I had such a lovely book launch week and I’m so pleased with how people are responding to my book so far. Thank you so much if you’ve bought it, I really hope you’ve liked it if you have. Yesterday Daunt Books described it (/me) as: “A truly distinctive new voice in fiction”.
I’m very, very grateful to Monica Heisey for making my London launch so wonderful, asking such smart questions and talking about style and influence and dialogue and sex scenes, all the things that so much thought went into while writing the book and then you don’t expect to get to talk about very much after. Although I’ve been pleasantly surprised in this regard so far in general, which has been lovely. Monica’s book is due out in paperback next month if you haven’t read it yet, get on that.
The Edinburgh event with Michael Magee was so lovely and I think funny and fun too. I really enjoyed talking about the female characters in his book in particular, they are so well done I think, not as saintly figures but real women. I think it will be online sometime so will share when/if it is.
I did not anticipate how tiring book events would be, and working on other pieces around this has proven to be quite a lot, so no substack this week. I’m working on one piece in particular that I’m very excited about so you’ll have to wait for that :). Normal service resumes next week.
Other than that there was a nice short review in the Observer, and then you can hear me talking about Lazy City on the Little Atoms podcast. There will be an excerpt of my book up tomorrow!!!! So I may send that out via here too. And then other bits and pieces over the week which will be in next week’s substack.
Two more events. Tomorrow at No Alibis with the great Nicole Flattery, my grandma will also be in attendance!!!!! And then I will be in Devon near the end of September at the Budleigh Salterton literary festival which I’m very excited about. Please come if you are in town.
Some launch pics: