This is the second book that I’ve read in this fascinating, unusual and brilliant series. These are factual books based on one man’s life and personal ethos. Mister Bailey has created an authentic brand from his character Mudflap.
A Mudflap is somebody who puts their own needs and ends below the needs of others and often gets thrown under the bus for their trouble.
The books are memoirs—but unlike anything you’ve read before. In the first book, we are taken through the author’s childhood and the trials and tribulations that led to his lifelong abhorrence of any form of bullying. This book picks up right where that one left off—and I bet there’s more.
We begin this book with our hero Mudflap, going head-to-head with the local libraries. As an author who has experienced the same brick wall and prejudice against indie authors, I believe that every town library should have an obligation to showcase its local talent if a book is written to industry standards. The author should be given promotion, wall space and encouragement from their library—but this is rarely the case. As an editor as well as an author, I’d be the first to agree there is a glut of bad examples of published books on the market. If a book is refused by the local library, it should be rejected only on the standard of that book—and the author should be given the reason it failed to meet standards and even be offered a timeframe to bring it up to industry-standard and be resubmitted.
Mudflap came up against this same brick wall and wasn’t having it.
This is the first war our hero wages in Book Two, though there were many more to follow. As a multi-property owner, we follow him as he takes on the local council, involves himself in town board meetings and generally causes havoc.
Mudflap has a voice, and he’s not afraid to use it, be this in neighbour disputes or when taking on the discrimination of an entire town. He has a righteous sense of moral conscience and takes on any cause that he feels is unjust.
You want Mudflap on your side and would never want to come up against him.
While I preferred the human interest story of the first book, in this one, you can see the author’s progression, and it is far better written. There is nothing wrong with the first book, but the author was learning his craft like all of us do with book one.
Mudflap advocates and fights for equality, justice and tolerance, and God help anybody who is intolerant to that.
This is a brilliant insight into the world of Indie publishing and some of the barriers you will encounter as a struggling author. This book is brave. He’s out there—and outting the evildoers. He pulls no punches and tells it like it is. A great read and I’m looking forward to seeing what Mudflap comes up with next—if he can keep himself out of trouble long enough to write it.
Katherine Black / Susan (Sooz) Simpson
Founder of Best Book Editors
Katherine has held almost every single job imaginable, from painting gnomes to zookeeper. She spent most of her life in the caring profession and has managed both a nursing home and a care agency. But her passion for the written language always brings her home to novel writing.
Born in Tyne-and-Wear, North-East England, she has settled in the beautiful Lake District, Cumbria, with her partner, two dogs, a cat, an iguana and a python (just don’t ask her which of those six things is her favourite!).
She specialises in content creation and social media outreach, and has been a developmental editor for hundreds of clients. She owns and operates bestbookeditors.com where she helps foundling authors polish their skills. However, after being diagnosed with a dramatic brain condition in 2022, she has had to let 23 staff go, and scale back the business. BBE is still very much open, we are just fewer and can’t take as much work on.
Katherine Black is the author of psychological thriller/detective/fantasy adventure novels.
