SUCH A SMALL WORLD by Jordan Clayden-Lewis
Looking for a captivating page-turner? Read SUCH A SMALL WORLD, a speculative queer love story by Australian author, Jordan Clayden-Lewis.
Let's go behind the scenes to find out how this novel came to be.
Scroll down for:
Story idea
Favourite character
Fun fact
Writing routine
Publication
Future
Book recommendation
SUCH A SMALL WORLD
A speculative queer love story wrapped in memories that won't stay buried.
An ecologist who can see snippets of the future in every new person he meets boards a plane and locks eyes with a flight attendant, resulting in a vision that shows the two having a long-term future together, but also the flight attendant dying 10 years later.
STORY IDEA
What came first – character or plot?
Character came first here.
The main character, Mackenzie, appeared briefly in my previous book WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TOGETHER so he was already semi-established, even more so when I started developing SUCH A SMALL WORLD. In WTHT, we don’t get to know Mackenzie too much, but I knew there was a lot more to him, and that he had a story to tell. Turns out he has this ability to see snippets of the future!
Fun fact: those who read WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TOGETHER might’ve noticed that Mackenzie’s twitch is described, which is his physical signal of having a vision. This was intentional to foreshadow his story in SUCH A SMALL WORLD.
FAVOURITES
Favourite character?
Favourite character would have to be Jasper (the handsome redhead on the front cover!). He brings Mackenzie down to earth at a time it’s needed most and helps him believe in love again, really. He’s gentle and empathetic. He had quite a traumatic upbringing, and it turns him into this natural helper. He understands Mackenzie on a deep level. Mackenzie, on the other hand, while a little reckless at times, is extremely loyal, something Jasper needs in a person. We know it won’t be forever between them, but they certainly make the most of their time together.
FUN FACT
Share a fun fact about your novel.
Bower Creek, the town where the farm is located, is actually a fictional town I created, and it’s the only fictional town or city featured in the book. Geographically, Bower Creek would be located somewhere in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It was lots of fun creating my own fictional place that I could flex my imagination muscle with.
DRAFTING & EDITING
Describe your first draft process.
I’m 100% a messy first-draft person. Other than a few self-edits along the way, first drafts are just getting my outlined story onto the page while hitting word counts. Considering where I’m at in life at the time, this can be a fast or slow process. Then once the first draft is done, I go back and do my first big tidy-up.
What didn’t make it into the published version?
There was actually a third-act breakup between Mackenzie and Jasper that got cut. We figured the two of them had been through a lot as it was so a third-act breakup seemed unnecessary.
WRITING ROUTINE
Describe your routine while you were writing this story.
Generally, I like to get my writing done early in the morning. After lunch, my energy wanes. I was in-between day jobs when I wrote the first draft of SASW in 2021. Took me about three months, and I was writing 1000-2000 words a day pretty consistently during that period, as I had a lot more time to dedicate to the project.
PUBLICATION JOURNEY
How did this book come to be published?
SUCH A SMALL WORLD was submitted directly to my current publisher, Deep Desires Press, and comes out on June 5th, 2024 — woo!
FUTURE
What's next?
I’ve got a few novels in the works. More queer love stories? Absolutely!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Share a recommendation by an Australian author.
I feel like I always recommend this one, but THE NOWHERE by Chris Gill, published in 2019. It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story set in remote Western Australia.
JORDAN CLAYDEN-LEWIS
@jclwrites
Jordan Clayden-Lewis was born and raised in Australia, and loves queer stories of all sorts. These stories have inspired him to write his own.
When Jordan's not reading or writing, he's parenting his overactive dog Misty, hiking a trail in the forest somewhere, or thinking about Mexican food.
SUCH A SMALL WORLD is a standalone sequel to Jordan's debut romance novel WHEN THINGS HAPPEN TOGETHER.
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