Today – by way of a taster – I’d like to share with you the prologue and first two chapters of Children of the Resolution, my first foray into the world of self-publication.
As previously mentioned, the principle reason for my choosing to self-publish this piece is that my existing publisher, Legend Press, does not feel that it fits with If I Never. This is something I can understand, though I do believe that, whilst rather different to If I Never, it is a piece of work many of my existing readers would appreciate.
Very much inspired by my own experience of the integration of disabled children into mainstream education in the 1970s/1980s, Children of the Resolution is nonetheless a work of fiction. I have very deliberately avoided overdramatising, however; whilst I could not write it as straight autobiography, neither could I create a false narrative – that would have felt too much like a betrayal.
Intended as the first in a series of books focusing on the life of Carl Grantham, it explores the educational climate of the time, focusing on the almost revolutionary zeal that, ultimately, faded away. More than that, however, it is a story of friendship – of loss and hope in a world where there should always be further potential adventures in store.
To read your sample chapters, please click here. And if you enjoy, by all means feel free to share them.
© 2010 Gary William Murning
Hi Gary, just wanted to express my admiration and congratulations – both for embarking on the Carl Grantham books and for the novel way you are approaching their release. I’ve read the first chapter of ‘Children..’ and it already has a truthfulness and insight to it that is so rare; am very much looking forward to reading the rest of it.
Hi Guy – thanks a lot, mate, really appreciated. It is very personal piece – one I wrote very much the way I felt it had to be written – but I do feel that many people will enjoy it, for quite different reasons to why they may have enjoyed If I Never. Initial reactions to the preview have been absolutely fantastic, so I’m pretty chuffed 🙂