WH Smith at Southern Cross is at the top of the escalators and as we approached I started babbling, which is a sign that I’m really nervous. ‘It won’t be here Mum, no way, like it’s far too early. This shop has lots of magazines and sweets, they won’t have it.’ I could feel my stomach turning inside out, and a little tremor racing through me. What if it was here, on a shelf, looking at me? What if this was the moment I’d worked for six years for?
‘We’ll just take a peek, we’ll be in and out in two seconds, sure we’re here now.’ Mum forever my number one cheer leader.
The books are at the back of the store and I saw it immediately. There she was, there was Kate McDaid, out in the wild, for people that don’t know me to pick up and read. We hopped, jumped, screamed and shook eachother like escapees from a tight security prison. I leaped up and down and rallied the staff in a group hug, they may have considered pushing the emergency button for help but seemed to share in my delight. We took photos and I signed some copies.
It was magic.
I am still coasting on a natural high. Dreams do come true.
July 2014
I cried my eyes out when I put my hand on the advanced reading copy of Reluctantly Charmed. Up until that moment it had existed as a word document on my lap top and some very messy piles of A4 pages, with scribbles and coffee cup stains. But here it was looking like a book, all professional, with words and everything. My baby, my creation actually exists as it’s own entity, which is what I have worked so hard for. It was a pretty emotional day, very happy, very satisfying and more than a little bit unbelievable.