Gone fishing

 

Leaving Friday for my trip but wanted to close the blog down now, as I have a lot to do before I go. Like googling directions and printing them out. Making sure I have enough boots packed. And hats.

When I come back in mid Feb I have a first meeting with my new publisher. Allen & Unwin have bought my first novel The Sugar Men, which will be published later this year (it’s slated for September).

I can’t tell you how exciting this is. Other novelist hopefuls will understand what it means, especially if they have been submitting and getting rejections, and especially if they are determined to be published by a traditional press. Authors who are already published will know what it means. But family members, friends, even serious readers and critics and reviewers won’t understand truly what it means. They will note the excitement, the joy, the champagne, but they won’t know what it feels like in the heart.

It is a dream come true. I couldn’t ask for a better publisher, and a better person at that publisher. I am truly elated and feel very lucky. Yes, the work has to be good, and yes it has to be marketable, but also I feel there is some luck involved. Right person, right reading-time, right opening in the list. All that.

I’ve kept a lid on this for a while. Contracts were signed and counter-signed before Christmas so I’ve been excited for a while now. But 2015 is going to be wonderful, if only for this. Nothing competes with the feeling of someone loving your book and wanting to publish it. Nothing.

See you when I get back.