I’ve written a little, I’m happy to say. Outlined a new book, cracked on with book 4, and completed a new, somewhat different manuscript (of which I’ll talk more later…)

Today, I do have some news to share though. My novel, The Marked Lord, is a contender for the 2020 Joan Hessayon Award.

This makes me happy for many reasons, but the first and foremost one is that this award is a celebration of love. The award itself, (which I think was formerly the Netta Muskett award, but I’ll need to fact check that) is named for Joan Hessayon, who was a brilliant romance novelist. Joan met her husband David in Paris in 1949 (the city of love) and they were married for fifty years before her death in 2001.

I love the story of how David and Joan met, and of how he was so determined to marry her that he followed her back to her native US. I love that he set up this award in his wife’s name, so that her memory would continue, year after year, while celebrating the work of new authors. This award defines and celebrates love from every angle you look at it.

The list of contenders this year is amazing, and I’m lucky to call so many of the authors featured my friends. Kathleen Whyman is hilarious, with the most infectious smile you’ll ever come across, and her book has been long-looked forward to since she first described it to me at an RNA event two years ago (*falls over*).

Lucy Keeling is a delight, and for such a petite woman, she has a soul and comedic touch of massive proportions. I’ve read both her novels, and laughed like crazy through both of them (and like me, she’s filthy minded, which makes me adore her even more).

Jacqueline Rohen is on the list too, for her debut novel How to Marry your Husband. I never met Jacqueline (she lived in Uganda at a rescue centre for chimpanzees which she poured her heart and soul into) and sadly I never will, as she passed away a week before her book was published. If I could choose a winner this year, I would pick her. She never saw her book published, that amazing moment when you can see your work in the flesh. She should be remembered this way, through this award… because her book is wonderfully touching, and all about second chances (my favourite trope) and love triumphing over all.

And isn’t that what the Joan Hessayon award is about, after all?

I’m honoured to be on this list, and very much looking forward to congratulating the winner.

Many thanks, as always, to the wonderful RNA and also to the wonderful Janet Gover (friend, writer extraordinaire, fellow Australian and efficient NWS organiser), and absolutely, without a doubt, to Dr David Hessayon and the memory of his wife and love of his life, Joan.

The post Some news… appeared first on Sharon Ibbotson.

He didn’t refuse, but reminded me very gently about all the people who wanted to be there to help us celebrate.

‘Just don’t make me be the centre of attention the whole day, okay?’ I asked him, to which he smiled.

‘I’ll try and outshine you. It will be hard, but I’ll try.’

I’m a classic introvert. I dislike being in large crowds, need time alone frequently, and am very happy with my own company. I dislike the idea of having people notice me, and prefer to blend in with my surroundings. I don’t wear make-up or paint my nails, I live in boots, jeans and jackets and if my hair wasn’t so strongly a natural blonde I would probably tone that down too. The thought of being a ‘bride’ and all that entailed absolutely terrified me, and my favourite part of my wedding day was after the ceremony, when our family and friends got up to sing a medley of Gilbert and Sullivan songs (I’m a huge G&S fan, and my husband- once a member of the Imperial College Operatic Society- had invited to our wedding musicians, singers and directors by the score) and my husband and I had a minute to ourselves. My husband took that moment to hug me. We didn’t talk, or laugh, or even kiss. It was just us in a quiet moment, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time that day.

So, having a book out now and reading reviews coming in from Amazon and Goodreads, is, for an introvert like me, absolutely nerve-wracking. I’m not hiding behind a pseudonym, because I love the story I’ve written, and I want to share it. But not hiding behind a pseudonym leaves me feeling open and vulnerable. It’s got to the point now where I won’t even look at the reviews, and my husband is the one to say ‘No, you should look at this one,’ or, ‘This person suggests that…’

Because my husband knows me, and he gets my personality. And he knows that my introvert status walks hand-in-hand with a crippling low self-confidence, and that I take criticism and rejection hard and to heart.

But he also knows me well enough to tell me that, eventually, I need to get over this when it comes to my work. And he’s right.

Because not everyone is going to like what I write, or my voice, or my style. Some people might read the book and not understand what I was trying to convey, or how I wanted my characters to appear. And I have to learn to be okay with that. Because writing, as with everything else in life, is subjective. I remember reading Laurie Graham’s ‘The Unfortunates’ and absolutely falling in love with it, so much so that I immediately gave a copy to a friend with similar reading tastes to me. And she absolutely hated it. Something in that work appealed to me, but wasn’t apparent to her.

So, I’ve decided to read the reviews of my work, and rather than reading them negatively, I’m going to take positives from them. One reviewer, the very kind Caitlyn Lynch, left me a review which was- for the most part- highly complimentary. But she also criticised my research, which had me weeping later that night.

Her criticism was mainly that I had shown ignorance of France by having my heroine at a Hotel de Ville, which is- in France- a town hall. And actually, I did know that, having planned for my heroine to be a party at the Hotel de Ville from the beginning (town halls were often used for social gatherings in the Georgian and Regency periods, even in post-revolutionary France). But I hadn’t meant that she was staying at a Hotel de Ville. Had I wanted my heroine to stay at a hotel, I would have mentioned that she was sleeping at the Hotel de la Poste. I know France well (in fact I will be in Paris next week- excited squeal!) and love that country and the people. So, with Caitlyn’s review, while my first impulse was to weep, I decided to take a positive from it. I decided that obviously it was my error as a writer not to have conveyed that knowledge correctly. I should have made it clearer that Sophy was at a party at the Hotel de Ville, but not actually staying there as you would at an everyday hotel. And next time, I’ll make sure I’ll do better.

I’m sure there will be moments in the future where I will want to cringe and weep at a bad review. But I’ll also remind myself to learn from the review and keep looking forwards to the next book.

Which hopefully I’ll be able to talk more about very soon…

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I’ve been excited for this day for months now (poor old Christmas didn’t really get a look in) and I woke up this morning and you know what?

It’s been a good day.

I think all writers have an idea in their head of what publication day for their novel would be like. And I suppose I’m no exception. But the truth is that although today has been a good day, with messages from friends (including ones in Australia and the US) I will treasure, it hasn’t been the dream day I had in my head.

And that’s okay. Because although I HAVE A BOOK OUT (excited caps lock usage very necessary at this point!) my kids still have to go to school. They still need their lunches packed, uniforms cleaned and shoes on. And although I HAVE A BOOK OUT it’s still a working day, and my husband still needs to commute into London and can only grab a quick word with me between meetings at various financial institutions. And although I HAVE A BOOK OUT I still have to run errands for the PTA, tidy the house, get to the gym and, most importantly, write. Because although I HAVE A BOOK OUT, life still goes on.

And that’s all okay.

Because I took the time out to read a magazine today. While drinking a coffee. And eating a chocolate brownie (I don’t even really like chocolate and am not coeliac, but I have a thing for gluten-free chocolate brownies. Go figure.) all by myself at Starbucks.

And while there, I took the time to check my twitter and Instagram, and found both flooded with messages from readers and writers. Congratulations and best wishes coming from friends. It was a nice moment.

This afternoon a friend called me, asking if I were swimming in flowers and cards, and if I would be drinking champagne tonight.

“You’re a published author today!” She squealed. “This is a big deal!”

But the truth is that I won’t be drinking champagne tonight, and nobody sent me flowers or cards. And in a way, that’s the way it should be. Because this is a personal goal reached for me, and right up there with giving birth naturally and trekking The Great Wall. And the person who should be most proud of me is me.

And I really am. I am proud of myself.

And as someone who has always suffered with low self-confidence, that’s a big thing to admit.

And admitting it has been the second best part of today. The first, of course, has been reading all the messages of support from my friends. All of my best friends, some old work colleagues, old school friends… they all got in touch to say that they were proud of me. And that’s a lovely thing to hear. I’ve also had so many messages from those at Choc Lit and in the romance community- more than I feel I deserve. I’ve been truly humbled by how kind and supportive everyone has been.

It’s been a good day, and I think it will be a good week. Reviews for ‘The Marked Lord’ have been trickling in and making me feel very warm. Tomorrow night my husband and I will get some time together. And this weekend is a close friend’s birthday and we’re going out to celebrate.

Thank you, so much, to everyone who has been in touch. And if you read ‘The Marked Lord’ and have any comments, do please get in touch to let me know.

Sharon.xx

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Both moments are special, to be honest. Both moments are wonderful. But for me, seeing my book in its actual book form, instead of just as a word document I’ve laughed and cried over for nearly a year, is pretty amazing. Suddenly, with a cover and an ISBN number and that lovely copyright page with my name on it… suddenly, my book seems more real. Suddenly, it seems like a book in the flesh, rather than just the book in my mind.

I have to say, I love the cover that was chosen for my book (thankfully I don’t have to choose the cover or the title of the novel- writing it was hard enough without that stress to add to it). It’s dark and atmospheric and harks back to the romance paperbacks I consumed in my teenage years. But more than that, I love the fact that the couple on the cover aren’t caught in an embrace or a moment of passion. They stand away from each other, as they do in the beginning of the book. This cover is just as I pictured Sophy and Fitz in an early scene of the novel, before they start on the path to falling in love. I adore it. I even love the fact that Sophy has been dressed in blue, which is my favourite colour, and one I wear often.

So there’s something spectacular about seeing this cover for me, in knowing something that was only in my head has been captured and bound in this image. And I’m so glad I get to share it with you.

(author logs off, begins internet search for a replica of the dress on the cover with matching sash).

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