I have a dream

At the weekend, for reasons too complicated to explain, I spent a couple of hours thinking about my dreams – not the sort where your teeth are falling out while you’re being chased by your O-level maths teacher for your overdue homework, but the sort where you imagine and plan for the future (as in “hopes and dreams”).  The brief was to dream big – to write down anything, regardless of likelihood or practicality.  Of course several of my dreams related to the Sam books and I thought I would share those with you:

• To publish two more Sam Plank books, taking the series to seven
• To hear one of the Sam books read aloud on Radio 4 as their “Book of the Week”
• To win “The Selfies” in April 2019
• To see “Fatal Forgery” on sale in Tesco and Waitrose [one for the numbers, the other for the snobbery…]
• To open a national newspaper and see one of the Sam books unexpectedly and favourably reviewed
• To have the Sam series recommended by Mariella Frostrup
• To see the Sam series turned into a Sunday evening costume drama on the BBC, with Claudie Blakley playing Martha – Sam is still to be cast.

Here’s Claudie in “Lark Rise to Candleford” – and maybe moody Brendan Coyle would work as Sam…

What surprised me when I went back over my Sam dreams was that none of them mentions money.  Sure, winning an award or getting a review heard/read by thousands would increase sales, but what seems to matter to me is a wide readership rather than earning a fortune.  I do appreciate that I am in the lucky position of having a day job quite apart from my Sam writing, which means that I do not have to rely – thank goodness! – on Sam income, but still, it’s shown me that I am motivated by getting people to read Sam rather than by getting them to buy books.  I’ve blogged before about my unhappy experience with libraries and the PLR system, but despite this I would be just as happy to see more people borrowing the Sam books as I would to see sales increasing.  (I just love checking our local library catalogue and seeing all the Sam books out on loan.)  So that’s the dreaming done – now on with the reality of writing.

Visiting Auntie

Great excitement – I’m going to be on the radio!  I was out at dinner the other night, and a friend of a friend suggested that a good way to publicise my book in Cambridge would be to go on local radio, and in particular the afternoon show where they do arts reviews and discussions.  So I contacted Sue Dougan at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, gave her a copy of “Fatal Forgery” and – barring something really exciting happening, like a violent turn to the punt wars or the towers of King’s collapsing – I’ll be on her show on Monday 16 September.

I really don’t know what to expect: I’ve been told to turn up just before the show starts at noon, and then it’s all a mystery.  I assume that there’ll be a discussion of some sort, but then will I be kept around to comment on other things, or to take questions from listeners?  At least I know I don’t have to dress up: I did offer to wear my £3 tiara from Claire’s, which I save for special occasions, but Sue said there was no need.  She may have regretted her invitation at this point, but it was too late.

I have heard my voice before, in recordings, and it’s ghastly.  I sound much posher from the outside than from the inside, perhaps because in here I know what I am really thinking, but there you go – it’s probably too late to learn and assimilate a whole new accent by Monday.  I’ll let you know how it goes.