Finnegan's Flight of Fantastic Suspense: Reflecting on Grant Finnegan Author Talk Launch - 11am, Saturday, 18 May 2019
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| Grant Finnegan (at right) with his best friend and proud fan displaying Grant's works |
Reflection by Paul Karp
Visit Paul Karp's Poetry Website at:
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| Humourist Poet and Radio Play Writer Joy Meekings presents a piece about the magic of libraries and literature to pave the runway for Grant (seated here in front row) Finnegan's author talk debut. |
Grant Finnegan launched his latest book 'Flight 19' at Mentone Public Library on Saturday, 18 May 2019.
He revealed to a packed audience at our little library that he was first
inspired to write after reading a Matthew Reilly action thriller found
on a friend's library shelf.
In the early 2000's he proudly showed the manuscript called 'The Shadow Room' to his mother. He thought it was fantastic but she said it was
awful and had no chance of publication. Receptive to her honest feedback, this served to motivate Grant to fine-tune his new craft.
Grant studied writing at night school for two years, then over a beer
with a friend he came up with the idea for his novel 'The Seventh List'.
Hidden under caves under Uluru in Central Australia is the book that
tells you when you will die. The novel explores
how knowing this fact affects the rest of your life.
Grant wrote 'The Seventh List' over five years and 20 rewrites then sent
it to friends.
His writing manifesto is;
'I will leave you guessing right to the last page - if possible to the last line.'
The consensus from friends was that his story ending was surprising, though not many liked the ending.
His writing manifesto is;
'I will leave you guessing right to the last page - if possible to the last line.'
The consensus from friends was that his story ending was surprising, though not many liked the ending.
He sent the manuscript to three main publishers but had no response.
Grant learned later that publishers only publish books they see will
have a market of at least 5000 copies to recoup their investment.
Grant considered that his self-published book had movie potential so he
sent a copy to famous New Zealand film director Peter Jackson and
received a letter advising that he didn't deal with unsolicited
manuscripts.
While watching QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce on TV in 2012 (well before 2014's
Indian Ocean and Java passenger jet disappearances) Grant wondered;
'What would it be like if a plane had been missing for five years and nobody knew?'
'What would it be like if a plane had been missing for five years and nobody knew?'
In 2016 he finished his manuscript and found an editor he still works
with to this day, who got his book to market for a fee. Grant built a
website, used social media platforms, and advertised in the US and UK to
push sales of 'Flight 19'.
He received feedback from impressed readers that 'Flight 19' in fact had a doppelganger in the American form of TV series 'Manifest' released in the US in August 2018.
Following reader interest, Grant rewrote 'Flight 19' to open the possibility of a sequel. He asked readers;
'What would you like to see in the sequel?'
He intends to name characters after fans. He began the sequel in January and last week passed the 80 000 word threshold. Part two is scheduled for release in September/October 2019.
Grant has two more books in the pipeline, including a supernatural
thriller in the style of Stephen King, another author he admires.
Grant enjoys writing books that could be made into movies. He uses a soundtrack of a dozen songs to inspire his writing. Grant designed his own Facebook advertisement and spent two days editing the paragraph blurb.
Grant enjoys writing books that could be made into movies. He uses a soundtrack of a dozen songs to inspire his writing. Grant designed his own Facebook advertisement and spent two days editing the paragraph blurb.
Before signing copies of books for our eager library crowd, Grant invited everyone to keep in touch through his official website and Facebook page.
Grant, on behalf of the team and patrons of Mentone Public Library, thank-you.
You were the perfect choice for take-off for our ninth series of "An Author for All Seasons".
We commend your perfect balance of humility, self-belief and drive.
We wait in suspense for your next action/thriller installments.
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