Publication Day!
Well, the Big Day is here. I Am Writer.
I shall be popping into Waterstones after work to see the copies, and I may take a couple of snaps for the blog.
The literary life began last night, though, when I took up the kind invitation of Pallant House Art Book Club to appear as a visiting author. Thanks to everyone there for making me feel welcome. The featured book was Hari Kunzru's My Revolutions, a story about 1960s and 70s urban revolutionaries--a trip down memory lane to the bombing of the Post Office Tower and similar events. The group, on the whole, didn't much like the book, finding the protagonist too unsympathetic and the narrative structure confusing. I was worried what might happen when such a challenging body was let loose on me, but they were kindness itself, with all kinds of interesting questions. The group was not composed of natural fantasy readers, and their palpable relief when hearing there were no orcs or elves might even translate into some sales!
Despite now being A Writer, and thereby expected to have some facility with words, the feeling of waking up this morning as a published author defies ready description. Many of you have been here already, and know what I mean.
The next event is the formal book launch at Waterstones on the 15th, where I will have to sing rather longer for my supper. After being interviewed for 40 minutes, I will give a couple of readings and then, of course, sign books through the night until the teeming multitudes are satisfied. My last job interview didn't run for 40 minutes! Now I need to decide which passages I'm going to read--a tricky one, this: obviously I don't want to give too much away, but I also want to grab the attention. I'm really pleased with the ending, but it's perhaps not a good choice for an introductory reading... At the moment I'm thinking of a humorous episode from one of the plot strands (although this requires me to read out the words "pah!" and "uuurgh!" which may require more sangfroid than I possess) and a nice little self-contained duel from the other. I may need to have a practice read at the weekend...
But for now, in between the need to attend to the seminar on "Debt Recovery for Residential Care" I am co-presenting today, I am going to bask in the fulfilment of the ambition I've held for thirty years...
Well, the Big Day is here. I Am Writer.
I shall be popping into Waterstones after work to see the copies, and I may take a couple of snaps for the blog.
The literary life began last night, though, when I took up the kind invitation of Pallant House Art Book Club to appear as a visiting author. Thanks to everyone there for making me feel welcome. The featured book was Hari Kunzru's My Revolutions, a story about 1960s and 70s urban revolutionaries--a trip down memory lane to the bombing of the Post Office Tower and similar events. The group, on the whole, didn't much like the book, finding the protagonist too unsympathetic and the narrative structure confusing. I was worried what might happen when such a challenging body was let loose on me, but they were kindness itself, with all kinds of interesting questions. The group was not composed of natural fantasy readers, and their palpable relief when hearing there were no orcs or elves might even translate into some sales!
Despite now being A Writer, and thereby expected to have some facility with words, the feeling of waking up this morning as a published author defies ready description. Many of you have been here already, and know what I mean.
The next event is the formal book launch at Waterstones on the 15th, where I will have to sing rather longer for my supper. After being interviewed for 40 minutes, I will give a couple of readings and then, of course, sign books through the night until the teeming multitudes are satisfied. My last job interview didn't run for 40 minutes! Now I need to decide which passages I'm going to read--a tricky one, this: obviously I don't want to give too much away, but I also want to grab the attention. I'm really pleased with the ending, but it's perhaps not a good choice for an introductory reading... At the moment I'm thinking of a humorous episode from one of the plot strands (although this requires me to read out the words "pah!" and "uuurgh!" which may require more sangfroid than I possess) and a nice little self-contained duel from the other. I may need to have a practice read at the weekend...
But for now, in between the need to attend to the seminar on "Debt Recovery for Residential Care" I am co-presenting today, I am going to bask in the fulfilment of the ambition I've held for thirty years...
2 comments:
Given that Hari Kunzru was one of MNW's most vocal opponents, there is something karmically apt about this odd juxtaposition...
Indeed - it was Kunzru who coined the most bilious and enduring of all the MNW slurs: "the Ryanair of publishing". Since he is reputed to have received a £1.25m advance for his first novel, his enthusiasm for the traditional model is understandable.
More creditably, Kunzru turned down the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize because it was sponsored by populist right-wing Daily Mail (the cynic might argue that he could afford to, and it can't have hurt his sales--but I doubt that I'd turn down a prize...)
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