It’s been three weeks since Starminster came out, and I still find myself sneaking into bookshops to visit it, half-disbelieving that it will actually be there, waiting for me. My book. The book I wrote with such delight and pleasure and excitement. It’s in the hands of children now, and that has been the greatest joy of all. I’ve only met a few children who’ve read it so far, but they have been so sweet and lovely about it.
I’m a secondary school teacher myself so I’ve also had the privilege of seeing it, sitting quietly on a desk during my lesson. There was even one lovely student who was near to the end and was definitely reading under the table during my grammar lesson. I didn’t reprimand him!
HarperCollins Children’s Books organised a beautiful launch for me at Nomad Books in Fulham, and my entire family flew in from Northern Ireland. So many wonderful friends came along. There were dozens of Starminsters, and Starminster biscuits staining the children’s mouths blue, and even a bottle of Nosecco so that my extremely pregnant self could partake! It was a wild blur of happiness and celebration, the stuff that dreams are made of, and one of the very best nights of my life.
I realise my website is extremely neglected. The sad truth is that I am still not completely certain how to work WordPress which hasn’t helped! But I’m going to try to post more regularly. I will soon have a newborn again, though, so no promises!
If anyone has read Starminster, I would love it if they left me a review somewhere! Reviews are very important to writers early in their careers.
Megan Hopkins 