The biography of Barnaby Howarth - "Playing in the puddles" - is less than a fortnight away from being printed, and it is there thanks mostly to one person, the girl who wrote it, Julie Lewthwaite.
When I decided to write my biography, I wanted my story told by someone who would do it justice, so I posted the job on E-Lance - a freelance writers website where authors pitch for advertised jobs. I got a number of responses, but one of the best ones I got was from Julie Lewthwaite, a professional writer from Britain, and after reading some examples of her published work, I decided she was my girl.
I sent Julie my autobiography, media articles, documentaries and blogs, and it made me realise how much of a footy-centric life I've lived, and I was a bit worried some of the subtleties of AFL might not be picked up. Not only did Julie get it though, she researched things she wasn't sure on and filled in any gaps I'd left her. One of the best examples of this is how she describes how to kick a "drop punt" - an AFL style of disposal. This probably sounded like it was Japanese when Julie read it in my autobiography, but she has described it in "Playing in the puddles" better than any AFL coaches manual could.
My brief for Julie was to write a true account in an entertaining, fictional sounding style, and she absolutely nailed it - I lived through every story in the book, but I can't wait for the book to come out! Above anything else, I wanted this book to do my story justice, but thanks to Julie Lewthwaite, I think I come out of it sounding like a better bloke than I am in real life.
No comments:
Post a Comment