Author: gerry (Page 1 of 5)

I’m in my second semester at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, ostensibly to study Creative Writing and maybe get better at novels. Mainly it’s to drink coffee and get student discounts. So far, I have to say, it’s been great. University is so much easier when you’re not eighteen and a complete fucking mess. Showing up to class regularly got me on the Dean’s list. I got a slice of cake to celebrate and a pin to prove it.

I’ve completed two English courses – us Irish don’t meet the minimum requirements for Canadians, we don’t say eh enough – so I did an introduction to English.

That one had a lot of interesting reading on AI and I got to write a paper playing devil’s advocate to show the pros of AI. But does the devil need an advocate here?

There was also a genre course where we did a lot of Black and feminist readings which was something new. I’ve gone from reading almost exclusively fantasy to mainly junk-leave-brain-at-door adventure books, so this was new to me. Hey, look at me all woke and shit. But it was very interesting too and now I need book recommendations. Where should I go next?

Next up was Introduction to Sociology which I loved, loved, loved. It was so interesting while being depressing as all hell. When your course focuses on genocide it’s pretty fucking depressing. Humans, as a race and probably as individuals suck. But so very interesting. It’s got me listening to Howard Zinn on audiobook, which as Matt Damon said in Good Will Hunting “it will blow your mind.”

Now I am doing introduction to Creative Writing which I might post some of later, and New Media which produced, with the help of Christian, this great meme.

Where have I been and where’s the next book?

We moved in August from Los Angeles to Surrey, near Vancouver in Canada. It was a fucking huge move, it turns out you collect a lot more crap when you get older and the piles of boxes grow exponentially with two kids. So we spent months packing and a month moving and lived in AirBnB’s and hotels for a while and are now in our house. Of course two days after Christmas, because who wants a nice and easy life, we had our kitchen ripped out to prepare for a new one.

So that’s where I’ve been. And where is the next book? Well I did write a sequel to After the Fall and after a year or more of edits and rewrites I found it was all shit so am starting from scratch. Currently seven-ish thousand words in on my fourth attempt.

And I went back to school. I enrolled part time at Kwantlen Polytechnic University to do some creative writing courses. Second semester starts back on Thursday and who knows, it may make this fourth attempt the one that works.

So am I back blogging? I would like to be, but who knows. Like any resolution this time of year, it will last until about Tuesday.

I’ve been meaning to read some Sally Rooney for a while now and picked up this months ago. Reading has slowed down a lot in this house with 2 kids and the few minutes peace on the bog is where I read this in snatches.

What did I think? I felt like I was missing something. It’s a novel for smarter people. For the people who read Ulysses and think Joyce was a genius. Not that I have much against Joyce, but Ulysses was a tough read.

The book follows four characters who I would guess are ending their twenties as they find meaning and love. But they have the deep and profound conversations. They email each other about the fall of civilisations during the Bronze age. They search for meaning and beauty and truth and get drunk or stoned and talk even more meaningfully about life.

Maybe I’m just not smart enough for this book, but I did still enjoy it. 4 stars.

Bloggers are liking After the Fall. Read what some of them have to say here.

Gordon Long says it’s “a well-written basic Post-Apocalyptic novel. Highly recommended to fans of the genre.”

Sherry Fundin says “The world building created a desolate landscape and the pacing made it as hard for me to stop as it did for Haley. The characters run the gamut, but many have lost their humanity. They take what they want, with no regard for their actions. Much of the collusion was hidden from me and I love how Gerry Gainford was able to keep me in the dark. It made it all the more dangerous, not knowing who to trust (NO ONE).”

Thank you so much to everyone who bought my book. As I try to start my career as a multi-million-bestselling author, reviews would really help me.

If you can leave a review where you bought the book, that would be great. Also, if you use Amazon, please consider leaving a review there. If you did buy it on Amazon, please leave the review on the format you bought, but if not, please leave it on the ebook / paperback version – here is the link. When you leave the review, if you can upload a photo of the book, your cat reading the book, the book holding up the wobbly leg of a chair that helps.

Amazon rates reviews where you purchased it from them highest, but for everyone else, adding a photo rates the review higher. I need to try to get to more than 50 reviews to get the algorithm to work in my favour and recommend the book.

Thanks for your help