Me – mushy and amazed

Hey there,

Hope your day is going well so far.

As you may know, at the end of September I published Tapestry, a collection of twelve short stories. It was my first foray into the world of self-publishing and my first major effort to get my fiction out into the world. I have been overwhelmed with the support I’ve received, both online and in real life, so I wanted to tell you some of the things that have happened over the past couple of months.

This is going to be a bit of an uncharacteristically mushy post, so look away if mushiness upsets you. I think I will. ;-)

Not only did people take the trouble to buy Tapestry, they read it (I wasn’t fully prepared for this, which I know sounds ridiculous) and then they told me what they thought. I have been very touched by the reviews and comments and definitely feel it was worth taking the plunge.

Thank you so much, blog buddies, for your contribution to my Tapestry-happiness (shall we call it Tappiness? No? OK).

This was COMPLETELY unexpected, but some of my friends in real life actually gave me presents to celebrate Tapestry’s release. How kind is that? I was at pains to let people know that I didn’t want them to feel pressured to buy the book, so it never even crossed my mind that anyone would give me anything else. I mean, that’s not necessary, is it? They know me well, though, because notebooks and fizz were their presents of choice!

I’m really lucky with my friends, they got on board without exception and made the whole nerve wracking process much easier than it could have been. My family near and far have been amazing too. I’ve kept a lovely answerphone message from Hobs’ mum and I’ve been FW emails and texts from friends and friends of friends. A friend of my mum’s even took the trouble to write me a letter. A real letter. How lovely is that?

And Tapestry has been borrowed too under the Kindle Select/Kindle Unlimited/Kindle Owners Lending Library thingy (one of these is right). Borrowed. From a library. Like a real writer’s book.

If you’re still with me, thank you! A couple of final things – to mark the occasion, my Hobs got me a lovely Pandora charm for my bracelet. I chose it because it kind of looks like the heart on the Tapestry cover, don’t you think?

I’d like the final word to go to my Twin 1, though. Tapestry came out on the Tuesday. On the Saturday I said, ‘Let’s go to Starbucks and celebrate.’ His response?

‘Milking this a bit are you not, Mum?’

I’ll take my leave now and you can decide.

Much love and gratitude,

Elle. :-) xx

ps: I still think #Tappiness could catch on, you know.

In hope, in pain,

we lose, we gain,

but always and forever

the human heart braves life

in light and in shade.

Tapestry. A collection of twelve short stories exploring the complexities of life and love. Available now.