Another Year Passes In Martin’s Life documents the daily burden of being a genius in a world that doesn’t recognise it. Can Martin prevent his personal and professional ambitions from being crushed by a more mundane existence?
This is my first novel, inspired by Adrian Mole, Diary of a Nobody and A Confederacy of Dunces. I wanted to write some longer form fiction beyond the scripts written for films. I didn’t plan or prepare any of it, preferring to write as I went along, pretty much one day in the book reflecting one day of writing. I found it cathartic and easy to commit to. The habit became so ingrained that it I’m tempted to carry the story onwards, but I think it would labour the idea too far and I have other ambitions to fulfil. Perhaps, like Sue Townsend and Adrian Mole, I may revisit Martin at a different point in our lives.
Despite the fact that Martin is struggling in academia and filmmaking, the book is not a reflection of my own life and none of the characters are drawn from those around me either. It is a satire and I think it’s punching up rather than down, but I’m prepared to offer apologies if it offends anyone.