A Conversation with Paul Symonloe: On Letting a Story Go

Paul Symonloe was first featured on Hidden Voices as an author on March 19th. Since then, his novel Windsor ’85: Unbridled Summer has found its way into the world.

We spoke with him about what it means to release a story, navigate rejection, and continue writing despite uncertainty.

What did it feel like to finally release your novel into the world?

It's a bit like letting a lunatic out of an asylum! Well, sort of. The "patient" you've been nurturing (in my case for some years), wants "out". The proposition is whether he can "make it on the streets."
So, we throw our vulnerable charges "out there" with only the support of our hope. Which certainly will not spare them for the harsh climate of critique by some who simply don't "get us", get the time, the setting, the journey. It is a baptism, though, we must agree to. We know the dangers, and we let them go.

Was there anything about the publishing process that surprised you?

It was naive of me to suppose literary agents would "snap up" my novel. This is what I wrote about the feeling of rejection:
"I’ve been saving this rant for today - today is the day I have amassed the full, scintillating, gold Lamé presentation case of rejections from the most prestigious agents on both sides of the Atlantic!" It goes on...

Looking back, what changed for you between writing the manuscript and seeing it published?

A writer's experience - either in the short term, (the deafening silence between the end of writing and the anti-climatic "phut" of publication), or over a longer period, while waiting for things to "happen", is pretty excruciating, and I know many writers will feel the same.

Were there moments where you almost stopped or doubted the process?

Like faith in God, a crisis of faith is pretty common in writers. If I were to be immodest (perish the thought!!) I think many of us who take the risk of writing, know we are deep thinkers and take things hard.

Now that your book is out, how do you see your writing journey moving forward?

Yes, yes. It is better to have published, (even if you sell fewer books than you had hoped), than never to have published at all! If you love writing, you have a duty to yourself to continue. I feel philosophical about it. If you like my work, good. If you avoid me like the plague - at least I've changed something.

Closing Thoughts

There is something quietly honest in Paul’s reflections: the mix of hope, doubt, persistence, and perspective that many writers will recognise. Because beyond publication, beyond reception, there is something else that remains:

The need to write and to keep going.

Want to Be Interviewed?

Hidden Voices is always open to thoughtful, honest conversations with writers at all stages of their journey.

If you’d like to be featured in a short interview like this one, feel free to reach out at: hiddenvoices.contact1@gmail.com

We’d love to hear your story.