In advance of our upcoming group book launch, we’re running Q&As with our featured authors about their books, writing processes, and creative journeys.
First up is Michael Fellowes, author of the self-published novel Scarlet and the White.
What’s your book about, and what inspired you to write it?
Scarlet and the White (SATW) is about the intersecting oppressions of race/colour, disability and class. It’s not a manifesto but an entertaining adventure and love story set in Antarctica.
Through Marvin we see his Black, neurodiverse and inner-city working-class culture. He is a big Black, geeky youth who is bullied because he doesn’t understand or use social camouflage. Society stereotypes him, his primary school teacher assumes he has an intellectual impairment because he chooses not to speak and he’s Black.
Scarlet’s story is dear to me. I was inspired to create her because I also lost my hearing at the age of 15. She is struggling with communication and self-contempt because she is now disabled. Her story is developing her deaf identity, her self-esteem and that she has a right for society to adapt to meet her needs. The Antarctic expedition adapts to meet the needs of both Marvin and Scarlet.
Expedition leader, Fox, experiences depression that leads him to a suicidal crisis. He is accidentally saved by his young step-daughter. He is saved by love and he is determined to keep himself well and not follow his suicidal thoughts. I’m a mental health trainer, this is important.
All three characters develop in maturity throughout the story.
What led you to opt for the self-publishing route?
I exhausted the traditional publication route – many submissions to agents and publishers without a result. I persevered because SATW was supported by a grant from Creative Scotland and they prefer trad publishing.
It’s not an easy book to categorise. It has elements of SF, Romance and Horror. The main characters are Young Adult but a 40+ ex-soldier POV means this is not YA. It covers themes of deafness, neurodiversity, depression and suicidal planning.
Because it didn’t fit neatly into publishers’ genres, self-publication looked the best way.
Can you walk us through the process of getting your book out into the world?
P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-A-N-C-E – this took 14 drafts. it’s important not to get dispirited, to act on feedback and your own thoughts and re-draft again. It was important to say to myself, “I’m learning my craft” – it doesn’t matter the millions of words I’ve written, I’ve never written a fiction book and this is a craft.
Accept input from many people, thank them and take what you think is relevant and discard anything else.
Without a publishing deal, a self-publisher needs a good editor and also a book designer. This costs but is worth paying for a polished book. I chose an editor from https://edinburgheditorsnetwork.org/directory/ they have professional editing qualifications from CIEP – Editing and proofreading. Ideally you would use a development editor to help in the early development of your story. At draft 14 I used a line and copy editor but couldn’t afford an additional proofreader. There is no point in using a line/copy editor or proofreader on a book that is still in development.
I chose a book designer from Reedsy – reedsy.com. This costs but a good/great design is vital to attract buyers to your book.
I did my own internal book design – page layout – using a template from https://www.bookdesigntemplates.com/
Finally, it is published and sold through Amazon – kindle eBook and paperback – for first time publication this seemed the easiest. I hope to use other platforms. For paperbacks Amazon take a big percentage.
What were some of the unexpected struggles and triumphs you experienced in writing and publishing your book?
Struggles:
- Genre and age range. SF/Romance is a strange combination.
- A few professional early readers said I should delete the Fox character to fit in with YA. But … I liked the character and thought it would be a worse book if I deleted that character.
- Trad Publishing ‘talks a good game’ but I don’t think they’re interested in BPOC and disability fiction. Possibly because it doesn’t sell well.
Triumphs:
- The luck to have the time and space to write.
- Generous support from people, often publishing professionals.
- Being longlisted for the Morley Prize.
What’s next for you, and what should we keep an eye out for?
I’m working on a SF/Fantasy – The Abandoned Earth – around the question:
“If virtual reality is better than reality, why would anyone live in the real world?”
I’m paying for development editor input on my outline story/synopsis.
Michael Fellowes lost his hearing as a teenager and pushed himself through an inaccessible education system. He workshopped and performed with New Breed disabled people’s theatre company and performed in a BBC Radio Play in Does He Take Sugar? He worked for decades as a disability and D/deaf arts project manager with a range of organisations including The Audience Agency, Shape Arts London, Accessible Events and DaDaFest.
Michael has been training adults in D/deaf and disability related topics since 1998. From 2021-2024 he was a member of Creative Scotland’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group.
He is educated to MA level with further professional training in Adult Learning – City & Guilds 6302 and NVQ3 British Sign Language. Michael is an accredited tutor for Mental Health First Aid England and Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid (SMHFA). A lifelong Science fiction and Fantasy writer, his first novel – Scarlet and the White – (Love develops between a Black and a deaf teenager, trapped alone on a secret Antarctic expedition, after an ancient lethal infection escapes), is now published.