APRIL AUDACITY
Just a normal author reaction at putting their novel out into the world. Thanks Chris Owens for capturing the mood.
I had a big dose of imposter syndrome last month and felt a bit of an April fool as I ploughed on with self-publishing The Allotment Sisterhood. It is finished. I think it’s very possible I typed those words at the back end of last year … but we’ll move on!
The lovely people from The Bound bookshop in Whitley Bay have very kindly said I can have a launch there on Wednesday evening 15 July which is very exciting. And the great Sunderland café, Port Independent’s owner has also said I can have one there which will be Friday evening 30 October. My book starts around Halloween so I’m also looking forward to that.
Links for tickets will be posted on my Instagram a few weeks before both events. Everyone is welcome.
My cover is taking shape and I love it. More details will be posted in the next newsletter.
Now the beauty/pain/freedom/brutal (delete as appropriate) work of being self-published kicks in with a vengeance. I’ve got a long ‘to-do’ list which is daunting including writing a sales blurb for the back cover which can make or break someone buying your book. There’s also the Amazon KDP tech wrangling which is daunting, although to be fair, they do set things up to be as pain free as possible, it’s just still tricky.
Big thanks to Abbie Rutherford, who offers a host of services for writers and author Carrie McGovern, who have been very supportive to me getting my head around it all.
I’ve also been promoting The Stand-Up Mam at three WI events over the past couple of months. One at Herrington, one for my old Uni friend in Iver, outside London and Boldon Colliery. They were all very friendly groups and had interesting questions. At one of the events a lovely women said she’d had major health challenges but hearing me talk about my own journey made her fancy doing stand-up. I’m so chuffed at that.
My own stand up journey continued to creak forward. Gig no 2 at the Cumberland Arms is done. My teeth didn’t get stuck to my lips this time but I did go blank half way through so started to talk about my age while the set came back to me. These two things are probably very related…
During Covid it was hard to get motivated to finish TSUP and without the help of self-published author Sarah Seaton it would never have happened. She was a brilliant champion of my story and writing. I’m delighted she has finished her own novel now. The Unseasoned Soul is a gripping, dark thriller and available on Amazon.
I loved A Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, which charted her move to Denmark due to her husband’s job at Lego (mentioned in a past newsletter). It was warm, funny and made me love the country and its capital Copenhagen even more. I was lucky enough to meet her at the book signing at Hexham Book Festival for her first novel – Laura Clark is away from her desk. It was lovely to tell her in person how much I’d enjoyed her book. She was also on stage with Bobby Palmer, who was promoting his new book Main Characters.
They both had a common thread that their main protagonist is not in the book. The stories are told through other characters’ viewpoints. I’ve not read them but am very intrigued by this device. Reviews will follow.
Have a great May and thanks for reading this.