1.What inspired you to write this book? I was inspired to write a book on my life journey, to share the journey of how I found out who my father was and the achievements that he made. I did it for my family, who now a record of my life - the ups and downs, fun and sad times we had together. I would like to think it has given me closure and helped me move forward with my life.
2.What exactly is it about and who is it written for? It is non fiction, an autobiographical book. My life as a secret son of the British national icon, Bobby Moore. It follows my privileged early life, my family life and the dramatic downward spiral in circumstances upon the death of my father. It also tells of the time that we lived in and the difficult challenges in life, such has losing loved ones and good friends or feeding my family when there was not a lot of money about. I recount the good times, when we had money yes but even when we had nothing we still managed to laugh together.
3.What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? I'm hoping the reader will get a colorful view and a very good
understanding of what life was like growing up in sixties London and up to
the present time, such as living through recessions, strikes and sitting
through blackouts. I hope readers experience more than nostalgia and see how a
lot of things have now changed. I want to show readers what family meant, that
with or without money we still enjoyed just being together as a
family, sitting down at the table and having Sunday lunch together enjoying
each other's company. Priceless.
4. How did you
decide on your book’s title and cover design? I came up with the
book title. Knowing that my family kept me a secret because my father is a
football legend, I put secret and legend in the title. I also thought the title
would inspire readers to pick up the book. I had trouble visualizing how the
front cover should look and that's where the publishers came in. I asked
them for a simple design and they came up with several different versions
and we collectively agreed on the one cover. The one I selected is one I feel
symbolizes the shadow of my father, as well as my personal experience of being
in that shadow for so many years.
5.What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other
than run!? Writing gave me a lot more than I could have ever imagined. It brought back
a lot of memories that I had blocked for so many years, one triggering another.
Good loving memories. It helped me to realize that I have a creative side and,
as well as writing, I found myself painting (as in art). At times I found
it very hard to write, it could take days to complete one page. But once I
started, a stream of memories would come. So, my advice is just write and keep
going. Even when your mind is blank find other creative outlets because, just
like me with painting, hopefully it will help you release the artistic side in
you.
6.What trends in the book world do you see and where do you think the book
publishing industry is heading? The publishing world is very new to me. I have heard things about Ai and
there is, of course, the digital age that we find ourselves in. I'm learning,
it is a journey and I'd love to hear back from your readers on their thoughts.
7.Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in
handy when writing this book? Yes, though I started before it happened, it
was the pandemic where I found myself with the time and opportunity to work on
this solidly for eighteen months. I really got stuck it in and, regardless of
COVID, I didn't stop. I wrote from my heart. The personal experience of losing
weight and going out during that time was secondary to how fulfilling writing
my story was. I put my ability to find the right words down to my schooling
because that helped me enhance my grammar. The right words come more easily
when writing from my heart, regardless of grammar.
8. How would you describe your
writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?
I'd say I have a very
unique and engaging writing style. I want readers to fully experience my world,
to feel as if they were right there. That's why I took the time to create the
visual worlds of the places of that time. I don't read books so I won't know
someone else's style of writing and I only know mine from what other people
have said about the way I write.
9.What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? The biggest challenge for me is that I'm dyslexic. Google came in very
handy for spelling words and being able to check some of my own spellings. Many
years ago, before Google existed, I would have had to use an English
dictionary! Remember those. Also, rather than going to a local library, Google
helped to speed things up when it came to researching what I remembered in
comparison to historical facts. One of the challenges I had was in making some
of the chapters read back-to-back. You see, I wrote my manuscript by pen and paper, the old-fashioned way. My
very good friend Nicola helped me type up the whole manuscript, research dates
and events. She also helped re-order my pages to put each chapter together and
did some of the editing to make it flow smoothly.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be
yours? Because I'm dyslexic I never imagined writing a
book but anything is possible and I now see dyslexia as advantage. It helped me
become a better writer, shaped by a unique perspective. For anyone out there
with a disability or who has something holding them back from writing, I'd say
read my book and I don't say that for conceited reasons but because I overcame
my own challenges and reading this might show you the way to picking up a
pen and writing from your heart. Maybe there are men or women who, like
me, have been laborers for most of their lives and have a story to tell. This
is for you. Maybe there are children, now grown, who are begotten or still
searching for answers and need to know they aren't alone. Maybe this book will
inspire you towards closure, whatever that might mean to you. And for
anyone else, young or old, whether it is to remember a time when family meant more
or to understand what life was like way back then or just to see what life in
London was once, give it a try
Biography of Mark Jennings: I grew up in South London, living in Brixton with my nan Rosé and my mother Maureen Jennings. Me and my mum moved around quite a lot. Tooting, Battersea, Southfield. I went to different schools and was lucky to end up in an all-boys grammar school, Sir Walter Saint Johns. I received my education and developed my writing ability from my time there. When I moved out of my mum's home, I moved into Fulham with my first partner Cathy and we had a baby boy Lawrence. After Cathy and I parted ways, I met Terrie. It was not long before we managed to buy our own home in Kent and it was there that our two sons, Grant and Adam, were born. But we had to move back to London due to England's recession. When I left school, I wanted to work with my hands and, because I enjoyed fixing things, I became a pipe fitter welder. After a time, I became a gas boiler engineer, which is still the work I do today. For more info, please see: https://markjennings.ampbk.com/
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer
and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with
many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard,
Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a
panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA,
Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction
Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland)
Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.
His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News
(Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The
Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult:
www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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