What a Week!

Tuesday 21st April 2020 will be a date I will always remember. It was the day I became a published novelist and fulfilled my dream. In my last blog, I talked about how I was counting down to publication day by posting photos and short extracts from the novel in the hope of tempting readers to want to read Elin and Alexandra's stories. If you remember, I questioned whether it was right to do this in the light of the  worry and sadness of the present situation. I will never know if I got it right but I was very encouraged by the responses on Facebook and Twitter. Lots of people enjoyed the scenes of the sea and Greek village life as they helped them escape to a different time when booking a summer holiday would have been the norm at this time of year.

One of the popular posts was this one:

'Row after row of grey-green olive trees filled the space leading down to the sea.From nowhere, a breeze sprang up. To Elin, the trees were whispering, whispering about her, whispering to her, trying to tell her something.'
Those of you who have already read 'Her Mother's Secret' will know that the whispering features in Alexandra's story, too. What the whispers represent is left up to the reader to decide.

Excited and nervous, the night before, I took a long time to get to sleep, fretting about how the story would be viewed. Up until then, it was only me, the publisher, her reading panel at Ruby Publishers and my lovely editor, along with a very small band of beta readers, who knew what Elin's secret was and what Alexandra found out on her visit to Greece. By the morning, the novel would be out there in the world. What if readers didn't take to the story?

Morning arrived. What I wasn't prepared for was the generosity and kindness of the writing community, from messages of congratulations to already finding some 4* and 5* star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Throughout the day, friends and family were already reading the novel and saying how much they were enjoying it so far. I was blown away. Confined to the garden, we ate our lunch outside in bright sunshine! My husband cooked an authentic moussaka from a recipe given to me by my aunt and Greek uncle, accompanied by a Greek salad. Our dessert was stewed plums and natural Greek yoghurt, reminiscent of their plum trees laden with fruit and a frequent way to end a meal when we stayed with them. We had no retsina so had a beer and imagined it to be Mythos! That evening we'd scheduled a celebratory Zoom meeting with our three grown up children and the two eldest grandsons. With flutes in hand and a bottle of bubbly, we joined the meeting only to find our daughter had also invited other family members as well as friends! Such a lovely surprise and such a fitting end to a publication day in lockdown.  

The week continued with more blog appearances, lots of messages and reviews. A huge thank you to everyone who has taken time to write them and support me. If you'd like to read more about my writing and 'Her Mother's Secret', this week I've appeared on these blogs:
Monday 20^th April – Sister Scribes
https://www.frostmagazine.com/category/culture/sister-scribes/
Tuesday 21^st April - Karen Mace 
http://www.booksandme.co.uk/search?q=Jan+Baynham
Thursday 23^rd April - Tara Greaves
https://aftertheraincomessunshine.com/2020/04/23/a-look-behind-the-book-with-jan-baynham-2/
Friday 24th April - Carol Thomas
https://www.carol-thomas.co.uk/stories-that-will-make-you-smile-jan-baynham/
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Mothers-Secret-Summer-69-ebook/dp/B085CHV3VQ/

Thank you for reading. If you've had a publication day during lockdown, how did you celebrate? Maybe you have one coming up. What are your plans?
You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBaynham and on my Jan Baynham Writer Facebook page.