I am writing this on 2 January which may rank as the dreariest day of the year but then 2024 has only just turned on its engine and I suppose I may need to give it a bit more of a chance to accelerate into something more interesting.
I’m laughing at this because we were in that lengthy queue for fries at IKEA that day and I said to Paddy I think that’s Deborah Sloan’s husband but as you left and caught up with him from behind I genuinely wasn’t sure if it was you or one of your daughters because they are all just four variations of your face 😂 Since I missed my opportunity to say it in IKEA, happy new year! I must confess I’m trying not to feel legitimately sad that you didn’t rate Demon Copperhead but I’ll agree that Lessons in Chemistry was meh. Worse than meh actually. Think you’ll appreciate I’m currently reading my first Ann Patchett and I don’t want it to end! 😍
Oh my goodness can’t believe you were in the queue and I didn’t see you! Mind you I stood in it for about two seconds and ending up getting a bun instead! My excuse re Demon Copperhead is I have no commitment and am a 300 pages book person - I loved the first 200 pages and just wished she’d skipped about 300 in the middle!! Happy New Year to you too. P.S. was thinking about writing about my middle aged face next week so I thoroughly appreciate the comparison to my daughters... talk soon.
Oh I’m so happy you read Our Wives! Julia is a very beloved friend and I have been waiting for the world to discover her talent since I first started reading her writing... thirteen years ago, good grief. Our Wives is particularly special to me as in the acknowledgments she dedicated it to the memory of my late husband – something that would have absolutely tickled him pink, appealing to his love of the sea (and its monsters), brilliant writing and – let’s be honest – the limelight. Anyway, as always, I adored this. I hope 2024 brings me more of your writing, too.
Emma, I have just re-read the acknowledgments and have now seen you included and the dedication to Mike who was obviously a fan of sharks! I really enjoyed Julia's writing (I mentioned the quality of the writing, I find I read a lot of mediocre stuff these days, plus it was a different from a lot of the stuff I read...). I'm glad to have discovered her and I look forward to her next novel. Plus in some ways it's comforting to know she has been writing for 13 years and has clung on and is now being discovered... Thanks again for your kind words.
Indeed and in fact her journey towards being published has been an fairly smooth one by industry standards – but it has still taken an incredible amount of hard graft, patience and luck! (And, of course, talent – she is disgracefully good!)
I’m laughing at this because we were in that lengthy queue for fries at IKEA that day and I said to Paddy I think that’s Deborah Sloan’s husband but as you left and caught up with him from behind I genuinely wasn’t sure if it was you or one of your daughters because they are all just four variations of your face 😂 Since I missed my opportunity to say it in IKEA, happy new year! I must confess I’m trying not to feel legitimately sad that you didn’t rate Demon Copperhead but I’ll agree that Lessons in Chemistry was meh. Worse than meh actually. Think you’ll appreciate I’m currently reading my first Ann Patchett and I don’t want it to end! 😍
Oh my goodness can’t believe you were in the queue and I didn’t see you! Mind you I stood in it for about two seconds and ending up getting a bun instead! My excuse re Demon Copperhead is I have no commitment and am a 300 pages book person - I loved the first 200 pages and just wished she’d skipped about 300 in the middle!! Happy New Year to you too. P.S. was thinking about writing about my middle aged face next week so I thoroughly appreciate the comparison to my daughters... talk soon.
Happy New Year Deborah. Keep writing in 2024. So much resonates on many levels. And thank you for introducing me to Substack. Interesting place!
Thanks J for this - yes Substack is a very interesting place. Always new writing to discover...
Oh I’m so happy you read Our Wives! Julia is a very beloved friend and I have been waiting for the world to discover her talent since I first started reading her writing... thirteen years ago, good grief. Our Wives is particularly special to me as in the acknowledgments she dedicated it to the memory of my late husband – something that would have absolutely tickled him pink, appealing to his love of the sea (and its monsters), brilliant writing and – let’s be honest – the limelight. Anyway, as always, I adored this. I hope 2024 brings me more of your writing, too.
Emma, I have just re-read the acknowledgments and have now seen you included and the dedication to Mike who was obviously a fan of sharks! I really enjoyed Julia's writing (I mentioned the quality of the writing, I find I read a lot of mediocre stuff these days, plus it was a different from a lot of the stuff I read...). I'm glad to have discovered her and I look forward to her next novel. Plus in some ways it's comforting to know she has been writing for 13 years and has clung on and is now being discovered... Thanks again for your kind words.
Indeed and in fact her journey towards being published has been an fairly smooth one by industry standards – but it has still taken an incredible amount of hard graft, patience and luck! (And, of course, talent – she is disgracefully good!)
Yes she very much deserves to be published! Hard graft, patience and luck is a great summary of the writer's journey!