As awriter, I’m know I’m lucky. Because I’m never short of ideas; I always have several in my head, taking and changing shape in response to my experiences, plus my experience of the work of other writers and artists.
For a long time I wanted to write a gay version of the film Shirley Valentine, centred around a downtrodden husband who breaks free to fulfil his potential and achieve true happiness. This desire only grew during lockdown when I became hooked on the TV show The Marvelous Mrs Maisel – about a 1950s housewife who walks away from a cheating husband to pursue her dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. When my last novel, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, sold well, my publisher wanted me to write another ‘uplit’ book. I decided it was time to pluck out my idea of a gay Shirley Valentine/ Mrs Maisel and build it up.
Although I love writing uplit, I do have one major issue with
