Jon Rance

Published March 3, 2014 | By Laura

Jon Rance is the author of Happy Endings and This Thirtysomething Life.

Today, Jon talks about the book that has had the most impact on him..

There have been quite a few books that have influenced me over the years from the brilliant Catcher in the Rye as a teenager, to Mike Gayle’s Turning Thirty, but today I’m going to talk about One Day by David Nicholls.

For those who haven’t read it (which is probably no-one), it’s a heartbreaking, funny, poignant, and romantic book following two people (Dex and Em) over twenty years on the same day each year.

The reason this book had such a huge impact on me is because it wasn’t just wonderfully written, the characters weren’t just incredibly well thought out and the plot wasn’t just gripping, but above all that it had this perfect and novel idea at the heart of it. Two people. Twenty years. One day.

You see the thing is, whenever you talk to an agent or a publisher, they will all tell you the same thing. They want a fresh, original, and unique idea. Having spent years thinking up ideas for books, I can tell you now how difficult it is to think up a new and fresh idea. It’s almost impossible. And yet, One Day, is a fresh, new concept and as you read it, you can feel it.

My first thought when I finished the book was, why didn’t I think of that? My my second was, I wish I’d written that. You see, it’s such a simple idea, but a brilliant one. It changed me, and even now as I’m thinking up new ideas, every new idea is met with the same thought…is it as good an idea as One Day?

(One Day was published by Hoddor & Stoughton in 2009. Happy Endings and This Thirty Something Life are available to buy now.)

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.

Jon Rance

Jon Rance is the author of Happy Endings and This Thirtysomething Life.

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