The Escape Q&A by Gabriel Dedji

On the 30^th October 2019, I officially became the published author of a novel entitled ‘The Escape: A Tale of Change and Revolution’. The Escape was published by Austin Macauley and is available at Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, Austin Macauley and many other major book retailers.

Through this article, I’ll answer some questions that I am frequently asked. If you have any more, you can send them through my author website here and make sure to purchase my novel here.

How long did it take you to write this book?

Roughly a year. There were several moments where I stopped writing mainly because I was doing my GCSEs at the time. I started in June 2017 and I finished around May 2018.

What motivated you to start writing a book?

I've been a keen writer since I was young. Writing short stories was always a hobby of mine and on top of that, I was a voracious reader with a wild imagination: Malorie Blackman, Benjamin Zephaniah and Rick Riordan were my favourite authors. I can't pinpoint the first moment that I wanted to write a book because I've always wanted to do that but 'The Escape' did come about quite suddenly. During form time at my secondary school, my form tutor asked us all to write short stories one day, which nobody did, apart from me.  The story I wrote was about a violent fight but I didn't finish it before the end of the day, so nobody in my form read or heard what I had written. As soon as I got home, I typed it all up and continued writing. By the end of that day, I ended up with a prologue, another chapter, an interesting set of characters and some important topics to deal with. I knew then that I wanted to take 'The Escape' seriously. I would say that that was the main point that motivated me to continue writing the book.

How did you get ‘The Escape: A Tale of Change and Revolution’ published?

Once I finished writing the book, I searched for publishers and literary agents online. Most of what they required was there for me to fill out so I did so.

What’s the book about?

It’s about a young delinquent named Remel Brathwaite whose life of trouble is interrupted by the appearance of a mystical stranger named King Keys, The Perpetually Pensive Poet. Remel questions his sanity as he moves away from the chaos of his past life through the help of King Keys who constantly conceals his face with a mask and tackles social issues in his own strange and mysterious way. The book also follows King Keys who inspires young people to use their gifts of creativity for good and fights those who try to take away their means of expression. It tackles the theme of mentorship which is key to solving a lot of society’s issues.

Hopefully, I’ve begun to answer some of your questions. I’ll be doing more blog posts like these on my website along with other content pieces on the book’s themes, any event news or any personal reflections that are worth sharing.

Make sure to read my news featured article here.