If you’d told me at the end of last year
that come May 2020, I would regularly hurl myself into the path of traffic
while wearing a snazzy face mask, I would have laughed in, or near your face. Had
you predicted that my last major social event would be a trip to Southampton to
see my sister and her family while struggling with a cold of epic proportions,
I would have been surprised.
Since then, everything has changed. Men
are sporting magnificent beards while women display a scattering of what my hairdresser
used to call, “Nature’s Highlights”. Home barbering is now a thing. Yesterday
afternoon, my eleven-year old daughter trimmed my fringe and my world makes
sense again.
Since lock down, I’ve become a more
involved member of the ACW, a supportive and fabulous writers’ group, as well
as taking my first steps in book reviewing. For me, there is nothing to compare
to the smell and the feel of a new book, its pages as yet unread, its secrets
still to be unlocked.
A few weeks ago, I was very excited to be
asked to be part of my friend Fran Hill’s virtual launch team. Fran now has two
actual books under her belt. She is a Proper Writer, as we unpublished folk
say. For this reason alone, I curtseyed low when first we met, full of respect
and admiration for anyone who could write lots of words in one go, put them
together and turn them into something which an actual publisher would publish
so that people could buy it in bookshops.
Pre Covid-19, Fran and her publisher planned
a book launch for Thursday 21st May. That’s today. In an alternative
universe, people would have sipped Prosecco, nibbled canapes and stood around
saying nice things. Fran would have said a few well-chosen words, everyone present
would have clapped and had another flute of fizz before buying her book and
heading home.
Nothing daunted by the lack of a government
announcement confirming that writers were key workers and could therefore meet
together in small, excitable groups, Fran started organising a virtual book
launch. And this is where we all come in.
“Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?”
is out today. Yes, TODAY! A hilarious, warm and touching memoir of an English
teacher’s year at a secondary school, it is the ideal read for lock down. Having
taught for 16 years and now an English tutor, Fran really knows her stuff. The
narrator of her memoir, “Miss”, has a fondness for Baileys, is breaking out in
menopausal spots and has a love-hate relationship with her bathroom mirror and
scales who conspire to tell her uncomfortable truths.
Fran is having her virtual book launch on
Facebook and you can join her, live, from 8.00 tonight by clicking
here:
Bring your own drinks and nibbles. Lie on
your bed in pyjamas and slippers if you like, or dress yourself up to the nines.
Fran won’t mind what you look like, she’ll just be glad you came.
You can find out more about Fran and her
work by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/Fran-Hill-Writer-430140043700388
You can snag your very own copy of , “Miss,
What Does Incomprehensible Mean?” by clicking on any of these links:
Happy reading, everyone.
Fabulous! You've made this sound as fabulous as it certainly will be. Wonderful post, Ruth x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Deborah! See you at the launch tonight x
ReplyDeleteI think you're spot on with the accurate depiction of a 'normal' book launch although I'm not sure 'well-chosen' words would have been guaranteed :)
ReplyDeleteAfter a couple of Proseccos, all words are well-chosen
ReplyDelete