Ian Handasyde - How to become a novel author

James Hand is a series author, but life didn’t start out like that. Ian Handasyde (real name) spent most of his life as a Primary school teacher, and musician. His cover band Turn It Up can still be found entertaining crowds throughout the leafy Melbourne suburbs. 

Ian eventually found his way into film making. Having written a number of scripts (Feature and Shorts), he decided to dip his toe in the water and develop and produce one of his feature scripts, ‘Zyco Rock’, a futuristic, anti-drug teen film.

Although ‘Zyco Rock’ was shown at a number of festivals around the world, it didn’t catch the eye of major distributers, causing Ian to lose a lot of money. However, a later Short Film, “Just Friends” was accepted and shown at Cannes Film Festival.

Receiving that shot in the arm of confidence, Ian decided to turn one of his feature scripts into a book ‘Luina’, using the pseudonym James Hand.  With the finish of ‘Luina’,  Ian (we’ll call him James from here) pondered… “So, what happens to Beth Duncan?”, the lead character in the novel. 

James drew up a rough outline and set to creating the series. To date, 4 books have been published: ‘Luina’, ‘The Fit Girl (Part 1)’, ‘The Fit Girl  (Part 2)’, and ‘Shh, Secret Girl’.

Each novel leading straight into the next, is based on the continuing adventure of Beth Duncan… and boy does she have some adventures!

To date, James has written 8 books, with the next one ‘London Bound' set to be published October this year. 

The ninth, ‘Olympics' I will start later this year. Yes, Beth goes to the Olympics as an 800m runner! 

James writes all his manuscripts freehand and prefers to write at the beach. His family travels to Palm Cove every year for 2-4 weeks, and with his outline, James sits on a chair on the beach, takes out his folder and lets his imagination run wild.

Socials:

Insta: James Hand @jameshandauthor

You Tube:  James Hand Author  @jameshandauthor

Band - Turn It Up : www.turnitup.biz

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube