A celebration of authors!
Harper Fiction gave an author’s party in December 2023 at The Ivy in London’s West Street. It was raining. I was behind with the draft of my seventh novel, my daughter was due for a serious operation two days later, I almost didn’t go but she insisted. I am still grateful. That party was so much more than a party as parties often are.
This one was a chance par excellence to say hello to our publishing team and author friends, and to make new ones. I love my solitary writing life, after years spent at the heart of a large and noisy family and in busy general practices, I cherish the peace of writing. I am never lonely but often alone, for hours, in silence. It’s how I work best. On an ideal day I swim in the early morning, then work until mid-afternoon, break for a dog walk, then work again. There will of course be coffee and lunches with friends, suppers with family, film outings and long walks, weekends by the sea when work fits in around a different schedule but things ramp up towards deadlines, hatches are battened; I’ve been known to miss a whole night’s sleep.
What is easy to forget is that I am not alone; other authors are doing the same or similar. We might glimpse each other’s lives on social media, like and retweet other publishing news and other glories but it’s not the same.
Meeting at a party is joyful, there’s no other word. There is genuine joy in saying hello, having a hug, sharing triumph or disaster, real life allows everyone to say it how it is. It is a chance to say how much you loved an author’s book. I was able to tell Abigail Dean how much I adored Girl A and congratulate Matthew Blake on Anna O, set to soar this Spring. I got to thank Abigail, Lucy Clare and Charlotte Philby for their generous quotes for All Her Secrets. It means so much when an author likes your books, you never forget the words.
Meeting up was far more than networking, it was warmth and encouragement, affirmation and fun, all wrapped up in a sparkling evening.
And then there’s the publishing team. I got to say hello to inspiring women such as Belinda Toor, Maud Davies, Martha Ashby and Lynne Drew, and to raise a glass to Kim Young who was off to exciting new pastures. I listened to Kate Elton’s inspirational words to thank us, the authors. Another jolt of happiness.
The train home was delayed and I got in at one, but I didn’t notice. I was buoyed up by the evening and what it meant, by the generosity of Harper Collins and the loveliness of the teams and by my fellow authors and friends. Thanks to every one of them.
