficult to keep motivation to write with all of this in mind. 6. We don...

This post originally appeared on my Wordpress site on 5th August 2024: Available now to pre-order as an  ebook  from Amazon for only £1.99 is my latest book, a historical novella set in Wales in 1910 at the time of the Tonypandy Riots. Paperback and  Hardback  also available! Release date: 12th August 2024 In November 1910, a disgraced Seth Bethel returns home to his mining family in South Wales just as The Cambrian Combine Strike is about to begin. Seth is drawn into the miners' strike by the charismatic figures of Will John and John Hopla, who lead the picketing of the collieries. Picketing leads to violent protests and rioting. Police and the military are brought in from across the country to defend the collieries. Hopla's aim: to disable the Glamorgan Colliery by destroying its Powerhouse. This is the story of Seth's redemption through family. His story is that of many young men on the brink of the battle for workers' rights, fighting for community and the beginn...

The following originally appeared on my Wordpress site on 11th November 2023: On this day of Remembrance, I find myself reflecting on how the past influences our present and our future. 11th November 1918 will always stand in our collective memory, but for me much more significant is April 1917. On Easter Monday in 1917, thousands of allied troops emerged from underground caverns that they had hollowed out and lived in for months, in order to take the Germans by surprise and reclaim strategic land that had been lost in Northern France, specifically the town of Arras. The Battle of Arras had begun. Such battles were not fought by the commanders and public school officers that so many accounts have focused on, but by young men who signed up or were drafted. They believed they were fighting for their country, for God, for their families, but they were thrown into a new kind of war that they couldn't possibly understand. Private Robert Gooding Henson was 23. He had joined the Somerset ...

 Welcome to the new blog! You may have been one of the half a dozen people who looked at my Wordpress site, but I found it tricky to manage and traffic was small, so here we are, relaunching. I'm also doing this because I'm migrating off social media. I still maintain a Facebook presence, mainly for friends and family, and I'm on Bluesky, but I find so much of it now to be too confrontational. I'm not here for an argument. I'm here, let's face it, to encourage you to read my books. I'd also like to be able to post about books and music I've enjoyed without immediately having to engage in an argument. You can post comments below instead. Be nice. Or, if you can't be nice, at least be kind. If you can't be kind, well, then you'll be happier on social media. So, to newcomers, who am I? I'm a writer who lives in Warwickshire with my family. I've also been a teacher for many years, and I've dabbled in radio broadcasting.  I'm most ...