Neil Mackenzie

I was maybe just above average at school. Fifty-odd years ago, in the days of form orders, on a good week – out of class of fourteen – I might scrape fourth. On a bad week, eighth. Could try harder was the phrase that haunted my school reports, followed swiftly by easily distracted and must concentrate more. I collected Cs in exams and just managed to scrape a second-class honours degree.

At times during the self-publishing process, I became convinced even first-class degree graduates would have trouble…

So, I’d completed another final draft of the Hornets’ Nest manuscript and pitched it to fifty-five agents. I knew it still needed some polishing, but I thought if I hooked one, it would save me the editing and illustration costs.

Alas, not one of the fifty-five shared my confidence in the book’s indisputable potential success. On the bright side, however, I rather liked the self-publishing route and getting my teeth into the project.

First of all, I needed to know if the story worked, so I jumped onto…

A month ago, I began pitching my YA low-fantasy novel The Hornet’s Nest to literary agencies around the world. Armed with lots of hope, a little delusion and a spreadsheet colour-coded like a military operation, I dreamed big. Would the New York star-maker be in touch first? Or perhaps the sage in corduroy from London. I particularly fancied the idea of a jaded and forgotten Parisian legend riding my novel to a career Indian summer. Hell, I'd be happy with the fast-talking shark from Sydney, dangling a…

I love that phrase. It feels like the banishment of the past and the start of the new. It sounds solid and positive and strong - as if, after careful consideration, a new brightly lit path has been chosen.  

I’ve had a number of “right then” moments recently. A while back, at the age of 58, I was made redundant. But there was no time for moping as I threw myself into updating my LinkedIn page, fixing my resume, and setting up job alerts. I reckoned I had one more good role left in me, but in the meantime, I…