"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

Sarahsque said:
wow this is a good read! Can we still ask questions?
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You can ask, Sarahsque, and who knows, you might even get an answer! John had intended to make a return to the Chrons on a regular basis, but I suspect his workload is getting in the way again.

Don't worry, though, there'll always be someone willing to answer! :)
 
The Judge said:
I'm not sure if John is around at the moment, so I'll have a go at answering.


Highly unlikely, I'd have thought. More likely you'd get a 'No thanks, but keep me in mind for the next one', perhaps with some comments about your writing generally.

I don't think anything is a complete no-no, but you surely will limit your options with subject matter which many will find distasteful. This is particularly the case, I imagine, if the doctor is seen as the hero and/or isn't punished in any way for the offence. On the upside, if you did get published, the furore from the outraged moralists will almost guarantee you fame and fortune. If you're really lucky, they will even buy your book for the express purpose of burning it!

I don't think you'd have that reaction here, if you wanted to put an extract up for critique. Read the stickies at the top of the critiques forum though, and only post a few hundred words to begin with.

Is there a reason the girl is only 15? Could you make her older in fact, even if you need the doctor and/or the others in the book to believe she is underage? Is the sex happening on stage, as it were? If so, you are more likely to cause offence, and again create problems in selling the book to an agent or publisher, than if it is happening behind closed doors.

You won't get flamed on this site - we have very good moderators here.

J
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Hey Judge,

Thanks so much for your response. I'm glad this forum is open-minded. I personally believe that no subject should be taboo, and I certainly wasn't planning on portraying this subject in a positive light or letting the doctor go unpunished.

It is pretty important that the girl is actually underage, as her and the doc go on the run because of it. It's only the beginning of the novel, though, the catalyst for everything that happens afterwards, all caused by this shocking act.

Thanks again for your advice. I'll give the first chapter another polish and see about posting it in the critique section. :)
 
Heterochromia said:
Thanks again for your advice. I'll give the first chapter another polish and see about posting it in the critique section. :)
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No problem. But, please don't make it the whole chapter! We usually only need around 350-500 words to assess someone's writing strengths and weaknesses in the first instance. If people like your work, then you can post longer excerpts afterwards if you are still looking for help.

J
 
The Judge said:
No problem. But, please don't make it the whole chapter! We usually only need around 350-500 words to assess someone's writing strengths and weaknesses in the first instance. If people like your work, then you can post longer excerpts afterwards if you are still looking for help.

J
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Thanks, haven't gotten around to reading the rules properly yet, will do :)
 
John Jarrold said:
I haven't known anyone whose first book was truly awful be successful later.
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Sorry John. But David Gemmel did write an awful first attempt, The Man from Miami, in the 70s, which didn't find any publisher. He himself later admitted that the book "was so bad it could curdle milk at 50 paces.”

He later wrote The Siege of Dros Delnoch after he was diagnosed with a cancer which he believed was terminal, in 1976. After he learned that it was a misdiagnosis, he set it aside until 1980.

He returned to make another attempt, and Siege was accepted in 1982, and was published under a new title, Legend, in 1984. The rest, of course, is history.

The Drenai Series, the Rigante Series, the Stones of Power/Sipstrassi Series, the John Shannow series, the Hawk Queen Series and his swansong, the Troy Trilogy.
 
Heterochromia said:
You see, it starts with two characters on the run who are having an illicit affair, a local doctor and a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl (I know this doesn't sound very SF/Fantasy, but that comes later!).

I just want to stress at this point that I am not a pervert, but I had the idea after I read a similar story in a newspaper. Please don't flame me!
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Neither am I. But I think, personally, that folks over generalise and are over hung up on the right age for a girl to have sex. I mean, there are plenty of girls of fifteen who are much more mature, both emotionally and physically, than other girls (leave alone boys, who tend to mature much later) two to three years older than them.

To me, it should be a girl's emotional-biological-anatomical stage of development, rather than her pure chronological age, that should be the main limiting criterion.

How about you place the time of your forbidden love back somewhere in the medieval ages? When folks weren't so hung up and so morally pretentious about an imaginary age threshold. Maybe you could use time travel as a device/excuse, if you have to.
 
Heterochromia said:
It is pretty important that the girl is actually underage, as her and the doc go on the run because of it. It's only the beginning of the novel, though, the catalyst for everything that happens afterwards, all caused by this shocking act.
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dreamhunter said:
How about you place the time of your forbidden love back somewhere in the medieval ages? When folks weren't so hung up and so morally pretentious about an imaginary age threshold.
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Heterochromia wants the act to be transgressive/forbidden, dreamhunter, as this is what sets the plot in train. If the act were merely considered to be "not very nice", and then only to those folks who are "hung up and so morally pretentious", there would be no need for the doctor and the girl to go on the run, would there?




By the way, Heterochromia, in many places - for example France, I believe - a girl of fifteen has reached the age of consent. Is the doctor thinking of travelling to such a country or staying where their relationship remains illegal?
 
To me, it should be a girl's emotional-biological-anatomical stage of development, rather than her pure chronological age, that should be the main limiting criterion.
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Great Scott! That's going to cause a few problems on a drunken Saturday night. Will potential paramours have to forego a swift knee-trembler behind the Mecca bingo hall until the lady has had a full psychological profile and a full medical examination carried out by suitably qualified professionals? Can you actually complete a rorshach test when you are three sheets to the wind on vodka and cheap cider?

Peter
 
and shouldn't we offer the same service to the (presumably) leathered townie blokes who want their knees trembled?
 
And to level things up, ought to worry about the mental and emotional maturity of males in relation to age for first sex.
:)
 
Montero said:
And to level things up, ought to worry about the mental and emotional maturity of males in relation to age for first sex.
:)
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Doesn't that rather presuppose men achieve mental and emotional maturity...


*listens for advancing mods telling us to stay on thread*
 
John,

Please forgive me if this is an inappropriate question. I was just curious what your average response time to queries tends to be. Also, does it vary significantly from season to season?

Thanks so much for answering the questions on this thread, it's been very insightful.
 
I'm currently having a manuscript edited by John, and I can recommend his services.

He'll tell you straight to the point what's wrong or not working, but will be fair and constructive about it.

It's an ideal learning process as once you've seen his blue lines through your prose, you will quickly learn what's acceptable for the modern publishing industry and what isn't.
 
Salaris, I can give a rough answer. I recently submitted my book to Mr. Jarrold, and got a reply in just less than a month.

In addition, the reply, though a rejection, was pretty helpful. It wasn't just a standard rejection copied and pasted.
 
Yeah, it was six chapters I sent. Sorry, that was pretty unclear.
 
Thank you for the reply, thaddeus6th. I hope to hear back soon, if that's the case. =)
 
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