More Reality

This whole journey to publication has been surreal. It never felt as if it was happening, I kept waiting for someone to say 'Oh, that Rebecca Alexander...no, sorry, we meant this one...'. I had a contract, I signed it, I went back to writing...everything carried on exactly as before. There was no huge fanfare, no change, it just all seemed the same. But suddenly, it's all started. the book is available on Amazon pre-order (although it won't come out until October) and Waterstones. Wow. Hopefully the cover art will go up soon, because I love it.


Oh. My. God.

We spent a few days on the Isle of Wight seeing friends and family, and it was lovely. Well, the weather was arctic with blizzards and we had to chip icicles off the car, but the welcome was very warm! We also stopped in the bookshop to talk about having a book signing party with friends and start a list of invitations for October, and we were swept away by the manager's enthusiasm, and everyone else's. I am lucky to have a group of spectacular friends who have chosen very different and individual paths in life, who have just as exciting lives and news, and we loved seeing them again. All of them very kindly accommodated my ridiculous new coeliac disease with fantastic gluten free food, for which we are grateful! Sadly, we didn't get around to everyone but hope to see them in October if not before.

Back home, the builders have left and we have an echoing new room where the ceiling is secure, the walls aren't held together by the seventies paper and the bathroom hasn't been declared a national collection of rare moulds. Between us we hope to sand the floor, paint the woodwork and doors, and make it into a lovely room to be. It is nice to have the house back from builders, even though they are the nicest workmen we've ever had. The cats are glad they've gone too.

Meanwhile, my back is recovering from too many hours in the car, and I'm sorting through emails etc. Back to snagging the book tomorrow. I've read through it, leaving comments where I've found inconsistencies, characters who've vanished into mid air or changed names etc and am working through them. Then I'll print it off and read it out loud for language. Then, maybe, it'll be ready for someone to read!