Today is Theodora’s publication day. And so far it’s being very pleasant – a swim at Brockwell Lido, breakfast there with the Mrs, a nice walk home, almost an hour on the phone talking to the producer from The Review Show (BBC2, ex-Newsnight Review) which I’m reviewing for tomorrow night, and now a spot of light accounts, prior to reading another book for review in the sunny garden. Tonight there’s dinner with Editor and (brilliant) Publicist. And Wife. And Other Editor. All good.
But … it’s not really what people usually think happens on book day, is it? I think the general expectation is that the whole day is a whirl of excitement and bouquets and press interviews and a big party … and I have had those things, for various books at various times, but never the whole lot all at once, which is fine. Publication day is usually some time after much of the main press work is done, bouquets are nice but everyone’s having a recession (!), book launch parties are great but I’ve had about 4 or 5 of those in 12 books – contrary to the fictional view of a writer’s life, they’re not the norm (not for normal writers that is, I expect the shiny big sellers/celeb-‘writers’ maybe have more of them) … basically it’s a working day. On plenty of pub days I’ve been working on my next book (Theo 2 is waiting for me to edit the first draft – soon!), or heading off for a reading at some welcoming library, on some occasions I’ve been rehearsing or doing some theatre work. It’s just an ordinary day, and a nice day – and right now, a sunny day. Which always makes things look lovelier.
There is one difference though, this is the day when I google “Stella Duffy + Theodora” probably a little excessively. And check the Amazon sales ranking similarly. Fingers crossed