Hard Work and Good Luck

Last week my publisher threw a party to celebrate the launch of Dead End, the third in the Geraldine Steel series.
Along with imagination, empathy, and writing skills, being an author takes a lot of hard work, so it’s fun to party once in a while! But whatever other skills an author depends on, a stroke of good luck never goes amiss. You never know where it might turn up next - even at a party.

A reviewer travelled to London from Edinburgh to join us at the launch party for Dead End because she is a fan of my books, which was a huge compliment in itself. I had no idea that she has a PhD in genetics and is an expert in DNA, a topic I am currently researching; she has already given me invaluable expert advice in a complex topic and I know I can email her with any query and receive a prompt and detailed response couched in terms a layman like myself can easily understand. She is a real find!

As I’m working on the background for Geraldine Steel’s relocation from the home counties to the Met, I was thrilled when a contact at the party offered me exactly the experience I have been seeking.
So the launch party was not only a very enjoyable evening, but also a lucky one for me. As I signed copies of my third title Dead End, I was gathering information for the fifth Geraldine Steel novel.

As Eugene Ionesco wrote: “A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of writing or thinking about writing.’
So although I wasn’t writing at the launch party for Dead End, I was certainly thinking about it.