helenwritesit What it feels like to hold your book in your hand
I started writing when I was in primary school. I still have a note from my Year 6 teacher wishing me luck in secondary school and saying that she couldn’t wait to read my Nobel Prize winning novel. So, I might not quite be there… yet! But after thirty years, I am finally a published author! And my mum is relieved that she won’t have to publish the eternally threatened ‘Unfinished Works of Helen Hawkins.’
Along with the Christmas Collective, I’ve been working on The Mistletoe Mixtape for nine months. Publication day came a bit of a shock, to be honest. It arrived in the middle of a busy school term, only a month away from the opening night of the musical I am currently in with Abingdon Operative Society and a couple of weeks after having signed with my literary agent. I hadn’t forgotten it was happening. It just kind of crept up on me after months of hard work.
The day before honestly felt like Christmas Eve. It had the excitement of the night before Christmas when I was small and excited to see what Father Christmas would bring the next day. There were flurries of messages in our chat group and we were all a mixture of excitement and nerves – despite this being the second time round for many of the Collective.
Then, after a sleepless night, the big day arrived. And so did my author copies! Cue huge excitement and lots of pictures and videos on social media. People were so supportive, messaging to let us know they’d ordered their copy, posting pictures when it had arrived. And on top of friends and family, we had a series of bloggers through Rachel’s Random Resources posting their reviews over several days. For a while, we were 16th in the Amazon rankings for anthologies – cue obsessive refreshing of amazon for about three days in a row!
There were two really special moments. First, when, at the end of a school meeting, one of my colleagues came over, slid our book across the table and asked me to sign it. I didn’t realise that was part of the dream, but it absolutely made my week. And second, when my parents received their copy and both read my story that very evening (it must be the first book my dad has read since well before the pandemic – and quite possibly the first romance ever!). My parents are always proud of me (because they’re awesome), but this was something else, another level.
Now, after some time, things have settled slightly, but there are still moments of excitement. We recently stocked some real-life shops in Ireland and, as Christmas creeps closer, we’ve got lots of publicity and marketing opportunities coming our way.
If there’s anyone reading this that thinks they might have a novel ready to be published, but are on the fence about taking the final leap… do it! 2022 has been a wonderful year of writing and my dreams have literally come true. Yours could too.
