Polly James

Tel : 01603 516323

And the book reviews start coming in, cue instant panic…

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It’s the moment I guess every author really dreads, or I do, anyway: when the first reviews of your new book start coming in.

Until that point, the only people who’ve read the manuscript that you’ve spent most of the previous year wrestling with are your agent and your editors – unless you’re one of those writers who shares your work with family and friends as you go along.

I’m not one of those, so the first inkling I ever have of whether my book’s going to appeal to anyone who wasn’t involved with publishing it is when someone at Avon Books’ PR company sends me a link to a review. Then I become overwhelmed with nausea and have to sit down for the next ten minutes until the panic starts to wear off. After that, I read the review, with bated breath and my fingers crossed.

That’s what I did first thing this morning, when I heard that not one, but two national newspapers had reviewed “Would Like to Meet” on the same day. Double the reviews caused double the nausea, followed by an extended period of sitting down and trying to get a grip.

Having sort-of done so, I read the first review, which was by Sara Lawrence at the Daily Mail.  She really liked the book! (You can read the full review on my media page, or by following this link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-3645515/CHICK-LIT.html)

Then I opened today’s copy of the Sun. Would my luck hold out?  I had yet another funny turn before I could face reading this next review, but again, Tania Hadley (the reviewer) liked the book. Cue one VERY happy writer. (For at least ten minutes, until the worrier part of me decided that something was bound to go horribly wrong very soon, since today had gone well so far. There’s no pleasing neurotics like me.)

Anyway, if you’d like to read the Sun review, there’s a scan of it below, and also on my media page.

Sun review

Whoops. Or what not to do about book acknowledgements.

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Clue: don’t do as I’ve done. Twice.

When I finished my last book, Diary of an Unsmug Married, it had no sooner gone to print than I remembered loads of people I’d meant to thank for their help while I was writing it.

By then it was too late to add any names, so I vowed to be far more organised about remembering who to thank in my next book.

Famous last words. I never learn.

I started as I intended to go on – by keeping a list of everyone who helped me with research, ideas or just with life in general – but, as soon as Would Like to Meet went to the printer, I realised I’d forgotten to update my “thank-you” list after completing my final edit. Probably because I was so overwhelmed with relief at being able to see the finish line at last, but that’s NO excuse for such monumental dingbattery.

Anyway, what all this means is that I’ve again missed out several very important people from the acknowledgements of Would Like to Meet, so I’m going to try to make up for my latest cock-up here.

(I know being thanked on my website isn’t half as good as having your name in an actual book, but I hope it does at least show how grateful I really am to the people who weren’t mentioned in the book itself.)

So, my sincere thanks are also due (in no particular order) to:

  • Jo Marino and her team at Way to Blue for their creative thinking, helpful emails in the middle of the night and at weekends, and for generally being so encouraging and supportive of both me and my books.
  • Helena Sheffield and Phoebe Morgan from Avon Books for their great ideas and enthusiasm.
  • Julia Kitt, fabulous hairdresser and equally-wonderful friend, for listening to me ranting about my neighbours, my book, and anything else I can think of, every time she cuts my hair. Also for never losing her temper when I say, “I need a fringe”, followed “WHY did you let me have a fringe? I need to grow it back – right now.”  She also provides a seemingly-neverending supply of sympathy and encouragement – albeit more in relation to my writing than my fringe-related indecision.
  • And last, but by no means least, the lovely Niamh Hilditch, not just for putting up with my almost-constant moaning about the trials of writing Would Like to Meet, but also for her brilliant suggestion about changing the order of the tagline.

Thank you all, so much. (And I’m REALLY sorry I’m so forgetful. I blame either the menopause or pre-senile dementia. Or maybe both.)

Clip of the audiobook of Would Like to Meet

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I’ve just heard this clip for the first time, and it’s a really weird experience, listening to someone else’s voice narrating words you wrote and that you’ve always heard in a certain way in your own head until now.

It almost feels as if you’re inside a reader’s head, experiencing reading your book as they experience reading it themselves – which is quite wonderful, in a way.

You can listen to the audio clip by clicking here: https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio/would-like-to-meet-by-polly.

In which I eventually model a fedora, and look a right idiot while doing so.

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After I opened yesterday’s mystery parcel containing a hatbox, fedora and a copy of my book, I realised that other people had been receiving them too, and were posting photos of themselves wearing the hat and holding the book on social media. As I’m the author of the book, I felt I should join in straight away – until I looked in the mirror, that is.

At that point, I realised I hadn’t brushed my hair for days, I had tons of mascara under my eyes but none whatsoever on my eyelashes, and I was still wearing my dressing gown. At 4pm.

Modelling the fedora for a photograph would have to wait until the following day, to allow me time to rebuild myself – or to polish a you-know-what (which might be a more accurate way to describe the magnitude of the task ahead).

The whole process took so long, I only finished the you-know-what polishing exercise a couple of hours ago, so here’s the photo my husband took as soon as I had. (I’ve got a HUGE head, so that’s why the fedora doesn’t hide as much of my face as it ideally should have done.)

Creative mailer - 1

Why are people receiving mystery parcels containing my book and a fedora?

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I had a very special ‘special delivery’ earlier today: a present from my publisher, Avon Books and their PR agency, Way to Blue.

It was a big brown cardboard box, which opened to reveal a gorgeous hatbox in duck-egg green (or blue if you’re colourblind like my husband).

I opened the hatbox next (the whole thing was becoming a bit like Pass the Parcel by now, except every turn was mine, and there weren’t any fights for chairs). Inside, I found a copy of my new book, Would Like to Meet, together with an enigmatic note and a fedora.

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Why the fedora? Well, that’d be telling, wouldn’t it? (No spoilers here.)

Cover reveal

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Intrigue 2

So here it is…after months of anticipation (on my part, if not on yours), the cover of my new book has been revealed. I really hope you like it, and it would be great if you’d let me know what you think of the cover by leaving me a comment here.

As I write this post, there’s a discussion about the cover reveal on Twitter, too, so feel free to join in there instead, if you prefer. You can find me at @Mid_WifeCrisis and my publisher at @AvonBooksUK.

Publication date for my new book

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I can’t believe P-Day’s almost here, because this damned book seems to have taken forever to write, although the time’s gone scarily fast at the same time. (Is that even possible?)

The big day is June 30th, though I’m more likely to spend it lying on the sofa in a sleep-deprived, panic-stricken stupor, than living it up and celebrating in style. Like the main character in my new book, I don’t much like drawing attention to myself…which seems an ironic thing to say on your own website, doesn’t it?

The title is Would Like to Meet, and if you’re curious about the cover, join me and Avon Books on Twitter on May 1st from 7pm, where all will be revealed.

You can find me @Mid_WifeCrisis and Avon at @AvonBooksUK. Hope to see you there!

 

 

Interview with Novelicious

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I owe the lovely people at Novelicious for forgetting to link to this interview until now.

If you’d like to read about me burbling on about Diary of an Unsmug Married, the authors who’ve most inspired me, and how I schedule my writing around my raging insomnia, just click the link below.

http://www.novelicious.com/2014/03/novelicious-chats-topolly-james.html