Publication day fame
Before I became a published author, I think I imagined publication days to be a day when the author sat on a velvet sofa, surrounded by flowers and guzzling champagne while friends and family flocked to the house and the world media camped on his/her doorstep.
Perhaps it is that way for some authors.
For me, not so much. In fact the conversation in my house on the morning of the 5th June went something like this.
Me: ‘It’s my publication day.’
Husband (throwing cushions off the sofa): ‘Which book?’
Me: ‘Too Damn Nice in paperback.’
Husband: ‘Have you seen my keys?’
On line though, I find a totally different world. I’m bombarded with messages of congratulation, with virtual cakes, flowers and bottles of champagne. I feel like a celebrity. That feeling is cemented when Choc Lit’s fabulous PR lady tells me the piece I wrote for the on-line magazine Female First has been published (here if you want to see what I used to get up to). Oh and I’m in the Windsor Observer:
For several hours I’m on a high, dizzy from all the congratulations, my ego expanding like a helium filled balloon. I feel like an author.
Then my family come home, and the balloon rapidly deflates. I make the tea while my son tells me of his exam experience (let’s just say they can only get better) and my husband recounts the story of his tedious commute home, thanks to roadworks.
We sit down to eat and I put a bottle of fizz on the table. My husband looks up in surprise.
Me: ‘It’s my publication day.’
Husband: ‘Fantastic. I’ll drink to that.’
