It’s been a while since I updated this neglected blog. There is a half-finished post in which I was going to spell out my writing resolutions for the year, but that remains unpublished – that post remains in to-be-published hell taunting me of my impetuous foolishness back at the start of the year. Especially when I knew I would be busy with other things. 

Other things you might ask? Well, there’s the day job. I moved from teaching freelance in several places to a new full-time job in July. I’m enjoying that so far. 

My writing has been continuing alongside that and I have been overtaken by a project which I wanted to write about, but I have been quiet about while I got on with it. That is now coming to an end. 

The project is a published commission of a non-fiction book. It’s something of a labour of love and it is following one of my passions writing about music. The subject of the book is Tears For Fears. They are a band that I have been a fan off since the 1980s. The book is for Sonicbond Publishing, which produces the ‘On Track’ series. This is a book series that covers a band/artist’s career through their albums/songs. 

My timing was perfect. I pitched the idea in September and the next month Tears For Fears announced that they would be bringing out their first album, The Tipping Point, in 18 years. It was also a book that the publisher had been looking to commission. I had been procrastinating about pitching the idea, but my teaching workload (or reduction in it) gave me the opportunity and time to undertake this project. 

The new material from the band had long been rumoured and everything seemed to kick start after I had signed my contract to write the book. What followed was a flurry of media appearances, tour announcements and videos. The promotional campaign has been something else. From a fan’s perspective, it was great to read about the band. From a writing and research point of view, it’s been very helpful. There’s been a wealth of information has been published. A lot of it talks about the new album, but also a great deal covering the back catalogue. It’s been a fun process putting this book together. 

I have enjoyed the chance to review the new album which came out in February of this year. In a nutshell, it’s great. Also, I have been listening to a lot of their old material too – all in the name of research. I did get to see them live in London, in July. Although I was due to see them again in Lytham-St-Annes, that gig was cancelled due to a rib injury suffered by Curt Smith. The only negative in the band’s year. 

Today, I have completed the final edits of the book and the cover has been finalised. The deadline was due to be the end of September, but it has been put back. The book will be available to buy on 28^th October 2022 and it is available to pre-order at Bookshop.org or  Burning Shed.