AI Sent 

Dear Tamsin,

I hope you're well.

I'm wondering whether you might be able to point me in the direction of a small authors' critique network—ideally one with around three to five experienced writers who provide honest, constructive feedback.

I've been running into a few brick walls with the more common writing groups. Many seem to:

• postpone meetings until they reach a certain membership size;
• cater mainly for beginners or enthusiastic hobby writers rather than experienced authors;
• focus on social retreats rather than detailed manuscript critique;
• be linked to educational organisations that seem geared towards selling courses; or
• be based too far away for me to travel regularly.

A little about the project

Over the past decade I've written two memoirs based on solo backpacking, exploring the world through a neurodivergent lens.

A Fish Out of Water

• 13 chapters
• 101,368 words
• Includes travel costs and CVs relating to the journey

Under the Iceberg

• 14 chapters
• 102,385 words

I've also started building a website on Webador to showcase the books and have been editing each chapter in preparation for approaching literary agents.

At this stage, my biggest challenge is finding experienced readers who can tell me how the manuscripts come across to a broader, predominantly neurotypical audience. I'm conscious that I may have relied too heavily on metaphor in places, and I'd value honest critique rather than encouragement alone.

Writing has become quite an isolated process, and I'd really appreciate being part of a small group where thoughtful feedback is the priority.

Alongside the writing, I'm also teaching myself public speaking and working on improving my delivery using the SPEAK framework (Speak, Prepare, Explain, Add Examples, Key Takeaways), particularly reducing filler words and becoming more confident in front of an audience.

What makes the memoirs different

From the research I've carried out, I haven't found another travel memoir that approaches backpacking from quite the same perspective.

Rather than simply recounting a journey, I revisited locations described by other travel writers to compare their accounts with my own experiences.

For example:

• I retraced parts of The Gringo Trail by Mark Mann and found aspects of the route differed from my own observations.
• I visited the Peruvian Amazon after reading Lost in the Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg, allowing me to compare his survival account with the realities of the environment.
• I found The Backpacker by John Harris entertaining but more focused on thrill-seeking than the cultures and local communities encountered.

Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Into Thin Air have also influenced the themes and structure of my writing. While I identify with Chris McCandless's search for meaning, my journey follows a very different path.

Music also plays a thematic role throughout the memoirs, drawing inspiration from experimental electronic music, including An Electric Storm by White Noise, Raymond Scott's pioneering work, and the early rave scene through DJs such as Ratty, Ellis Dee and Easygroove.

Brief synopsis

Approaching my thirtieth birthday, I decided it was now or never to travel to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa.

Growing up with Asperger syndrome, attending a special school and feeling misunderstood by mainstream society shaped much of my outlook. Travelling became an opportunity to challenge those assumptions and discover what I was capable of beyond familiar surroundings.

Landing in Sydney with ambitions of building a career in the leisure industry, reality quickly intervened. Like many backpackers, I found myself taking whatever work I could while navigating unfamiliar cultures, difficult personalities and the unpredictability of long-term travel.

The memoir blends humour, self-reflection, cultural observation and moments of genuine danger. Along the way there were encounters with organised crime, workplace exploitation, financial hardship, injuries, near misses with wildlife, accidentally walking into a brothel while trying to sell diaries, trekking in New Zealand during winter after bending the truth to officials about my preparedness, and countless experiences that challenged my confidence and resilience.

Returning to the UK brought another set of obstacles, including a life-threatening illness, changes in work and family life, and the determination to continue travelling and writing.

The second memoir explores the journeys that followed, particularly across Thailand and New Zealand, with a stronger South-East Asian influence.

I also have two unpublished novels currently on the back burner:

• From Another Planet (83,297 words), more about the dynamics of the neurotypical system which isn't designed for myself to follow.
• Digging Your Own Grave (61,217 words), beginning in Ethiopia before moving to Kuwait and Bahrain.

Why I'm contacting you

You may remember me from Olive Community Interest Company before it closed. We also did an interview through Streamlyric about gardening.

One of the reasons I wanted to get in touch is that I really admired the way you introduced yourself to the community and the thoughtful work you've done interviewing people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Peterborough. Reading your website also gave me the impression that you value authentic storytelling, which is why I wondered whether you might know of a suitable critique group or someone who could point me in the right direction.

I'd appreciate it if you could keep this email confidential.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from you if you have any suggestions.

Kind regards,

Gavin Waterman