An Announcement… Part II

It had to happen, and on Tuesday, it did. A knock at the door… shadowy figure on the far side of the glass… a camera slicing an instant from eternity. Yes, the parcel delivery man has delivered that book. You know, the one I have been going on about here since about February: Solo Wargaming: A Practitioner’s Guide.

Through the kindness of a commenter here, I already knew it was out in the wild, so to speak, but it is nice to have my own little stack of copies.

It is, I think, nicely produced and, while it might not be quite as comprehensive as the blurb would have us believe, I hope it is a contribution to the hobby. I decided to add the preaching figure from my collection to the photo, partly because he missed out on the last wargame and partly because I was reminded of the verse:

Of making of many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

Um, yes, well, as you were. On a whim I also photographed the book open, on my trusty book seat.

The picture is actually from one of the somewhat later chapters, which discusses, among other things, the use of personalities and characters. The table lists some of the characteristics from officers in the Jersey Boys campaign. I do examples….

Anyway, as a writer, it is a bit of an odd business, publishing stuff. I have done it before, of course, in an academic context. That is a little different, of course, but there are similarities. For example, by the time the work appears in print, you have moved on to something else. Life does not stop and wait for publication, and in academic life, at least, putting your feet up and basking in the glory of being published is not really an option, at least until you are a crusty old professor who has minions to develop your projects for you.

So, by my reckoning, it is roughly a year since I sent off the manuscript, and my wargaming life has developed somewhat, at least. That is not to say I have necessarily changed my mind on anything in the book. It is more along the lines that things have developed, particularly in my thoughts on skirmish and role-playing solo. I am still experimenting, as the recent entries in the blog will show, as well as the painting and even some painting. We will see where it gets to.

One of the things that happens when you publish something is that people congratulate you. This is wonderfully affirming, of course. Writing is a lonely business often, and to have people say how good it is to have created a book is great. Then, they cast around looking for something else to say about it.

It has to be said that, in my conversations with people since the book was announced back in February, many have expressed ignorance as to the existence of wargaming as a hobby per se. Perhaps it is the bit of the country that I live in, but a wide variety of people from all walks of life have admitted that they had no idea of its existence. Nor, in fact, did they know that I was a wargamer, in spite of them knowing me for around 20 years or so. I suppose this means I am a fairly tidy person and the troops are all packed away in their boxes and cupboards before anyone comes around.

Still, that does lead me to the first question people often ask: ‘Are you going to be a millionaire?’ This one is quite easy to answer: someone once told me that you do not sculpt wargame figures for riches, you sculpt them for poverty, and it is the same with writing. Recent figures from the Society of Authors suggest that the annual income of a successful writer is about £11,000 a year, and that is for full time writing with a string of magazines and newspaper articles, as well as books in the quiver. It also notes that the figure is distorted upwards significantly, because one J. K. Rowling is a member of the society. If you want to find me at a wargame show, I will be the one near the entrance, croaking out ‘Spare a chasseur for the poor, sir?’.

I confess, when, a couple of years ago I confessed to Mr Berry that I was writing a book on solo wargaming, I did remark that it probably had the selling power of a six-week dead fish. He disagreed, and thought that it might do a bit better than that. We shall see.

Anyway, once the matter of the lack of wealth generation from a book is disposed of, non-wargamers, obviously getting a bit desperate, tend to ask what I am going to write next. Fortunately, I have a get out clause for that, which is that the ‘next’ book is the one on 6 mm wargaming, which is currently stalled due to lack of decent photographs. On quizzing, I will be forced to admit that the text is largely written.

Some questioners then press a bit harder, recognising, as I said above, that a written text is not one being worked on now. So, they persist: what are you working on now?

When I finished the manuscript, I was pretty well out of ideas and energy. A similar thing happened after finishing the thesis, in fact. Suddenly you have all this time and mental space, and not much to fill it with. However, over the last year I have managed to fill it a bit, and through the editing and proof-reading stages of production, have started to realise that there are a few more angles and topics which could be addressed.

So now, when someone asks me ‘Are you writing another book?’ I can reply with an enigmatic smile: ‘Perhaps.’ But that is about as far as I can go. I would like to play some more wargames...