Lonely writing sessions…

Writers are often said to be introverts, people who relish solitude and draw energy from time spent in their own company. It does seems to hold true for many creatives, although I’m never completely sure about the chicken vs. the egg — do creatives choose a solitary desk life because they like working on their own, or do they just become really good at being alone because they have to be? 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot these past few weeks, because my March was a month of extremes. On the one hand, I was finishing up the first official draft for Book 3, ready to be handed in to my editor on April 1: Long days at my desk, drinking tea by the gallon, emerging only occasionally to throw together a Refrigerator Surprise for my kids, and on the whole looking rather wild-eyed and manic. And on the other hand, right in the middle of my deadline-rush, two big and wonderful bookish events, where I saw more people in one evening than I had in several weeks combined, talked about books and writing for hours, and all that in proper fancy clothes, too!

… Parties, prizes and other shenanigans

Summer of Secrets was up for an award at the Romantic Novelists Association Awards in early March and all nominees were invited to a glamorous party at Whitehall. The venue was all high ceilings, gilded cornicing and red carpets, there was champagne and canapes, and even the loos were super-chic! The whole experience was so thrilling that I didn’t mind not winning. Well, maybe just a little bit. But Santa Montefiore won in my category, and very deservedly so.

Towards the end of March, I went to the Leipzig Book Fair to talk about the German edition of Summer of Secrets, Das Leuchten Jenes Sommers (= The Light of that Summer). The fair is about the size of a small village, filled top to bottom with books, readers, bloggers and authors. Not only was it absolutely amazing to talk books all day, but everyone’s enthusiasm for Das Leuchten left me so buoyed that I came back full of energy for Book 3. 

It’s good to do both

I’m most definitely an introvert and I couldn’t live without those long one-on-one times with my stories, but the last few weeks have reminded me once again how important it is not to spend all your time with your imagined folk and how much I love the company of real people, too.