PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
Published by Canelo (29 January 2018)
Available in ebook
318 pages
| About the Book |
In a razor-sharp legal thriller, Jack Kowalski must win two challenging trials to save his reputation and his career
Junior barrister Jack Kowalski is crushed. His client Timothy Smart appears to have committed a monstrous crime while on bail – a bail application Jack fought hard to win.
When a high-profile Polish footballer is charged with rape and demands a fellow countryman represent him, Jack must overcome his guilt and get back to work. Before long he takes on a second case, a GBH for instructing solicitor Lara Panassai, who Jack remains desperate to impress. But neither case is what it seems, and Jack will face an extraordinary uphill battle to see that justice is done…
The second Jack Kowalski novel, Unconvicted is a gripping courtroom drama written with the expert insight of a practicing criminal barrister, perfect for fans of William L. Myers, Deborah Hawkins, and Scott Turow.
It’s the final day of the the blog tour for Unconvicted. My thanks to Ellie at Canelo for the invitation to take part and to Olly for providing the guest post.
WRITER’S BLOCK
by Olly Jarvis
When I was about thirteen, my best friend and I were trying to come up with ways to raise money so that we could go to Kensington Market and buy ourselves some suede Chelsea Boots and a spur to go with our silk baggies (trousers). We were what was known as ‘futurists’ in 1980.
Seeing an opportunity to salvage something positive from the situation, my father (another writer) said that if my friend and I could come up with a twenty-five page novel, he would pay us a pound a page – a huge sum. Easy money, or so we thought.
Off we went to my bedroom for an initial brainstorming session. We quickly had a title: ‘Queen Bitch’ – it was to be a horror about my pal’s irritating younger sister. The first line came easily: ‘His greasy quiff flopped down over his acne covered forehead.’ (It was also to be loosely autobiographical).
But then, nothing. The hours passed and still we couldn’t think of anything. We couldn’t understand it. Of course, we could’ve just written a load of rubbish, even gobbledygook. For some unknown reason, even at that age we weren’t prepared to desecrate this ancient art by just putting down a jumble of words. But on the other hand, we fell into the trap of not writing anything at all unless it was going to be mind-blowingly brilliant.
So, heads bowed, we slunk downstairs and shame-faced, handed in our one solitary title page and demanded a quid. ‘’fraid not, boys,’ My dad replied, his hands staying firmly in his pockets. ‘Publishers only pay if you finish the book.’
Needless to say, it led to a heated exchange about our right to an advance on the hitherto, unfinished novel, until finally, we had to accept that with our proven pedigree, perhaps we weren’t entitled to that kind of trust.
It took me thirty years before I had the confidence to try again. I’ve since learned that the trick is just to get something down and worry about it later. Otherwise, you never write anything at all. The juices will start to flow and you can get that story down. Clumsy sentences can always be changed and edits made.
As long as you can put pen to paper, you are a writer – then anything is possible.
| About the Author |
Olly Jarvis is a writer and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now working in Manchester. Drawing on his experiences, he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the courtroom. He wrote the highly acclaimed Radio 4 drama Judgement, and wrote and presented the BBC documentary Mum Knows Best. He is also the author of Death by Dangerous. Olly has two children and lives in Cheshire.
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Amazon UK | Goodreads
What a great post!
Thanks Nicola,it made me smile.