An inspirational West Lothian man who survived sex abuse and drug addiction is getting ready to write his third book, which he describes as “Jackass meets Dumb and Dumber meets Football Factory.”
Aidan Martin said it was a “dream come true” to win funding from Creative Scotland for his latest venture, which he describes as autofiction - a hybrid between real-life experiences while taking some “creative liberties”.
But he warned his new book - ‘Trollies in the Almond’ might not be for the faint-hearted, with the story revolving around three years of “chaos and debauchery”.
Aidan, whose first book, ‘Euphoric Recall’ told the story of his recovery from extreme trauma and addiction as well as experiences with suicide, violence and severe mental health issues, explained he had successfully applied for funding from the Creative Scotland Open Fund.
He said: “It is a dream come true to get this backing from Creative Scotland. It is so much more than the award. The funding allows me the time to develop and then execute my idea. But furthermore it continues to legitimize me as a credible writer. I am a working-class, recovering addict. The routes into the literary world for someone like me are extremely difficult and this award shows belief in my work.
“I am not writing about fluffy subjects. The topics are uncomfortable and risky, but they have never been more relevant than they are now, with Scotland in a drugs-related death crisis and mental health issues at terrifying levels. So all my work is deeply rooted in social themes that need to be highlighted. What better way to do this than expressing it through creative art?”
Aidan said the book will be based around three years of chaos and debauchery that he and friend Colin lived through together from the end of their teens to the start of their 20s.
He says his influences include Irvine Welsh, JD Salinger, Hunter S Thompson, Darren McGarvey, and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese, adding: “Each of them use creative methods to highlight relevant social themes”.
He continued: “It’s about how two hapless teenagers can end up cemented in a serious drug-using lifestyle, surrounded by violence, and ending up in situations that ranged from hilarious to downright horror.
Think of Jackass, meeting Dumb and Dumber, meeting Football Factory. Written in the style of Post Office by Charles Bukowski. My friend Colin Marhsall, is not a writer, but he will be developing this with me.”
The exciting new venture comes after finishing his second book, ‘Forever Young’, which is now in submission.
He continued: “I am delighted to be represented by my agent Jenny Todd, who founded The Literary Office.
“Jenny is a former publisher and director of Canongate Books and marketing director of Penguin Press. I feel so lucky to have Jenny in my corner. She understands my writing and my vision.
“She believes in me and what I am trying to do. I honestly never imagined I’d be able to pursue creative writing as a full-time career, but one day at a time I am living that dream, and hopefully helping others along the way. The second book is also autofiction and focuses on a very specific period in the early noughties, in a new town, Livingston, where lads like me had nothing else to live for than drugs and trance music.
“We grew up with all the wrong rules. We didn’t know how to express our feelings. And we couldn’t articulate all the failings we had experienced by social structures. On the surface it’s about that phrase ‘lad culture’ but in reality it runs much deeper and is about what was really behind the lad culture.”
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