Paperback Writer...

"Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

It took me years to write, will you take a look?"

The opening lines of the Beatles' song (click on the lyrics to hear the song!) could be applied to many authors, but it struck me afresh this morning because - after seven or eight years - I AM a paperback writer!

There'd been some delays with the printing side of things for StarMark here in the UK, and I confess to feeling more than a little disappointment as the original May 1st publication date went by and messages came in from Amazon saying 'can't get hold of it yet'...'delivery somewhere between the 1st and 11th July'...'Delivery definitely 15th or 16th July'...and then, last Thursday, out of the blue-

'We've dispatched your copies!'

Hooray!! I kept my fingers crossed that they'd arrive on the Friday, as I was going away for the weekend with friends from uni.

(It's almost 30 years to the day since we met at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in kitchen 2B; we spent the weekend reminiscing, talking over what's happened to us since and generally having a great time in a love1y cottage. Here we all are, eating chocolate cake in the garden with me looking very serious for some reason. Probably trying to work out if I'm in the selfie or not...)

Unfortunately they (the books) didn't arrive 'til after I'd gone, but in the meantime, I kept getting messages and photos over the weekend from people telling me that THEIR copies had arrived and they were really excited to get reading. My mum's text was the best; 'Guess what I'm holding? YOUR BOOK!' But the one that made me feel all warm and tingly inside was the late-night-on-Thursday messenger conversation I had with someone who'd just started to read StarMark. I kept getting updates about how good she thought it was and how many chapters in she was...She had to stop reading then until Sunday, but finished the rest in one sitting and loved it - high praise indeed from a self-confessed 'I don't usually read' person.

And when I got home from my weekend away - on my birthday, no less - what did I find waiting for me? Apart from cards, pressies and fishfinger sarnies for tea? A shiny, new, never-been-opened paperback copy OF MY BOOK!

So if you hear me humming a line or two of a certain Beatles' song over the next few days, you'll know I'm still pretty excited about being a 'Paperback Writer'...