Thursday 26 January 2023 – Out Of Human Sight is released to the world!
I nipped out at lunchtime and visited the spot where The Moorcock Inn, or Bills o'Jack's, once sat, and which inspired the whole thing. I'm squinting and wrapped up because it was cold – the weather on that moorland road is always so different to where I live, even though it's only a couple of miles away – but I also detect a real sense of disbelief in my expression. Well, I would say that: it's my face and yesterday I felt disbelief. Maybe you can see it too.
But disbelief because my phone didn't stop buzzing all day: friends, family, neighbours, colleagues wishing me well, sending me pictures of the book dropping onto doormats and landing in laps. I've had messages from people I don't know very well, telling me they've bought it and what an achievement. I've had messages from people I don't know at all offering congratulations. It's very lovely, and it's surreal.
And it's particularly surreal because of this – and I hate to use the word 'journey', but I can't think of a quick enough alternative while the baby is out of the house and I have only another hour before she returns and I've still got to squeeze lunch in – journey that it's been on: dissected and pored over during my MA, courted by an agent, sent out to editors, rejected (kindly, flatteringly) by editors, dropped by an agent, shortlisted for an award, picked up indies, put out by an indie. It's not necessarily the path I had anticipated, but I'm hoping it's a better book for it.
And it made it off my hard drive, which was the ultimate ambition.
It's also surreal because I've published two books before and neither of those books received quite the same reception. Do people prefer fiction? Do people find novel writing more 'impressive'?
And it's also surreal because I've now got my head so firmly into my PhD novel which couldn't be more different.
Anyway, whether I know you well or not, I'd love to know what you think. Out Of Human Sight can be bought in all the usual bookish places and if you're up for leaving a review on one of those websites, then that would be very helpful indeed. Thank you.
Comments