Johnnie Ray had it bad, he had just found himself replaced by a new craze called Rock and Roll. The half American Indian, half deaf teen idol must have been in shock.

Things had looked so rosy for him just a few years earlier. With Guy Mitchell and Frankie Laine he had rocked the charts with huge hits like ‘Cry’, ‘Just Walking in the Rain’ and ‘You Don’t Owe me a Thing’- then Elvis had arrived and suddenly the ‘cry guy’ wasn’t hitting the charts with such ease.

The first full 12″ album he recorded was called ‘The Big Beat’. A classic, heavily influenced by R’n’B. ‘I’m Gonna Move’ was the opposite of the hit records of the time. The album released in 1956 was ahead of its time! It’s available now on CD- check it out!

The next few albums were great listening– ‘Til Morning’, ‘A Sinner Am I’ and ‘Live at the Desert Inn’. All three of these stumbled along, none set the charts alight. Columbia grew disenchanted and suddenly the golden boy wasn’t so golden.

In 1959, he scored his last hit, a self penned record called ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’. The record was a huge hit in the UK, but just a minnow in the USA and with that last disc his chart career was over. A few albums followed, along with alcoholism and cabaret clubs. There was nothing more or less to it. Johnnie Ray slipped away. The man who had been chased onto the roof of the London Palladium and held captive until he did a rooftop show was now a golden oldie.

In the 70’s, he came to England and caused a frenzy. I often wonder why he didn’t live here. His career could have taken off again, singers never go out of work in the UK. He just kept on going, he survived the scandal of being gay in 1959 and beat his drug addictions. Finally, he died in 1990 and I wonder if he ever knew how great he was?

If you have a chance guys, check out his discs. They’re masterpieces, real masterpieces!

A lot of people, my wife included, write off Stephen King as a writer.

Why?

Is it because he is immensely popular? Wealthy? Prolific? Is there a stigma involved for writers who specialize in horror?

I think all of the above apply. I read all of his works growing up. The local library would supply me with my fill and I would indulge endlessly. At night, I would read his work until the early hours. Never once could I pull myself away from his work. I was addicted…

At my school, we had quiet reading time at the beginning of the lesson. I would pull my latest acquisition from the library out of my school bag. I can see the teacher now as she asked me to hold the book up. I did. She stared down at me with a sneer, her lips curled at the edges.

“We do not read those at this school,” she would chide. “Read something of substance.”

Now, to me a story was and is something that can involve the reader. If you can’t take your eyes off the work, then it’s a hit. Stephen King managed to grab me every time. Whether the story was about Vampires, the end of the world or a creepy shop owner, I was there, I was addicted. I read other writers’ work, but always returned to the master of suspense masterpieces.

What makes his books so good in my opinion are simple ingredients. Characters, places and storylines.

The characters are strong, rounded and always believable. I found myself liking them, hating them and sympathising with them. The places, the towns are so realistic. Those people really do exist, believe me! I came from a small town and there’s always a gossip, a drunk and a town cop. The social aspect of his books are fantastic, he gets to all those little secrets every town wishes to hide. The story lines drove me to the end, especially the short stories. I especially went for the short stories. To me, the ability to write a novella with such skill is a dying art. Think about it, a short story that takes a character from one frame of mind to another in perhaps 50 pages has to be really crafted to make it work. I can’t get enough of them.

So, if anyone wants to get into something they haven’t tried before, I’d suggest trying his work. The stories will have you gripped as I was gripped into the night. You won’t forget them in a hurry.

I don’t know Mr King in real life, I have no idea what he is like as a person. But, his work is top of the tree for me.

Let me know who you consider to be a great writer and why? Feel free to comment!

If you really liked my book “Rose Amongst the Thorns”… Let me know!

Email me at..

nicholas.wale@hotmail.co.uk

Follow me on twitter- @nickwale1990

If you loved it, let me know! I want to hear your opinions!

Imagine your life being led in a room. All your freedoms are revoked and the world outside turns without input from you. Imagine your own Mother locking the door to make sure you can’t leave the house. Your friends ask you to go out with them but you know that you can never say yes. How would you feel?

I lived through that. There was nothing for me. I knew the rest of my life would be empty. Then I met a girl and suddenly I fought to prove myself. My very existence suddenly mattered more than anything else in the world.

It was a Saturday morning. Lori had been staying at my home for a week and things had been tough. Early morning wake ups, screams through the night from my parent, being stalked from the car every time we left the house. I had taken enough and after a lot of debate we had decided to find a hotel. I had never left my house, my prison other than to attend school. I had never seen the outside world in any meaningful way. The nearest city was a mystery to me. We got on a bus, and we left the small village I had grown up in.

“What’s the city like?” I asked Lori with all my curiosity burning away to know what lay ahead.
“Heady, busy and exciting,” she replied, smiling at me like no one had smiled at me before.
I looked out from the slowly rolling bus and saw the hedgerows and trees of the country turn into the busy sidewalks of the city. I knew that my time had come to shine.

That is how I escaped! I became my own man and with love I saw how the world worked. In the end, I saw many cities all over the world. My favourite is Dallas/ Ft Worth in Texas, with London close behind. Don’t be afraid of the unknown.. It’s exciting! In my first book I tried to detail all of the horror I endured and mingle it with the wonder and beauty of my escape.

My first time on a plane was pretty funny, I remember taking off over London and staring down at a white van driven by an ant-sized man. That man had probably been given more freedom than I had ever known, yet I was on a plane to the United States. The adventure still excites me to this day. I was 22 and I was being promised the world by a man who had given me a dream. The dream fell through, the man was a liar… However, the excitement remained. I was free and I never wanted to return to the hell I came from.

The tale is detailed in my first book, but I wanted to share some of my wanderlust with you! I hope if you are trapped in any way that you find your way out. Survival is what really matters.

Dear Mr. Wale,

“Thank you for your query and interest in representation by… We regret that we are unable to take you on as a client at this time. We receive  hundreds of queries a week and as such we must turn down many projects that might have great commercial potential.”

Every writer has received at least one of these. Why? Well, perhaps your book wasn’t the hit you thought it would be. No, don’t believe that for one second! Your book is a masterpiece even if a Publisher disagrees. It is your own personal expression! I congratulate any of you with the stamina to write a book. I applaud you! You have done something that so many want to do, yet so few manage to do in reality.

So, why does your book fail? Simple really, the publisher or agent you researched and carefully approached felt that you haven’t hit the necessary commercial points that create a hit.

Is that a bad thing? No! Why? Because your book is a personal gift from your mind. Your characters live and breath inside your head, they act and talk in the way you want them to. Perhaps, they are you. Perhaps, they are me! I don’t know, I haven’t read your book yet…

Keep on knocking on doors, research the agents and get yourself out there! I want to see you on the bestseller list next to one of my future works on the top shelf! There’s room for everyone to make it. Trust me, I’m a writer and I want to make it as badly as you do!

So let’s talk ideas…

*Give your book a catchy title.
*Create a package that your recipient can delve into and become hooked by.
*Don’t tell them it’s a hit. Let them decide that!
*Write a blog.
*Tell through action rather than narrative. I learnt that, too!

Let me know how you get on. I’m open to your advice as well!

So you wrote a book?

So did I!

What is yours about? A fish? That’s great! Mine? Oh, its about a giant who found a wife. You don’t like it? I better change my idea then..

No!

Just because someone says they don’t like your book, don’t lose heart! There’s a thousand stars, a thousand agents and a thousand publishers. I would suggest turning every door knob and waiting for that important email that asks to see more of your work.

When I first submitted “Rose Amongst the Thorns” I felt the pain of rejection. It was not rejected because of its inferiority. It was rejected because it was being sold in a market filled with ‘misery lit’. Believe me, misery lit is the last thing I wanted my book to be known as. Alas, it slipped into that genre. I am sure a lot of publishers pushed it to one side without even reading it. Then one day, an agent responded and told me that my writing was great!

That spurred me on!

I know that your writing is great! Just keep writing away and say no to those who don’t get where you are at! Submit, sell and sign the deal!