Last week we visited a couple of friends down in Dorset. Long term friends who know us well. We met at university! They have both just read the book. They are people I care about, and I definitely care about their opinion. He is a lawyer, she is a professor and a no nonsense girl. So I was really worried they wouldn’t like it. They did, and we spent a blissful hour talking about it, characters, plot line etc. Phew! But one thing pulled me up short, was that though I felt really vulnerable asking them to read it, they had felt really scared too. What if it wasn’t any good? I have become so book-centred, from my point of view, it never occurred to me how hard it might be for those I love to read Watching You Fall.
Anyway, that same evening, because that’s how my diary works, (nothing for days and then two or three things on at the same time), I had a wonderful hour with a local reading group, talking all about Watching You Fall, answering really insightful questions and of course reading a couple of extracts, (my favourite bit). It was brilliant, and fun and hopefully we’ll have sold a few more books.
But I couldn’t help contrast the two experiences. Both very positive, both I invested in wholeheartedly. But I suppose the fundamental difference was what was riding on each. Long term friendship is something not to be taken for granted. Something to be enjoyed and held onto. Talking about your book to a local book group is just really good fun and what authors do.
