dancingthroughchaos

Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on what we’re waiting for – Charles  F Stanley – pastor.

It was the end of January when my completed manuscript for Charlie Peach’s Pumpkins and other stories was submitted.  Six new humorous short stories, and only one featuring pumpkins, although this has become the overriding image of the book.

The back cover copy (affectionately known as ‘the blurb’) explains it clearly: This time, you’ll be taken from a disastrous garden experiment which finds success from an unlikely source, to the new ambassador’s attempts to solve an international crisis in Carletia, and to a crumbling castle which threatens to wipe out the fortunes of the former residents.  An enterprising skateboarder tries to save his grand-father’s reputation with an impromptu wine-tasting session; the monarchy in Sloping-Sideways explore solutions to their secret boredom; and an inventor looks to her famous heritage to help her godson escape his school bullies.

A veritable smorgasbord of delights.

The initial publication date was March, but that didn’t account for the fact that I would need twelve illustrations from the lovely lady who supplied them last time around for The Magnificent Moustache and other stories.

Collaboration is always easier the second time around when you feel you have the measure of each other a bit more – how each of you works; what you’re really asking for.  We batted things back and forth, juggled multiple other commitments including travel for me, moving house as well as researching and writing a dissertation for her.  No mean feat.

Once we’d done all of that, an eagle-eyed pre-reader found some mistakes which had slipped through the editing process and needed to be untangled and corrected.  I’m so glad they were caught before it went to print.

Just when we were nearly there, the whole question of a designer proved to be less straightforward than last time.  The publisher wasn’t able to secure their excellent services, which was disappointing, so I had to begin a fresh collaboration with a new one which meant starting from scratch with expectations and desirable outcomes.

More back and forth communications: is this illustration in the right place?  It needs to take up the whole page, not part of it; can you rejig it?  Can we swap this motif for another at the end of the story?  Which ones shall we include on the cover?  Does this colour work? Does this ‘pop’? Does this make sense… etc etc.  Prototypes were drawn up, studied, discarded, referred to, and variations experimented with before we all signed off on it.

Weeks had become months, and I can’t pretend there wasn’t a certain amount of frustration manifesting itself at my end before it all came together.  Patience is not my strong point as you know, and waiting is hard.

However, come together it surely has.  Not only that, but since it is now pumpkin season in the northern hemisphere, the timing is in fact, perfect. My anxieties and frustrations were wasted, as ever.

Although I have been abroad for the past three months, some of that time has been in the USA where seasonal accoutrements are all the rage.  It was necessary to show a modicum of restraint since stores like Target® and Hobby Lobby® were absolutely stuffed with all things autumnal and pumpkin-related.  There was a truly mind-boggling selection of products.

This meant that I was able to purchase the sort of pumpkin-themed knick-knacks which I would never have sourced in the UK, and which will serve very well on my book sale tables very well for the next however long.

Meanwhile, the finished books have been delivered in several weighty boxes to my mother’s house (the correct house this time.  Seasoned readers may recall an incident involving my 91-year-old mother, a persistent neighbour and a wheelbarrow for a previous delivery), and the cover can be revealed in all it’s glory.  I’m looking forward to holding an actual copy in my hands on my return later this week.

Next month there will be a blog tour with some very patient published writers, and an intrepid bunch of Key Stage 2 readers (aged 7-11) who are using the book as a half-term project and recording their thoughts which I will then translate into social media posts.  I’m so grateful to all of them, especially the contributors who had the manuscript somewhere around Easter and have had their reviews on file for all these months.

I’ll also be doing an online launch from Cape Town in November (yes, I’ll be back here again after a busy fortnight in the UK) to ensure it doesn’t interfere with Christmas commitments, but will ensure that pre-ordered copies, and those sold in consequence, arrive with the purchasers before December 24th.

I’ve also derived six new lessons for creative writing sessions in primary schools as I start taking bookings for the summer term 2024.

In between all that, I’ll be taking a few big breaths, and like any proud parent, greeting my new book baby with a smile and possibly a tear as well, hoping that it’s not just admired, but read and enjoyed by many others.  It’s been a long nine months, but we’re all doing well.  The wait was totally worth it!

Official publishing date is in a couple of weeks when Charlie Peach’s Pumpkins and other stories will be available from the usual online platforms, and to order in all good bookshops.

ISBN No: 9781915494900 Price: £10.99