Jay Mandal’s novels and short stories are written with the gay audience in mind. So far he has written three novels and over 200 short stories.
His books, which include the novel Precipice and the collections of short stories, A Different Kind of Love, The Loss of Innocence, and Slubberdegullion, have been well received. His debut novel, The Dandelion Clock has sold over 1,000 copies, mostly through online sales. His latest novel, All About Sex, is currently at number six on the Amazon (U.K.) gay romance section.
In an email interview that took place in August of 2006, Jay Mandal spoke about his writing, his newly released novel, the challenges emerging writers face and how new technology is changing the publishing industry.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
It was something that happened gradually. As a child, I’d make “books” by folding sheets of paper, and I’d make up episodes of shows I watched on television.
It wasn’t until about ten years ago that I began to write short stories with the aim of getting them published.
As a writer, my main concern is probably that of every author: I want readers to enjoy what I write, whether it’s serious or humorous.
Who influenced you the most?
My favourite authors are Douglas Adams, John Steinbeck, Bill Bryson, and Armistead Maupin, and my favourite books are Il Gattopardo, Wuthering Heights, and To Kill A Mockingbird.
It was The Tales of the City books that encouraged me to start writing again and not to give up until I had a publisher. Armistead Maupin’s books were written in the sort of style that I liked, and they had a track record. There was humour and pathos, and I wanted to attempt a British equivalent.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
I’ve suffered from depression and in Precipice I explore its effect on one of the main characters. Overall, though, it’s not a depressing book. Precipice is about coming to terms with cancer, and learning to live with the disease and its consequences.
The novel took about a year — I let it languish in a drawer for a considerable length of time before sending it anywhere. It was published in 2005 by BeWrite Books.
Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?
The chapter dealing with depression took a lot of work. I’d jotted things down as they occurred to me, and had to get them into some kind of order and not overload the reader.
Article comments
1 - Linda L Rucker
I enjoyed your commentary and would like to commend you on a job well done.
As an author, and not a celebrity or a well known, traditionally published author, I can certainly relate.
In the U.S., in the world, there are thousands of wonderfully talented authors who simply can not get a break because they are 'newbies'. As if that tag automatically relegates the author to the status of untalented. Its very sad.
Both of my novels are published POD. It takes a lot of patience and time to explain to the layman that POD is a technology, and simply because a book has been POD published does not mean it is not worthy of reading. A sad misconception that the major publishing houses in New York are more than happy to foster.
As POD becomes more and more widely accepted, people will begin to see books published by indie presses and even subsidy presses as worthy of notice and some of the truly talented authors out there will finally receive the recognition they so richly deserve.