Meet Sam Coley, 2017 Richell Prize Winner

It's the 10th anniversary of The Richell Prize!

Meet the talented authors that have either been awarded or offered publishing through The Richell Prize. Our authors chat through their experiences with drafting and submitting, as well as tips and tricks to make your manuscript stand out!

Hi Sam! Tell us a little about yourself and your stunning debut novel State Highway One.

I'm originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, now living and working on Gadigal land. I've been in Australia for just over seven years now, after moving here from London in 2016. In the day time I work for an affordable housing not for profit and in the night time I write.

State Highway One is about Alex, a young man who returns to New Zealand from Dubai when his parents are killed in a car accident. He goes home for the funeral and is reunited with his twin sister, Amy, who he never got along with growing up. The two of them had a fairly fractious relationship, compounded by their parents rather disengaged parenting style. The two of them end up doing a road trip of the whole of New Zealand down State Highway One, which runs the length of the country, top to bottom. 

Alex tries to process his grief and reconcile with his sister as they careen their way down the country in a 1991 Mitsubishi Mirage, dealing with breakdowns (both mechanical and emotional), near-death experiences, bad weather, grudges, strangers, old and new friends, and a whole lot of feelings.

Who are your favourite authors?

This is such a hard question! There are way too many. Mike Carey, Neil Gaiman, Donna Tartt, Zadie Smith, Kurt Vonnegut,  David Grann, Tamora Pierce, Toni Morrison . . . I could do this all day.

What was your experience with drafting and entering your manuscript into the prize?

It was very stressful, but also very enjoyable (that is how I would describe pretty much every state of the writing process for me). I had to quickly fill in some gaps in the draft in order to submit, and then I must have read over those submission pages about 300 times polishing it up for entry. I thought even if it didn't win or get short or long listed, the discipline of working on something and getting it polished to that level would have been worth it alone. 

I really did believe in story I was telling, and I was determined to get it as close to perfect as possible. At that time I'd only written about 30,000 words of the manuscript in total. I didn't realise I would have to write something about what winning would mean to me, so I had to write that on the fly as there was about 30 minutes before the deadline closed.

Your favourite part of the experience?

Honestly, my favourite part of the experience is doing things like this. The party and the recognition (and the money!) are all amazing and wonderful but still being connected with the legacy of this amazing prize years after winning is such an honour to me. Also, since I had 12 months with a mentor, I knew I had a year to finish the draft. I spent two years writing about 30,000 words and then I wrote 90,000 words in 7 months. It was absolutely bonks, and a wild experience writing at such a breakneck speed. I still don't think I've fully recovered.

Can you share any tips and tricks for those entering this year?

There are no prizes for submitting early, so use all the time you have. If you think it's ready to go, leave it a few days and then come back to it, I guarantee you'll spot something you missed before. Also this will prepare you for the editing process where you get to read your own book so many times it becomes incomprehensible to you. 

Get a friend (a trusted reader, or better yet, a fellow writer) whose opinions you value to read over it. I am lucky enough to have an extremely good writing partner who made heaps of useful suggestions.

Lastly, when I did win, all of the judges made a comment to me about how my 'why would winning mean to you' part of my entry was original, funny, and written in 'my voice'.  That means BE YOURSELF! You are the world's authority on your writing, so talk about it in a way that's authentic to you and don't stress about trying to sound too lofty or erudite.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?

I'm currently working on my second novel. It's slow progress (second book syndrome) but it's coming along. I'm wishing I could harness the energy I had writing 6 nights a week on State Highway One. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't plug my Substack, Ephemera, which is about writing and reading and feelings, and comes out on Fridays.