If you had told me a year ago that my book ‘Will Worthington and The Black Rainbow’ would be available in bookshops, I would have said you had lost your mind….. but it happened. It’s very strange to be typing those words, let alone knowing that they’re real. I’m finding myself popping into my local bookshop and seeing how it’s doing.
It also leads me to wonder and plan what I’ll do now. What are my next steps? How will I achieve them? It’s difficult not to relate to this quote by Norman Vincent Peale (incidentally, one of my favourites) “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars!” Throughout the years, I’ve motivated myself on tough days by reading a few of these quotes. I often joked that I would get “Breathing dreams like air” as a tattoo! That’s from F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby.’ I even have some earrings with “We are all born in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Good ol Oscar Wilde! These authors love their stars, don’t they? It must be the metaphorical link!
My biggest goal is to contact the local schools. I have sent emails, but heard nothing yet, so after my holiday I’m going to be brave and give them a call. There’s one very close to me, too. When i get back, I have a chat regarding a library reading on the 22nd October in the local library, yet, I’ll have to see what comes of that, as nothing is set in stone. I’ll let you know what happens!
As I mentioned too, I have my official book release in The Lyme Regis Bookshop on Halloween, from 10am until 1pm. It won’t just be me, either. I will be accompanied by my cheeky, prickly associate, Ouchy Wouchy, (who you might have seen badgering me in a couple of videos online) I can’t promise he won’t be mischievous, but I’ve trained him to at least behave when I’m meeting people and signing books!
The other event is on the 2nd of November in Swish and Flick, Axminster where I will be signing books, talking about my book, and doing a reading. What’s even more exciting is the fact that I will be there on their official Harry Potter day….
As most of you are aware, Harry Potter is the love of my life, and I’ll look forward to engaging with like-minded fans of the books and movies, too. A lot of inspiration for Will originated from the Potter books. There’s no magic, but that was a conscious decision on my part, as I feel I couldn’t have brought an original twist on magic, so there’s inventions and gadgets instead. The villains are key. There’s a lot of darkness, and I like to think the humour matches the sparring dialogue between Ron and Hermione!
Other ideas going forward? I want to venture outside Lyme Regis and walk into other bookshops. I’m planning on Exeter, and of course heading to London in the future. Maybe I could stay there for a day or two? This won’t be until January probably, but it’s something I really want to do. The ideal situation is that booksellers will end up wanting to order it and I won’t have to elevator pitch anymore. Fingers crossed. I do have hope, and that’s a big thing for me, as I’ve felt despondent about my book in the past.
I think that’s everything for now
In my next entry, I talk about the struggles I went through. It’s important to address them, as well as the good moments. I want to try and set a positive but realistic example to others wanting to pursue their dreams.
R.E. Brooker x
