It's time for my Second special guest who has kindly agreed to stop by A Page of Love, and tell us all why 2014 has been exciting for her as an author.
This year Kerry Fisher published the amazing "The School Gate Survival Guide" which I have raved about so much that I was worried that people would get annoyed with me. Luckily, people didn't and they read Kerry's book and discovered just why I absolutely LOVE it so much.
Kerry, has become a very special friend to me, and we regularly chat through social media, and I knew that as part of my blogiversary celebrations, I wanted Kerry to be a part of my celebrations and I really wanted you all to get to know Kerry more, discover why I absolutely love her to pieces, and get the urge to read her book if you haven't... if you have - High fives to you! - But how about gifting it this year for Christmas to someone you know who has to do the school run... or maybe a teacher!
So, without further ado, I hand the Page of Love reigns over to the delightful Kerry :)
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Thank you very much, Dawn, for inviting me
to celebrate your first year blog anniversary…a fantastic opportunity to say a
huge thank you for supporting me by tweeting, reviewing and generally helping
me feel like I haven’t been writing into a big echoing hole!
It’s been an exciting time for me with Avon
publishing my debut novel, The School
Gate Survival Guide in September. I wasn’t in the overnight success
category (more pushing a big fat elephant up the hill
with my ankles tied together) - so the
‘wow’ moment of 2014 was taking my old dad to see the book coming off the
presses. One push of a button and the whole printing factory turned into a sea
of red covers – yet another step in my whole learning process about the
publishing industry.
 |
| Kerry and her Dad |
I feel like a whole decade of knowledge has been distilled
into twelve months.
In no particular order…
I’m more amusing than my
husband gave me credit for…he showed no interest in reading ‘that romantic
stuff’ until he heard me practising for a library talk and suddenly piped up,
‘That’s actually quite funny.’ You’ll know him if you meet him, he’s the one
with the saucepan stuck on his head.
The dog is an excellent marketing
tool - her penchant for rushing up to befriend everyone has introduced me to
more potential readers than I’ve met at book signings. Though I’ve probably
spent more in replacing stolen squeaky balls than I’ve made in book sales.
Book signings are excruciating
unless you are famous and customers are queuing up to see you. Otherwise you’re
stuck there smiling hopefully at people who suddenly develop an interest in
books about road signs or terrapins to avoid you.
It’s no easier to write the
next book. I was in the unusual position of getting a two-book deal and having
two books ready to hand over. Writing book three was like typing with a trolley
of expectations veering out of control and crashing into the keyboard on a
regular basis.
Despite me telling my kids not
to meet anyone from social media under
any circumstances, I’ve met lots of people from Twitter in real life. And
I’ve loved them…there are some great big generous-hearted people out there that
I probably wouldn’t come across in my normal life, but who have become ‘proper’
friends.
Receiving a Christmas card from my 80-year-old aunt (who has never uttered anything stronger than ‘fiddlesticks’), in which she said she couldn’t put my book down, makes me dread the next family gathering. I can feel a swearing explanation coming on.
Receiving a Christmas card from my 80-year-old aunt (who has never uttered anything stronger than ‘fiddlesticks’), in which she said she couldn’t put my book down, makes me dread the next family gathering. I can feel a swearing explanation coming on.
Bad reviews lose the power to
ruin my day the more I get (please don’t feel obliged to help me out with this
aversion therapy!). On the other hand, a five-star review NEVER fails to
brighten my day.
I find it mortifying and
gratifying in equal measure when people tell me they are reading my book. My
next novel has real sex rather than hinted at sex in it. No-one I know must ever
read it. Especially not the husband. Or
the aunt. Or my mother, who already tells her friends that The School Gate Survival Guide is a bit ‘spicy’.
I’d never heard of book
bloggers before this year…or been so grateful to a community who work so hard
for free!
Merry Christmas!
You can find out more about Kerry, get in contact with her, and of course buy her amazing book by following these links:
The School Gate Survival Guide (Avon, HarperCollins) - a funny novel about school gate snobbery
And you can read my review of it here! The School Gate Survival Guide - A Page of Love Review
Posts
Hello Dawn...thank you so much for inviting me onto the blog and Happy Christmas to all your readers - thanks again for all your support this year x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post and Kerry's wonderful warm humour shines through. I love Kerry's book. I read it when I was feeling a bit bleak (January blues) and it cheered me up no end. Terrific characters.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jane! Very nice of you to say so.
ReplyDelete