Can the journey be the destination? Moments and Milestones
I keep trying to remind myself that the journey is the destination - and not to wish my life away. My book, A Murder for Miss Hortense, will be published in June of next year. A writer friend of mine gave me some advice when I got my literary agent. She sent me a card which read:
“Remember to celebrate every moment - no matter how small. That’s where the real wonder lies I’ve found…”
It’s hard not to wish your life away when you are me (who often wishes their life away) and you have a two year lead in time for the publication of your book.
I’m told it’s not unusual in the publishing world to have a two year lead in time to publication, that actually it might even be a good thing. A lead in time means more time to prepare for a book’s launch and position it, more time to make the book, editorially, as strong as it can be (although if you are me, you can always read into that negatively).
I was told the experience would be both fast and slow. Fast in the sense that suddenly I’d be into all the exciting bits - seeing iterations of the book cover, scoping out venues for potential book launches, reading the first proof copies - basically all the things I dreamed of when I thought about being a published writer. But I was also warned that it can be slow - the waiting.
So instead of just waiting, in writing this blog, I’m actually going to define the rest of my book journey in terms of moments and milestones. Moments like yesterday (14th September 2024) when I went to see a wonderfully energised play called How I Learned to Swim by Somebody Jones at Brixton House, and randomly came across my cousin and her theatre group, Lovers of Black Theatre. They generously allowed me to take part in their post show discussion and then my cousin gave me a moment to speak about my book. A moment to share the excitement with others. A moment to reflect now on how much the pardner resonates.
If you’d like to be a part of the fast and the slow, the moments and the milestones with me then please do sign up to be a part of my Newsletter family. I’m super excited to share the rest of the journey with you and hear what you want more of and what you’re enjoying.
Small world - when I did my MA in screenwriting several years ago, for one of the tasks on it, I was paired with a wonderful fellow student called Charlotte - anyway it’s that same Charlotte who has designed my website - let me know what you think of it.
