Thank you for asking me to be a guest blogger. I hope my
wafflings are of some interest to you and your followers.
My first book, Losing It, was a somewhat po-faced and
scary psychological thriller. Not much call for belly-laughs. I think the book worked pretty well within
the limitations of its genre, but I thought if I was ever inclined to write
another book, I’d focus on what I’m (supposed to be) good at; comedy. I’ve been
a stand-up and impressionist for 20 years, and written hundreds of sketches and
scripts for live performance, radio and TV, so the funny stuff should come
easily, I thought. But I also wanted to make the book about real people, real
relationships, real families. And real romance. Which was when things got a bit
more complex.
The early drafts were full of irrelevant quips and riffs
that had no bearing on the story or the characters. It’s quite difficult to
delete sure-fire laughs, but I’ve read too many books by people striving too
hard and sacrificing forward propulsion to self-indulge, instead, at the altar
of comedy, so I became quite fierce with myself. If the funny bit it didn’t sit
comfortably with the scene or the character, out it came. Reviews to date have
suggested that it’s still ‘laugh out loud funny’ but that the characters are
rounded and the story plausible, so the early signs that I’ve struck the right
balance are promising.
The trickier bit for me was pitching the romance element
from a man’s perspective with authenticity. Now I like a good romcom as much as
the next bloke (we all do, honestly; we just don’t like to admit it). High
Fidelity, Starter For Ten and Charlotte Street are all written by men and
feature a male protagonist. They all succeed in dealing with love from the male
perspective but when it comes to writing about matters of the heart, women
authors are rather more abundant. And I would venture to suggest that most of
their books feature a female protagonist. So dipping my toe into what might be
a less appreciated genre – manlit? - felt like a leap into the unknown.
Manlit. What a ridiculous term. Readers have described
Song In The Wrong Key variously as ‘romcom, ‘women’s fiction’, ‘chicklit’ and
‘commercial fiction’ and, in the end, it hardly matters. My view is that love
and romance are not exclusive to either gender. We all fall in love and we all
enjoy courtship. Well most of us anyway. Why should a woman reader be any less
entranced by a male protagonist’s romantic adventures (which, after all,
involve his feelings towards a woman) than a male reader in those of a female
protagonist’s? Maybe we could all benefit from some insights into the opposite sex’s
romantic modus operandi!
Surely the key is to write the best book you can, not
worry about how others may classify it and leave the readers to decide if they
like it. I have endeavoured to write a book for everyone. There’s nothing
exclusive about my subject matter. It’s a story about a family man – hopefully
a funny one – which deals with relationships, kids, career dilemmas and the
quest for redemption, themes I hope we can all identify with.
Nevertheless, I recognise that I’m one of a small
minority of writers spinning tales about the love lives of male protagonists.
And, as a first timer in this area, I needed to work out how to talk about
feelings, something we men are notoriously useless at. Men dissemble for a
living. If my wife asks me if I love her, I tend to snort and bluster something
like: ‘Yeah, course I do. God almighty. Where’s the remote?’ whereas she can emote
without blinking an eye! But, actually, once I got down to writing the
heartfelt stuff, it didn’t bother me at all. Mike Kenton is a version of me, and
narrating the story through him allowed me express what was going on in his
head. Men think and feel the same emotions as women. Honestly. They just don’t
say them out loud unless, like me, they’re talking to their kids. When they’re
very young. And asleep.
*****
Michael Kenton is a middle-aged man living in middle-class
comfort with wife Lisa and daughters Millie and Katia. Drifting complacently
towards retirement, Mike's world is turned upside-down when he is thrown
unexpectedly onto the career scrapheap.
While Lisa's career sky-rockets, Mike slobs around in his track suit playing guitar, rekindling his teenage love affair with pop music. Knowing Lisa wouldn't approve, he plots a secret 'comeback' at a grimy Crouch End bistro where music executive Ben, desperate and out of time, asks if he can enter one of Mike's songs into the Eurovision Song Contest. With nothing to lose, Mike focuses on Eurovision but quickly finds himself staring down the barrel of low level fame. His crumbling marriage now page five news, he must choose between his musical dream and mending his broken family, a task complicated by the re-appearance of ex-love of his life Faye.
A laugh-out-loud comedy about love, family, friendship and Euro- tack by acclaimed stand-up and comedy writer Simon Lipson.
While Lisa's career sky-rockets, Mike slobs around in his track suit playing guitar, rekindling his teenage love affair with pop music. Knowing Lisa wouldn't approve, he plots a secret 'comeback' at a grimy Crouch End bistro where music executive Ben, desperate and out of time, asks if he can enter one of Mike's songs into the Eurovision Song Contest. With nothing to lose, Mike focuses on Eurovision but quickly finds himself staring down the barrel of low level fame. His crumbling marriage now page five news, he must choose between his musical dream and mending his broken family, a task complicated by the re-appearance of ex-love of his life Faye.
A laugh-out-loud comedy about love, family, friendship and Euro- tack by acclaimed stand-up and comedy writer Simon Lipson.
*****
Simon
Lipson was born in London and took a law degree at the LSE. After a spell as a
lawyer, he co-founded legal recruitment company Lipson Lloyd-Jones in 1987. In
1993, Simon took his first tentative steps onto the comedy circuit and has
since become an in-demand stand-up and impressionist across the UK, as well as
a regular TV and radio performer/writer. His broadcasting credits include Week
Ending, Dead Ringers, Loose Ends and Fordham & Lipson (co-wrote and
performed own 4 part sketch series) on Radio 4; Interesting...Very Interesting
and Simon Lipson's Xmas Box on Radio 5 and And This Is Them on Radio 2. He is
also an experienced voice artiste who has voiced hundreds of advertisements as
well as cartoons and documentaries. His first novel, Losing It, a thriller, was
published by Matador in 2008. Simon is a columnist for Gridlock Magazine (www.gridlockmagazine.com). His next
novel, Standing Up,
will be published by Lane & Hart in Autumn 2012.
Twitter: @SimonLipson
Buy links – paperback and Kindle:
My show, The Accidental Impressionist, is on at
the Camden Fringe 20 – 23 August @ 8pm. Everyone welcome! Details and tickets
here: http://j.mp/JDPBnu
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