On the morning of 13 March 2024, I received a text from my friend Robin, wishing me a ‘happy book wedding day’. Why? Because my official book launch party was happening that evening and he knew how important it was for me to celebrate this landmark event with my family and friends.
To be honest, it took about as much time and energy to organise as my wedding did. There aren’t many occasions when you are the centre of attention in a room full of people you know and love, so the comparison was apt. I was the blushing bride and my book was the groom!
I knew exactly what I wanted: a quirky venue in central London, big enough to comfortably fit around 50 people; and a showcase featuring some amazing storytelling friends, with me doing a reading from the book. I decided on Bar Boudoir, in the heart of Soho – my stomping ground back in the 80s when I was a young music journalist about town.
To reflect the ‘life dictionary’ process at the heart of the book, I invited a few friends to tell stories about their significant words. The wonderful Sarah Lloyd-Hughes, founder of Ginger Leadership Communications, hosted this part of the evening, which kicked off with an interview with me about how I came to write the book.
Then Nicky Moran started us off with a short story about her chosen childhood word. She decided on Wonder, and told a charming and dynamic story about her childhood love of Wonder Woman and the impact the character had on her young life.
Then Jojo Thomas worked her lyrical magic, telling a rhyming story about her chosen teenage word, Poem. The image of her shouting, ‘Orgasm!’ at the top of her voice will live with me for a long time! (You had to be there…)
I chose to read four entries from the ‘early adult’ section of my book, starting with New Romantic – the term I coined when I worked for Sounds in the early 80s. For added amusement, I showed a slide featuring a photo of me in the back of a limousine (In New York) with three members of Spandau Ballet.
My second choice of word was Stilettos – illustrated by a photo taken of my lower leg, ankle and foot encased in seamed black stockings and six-inch black patent leather heels (originally shot for the cover of a fetish magazine).
Following on from that, my third choice was Fetish – displaying a photo taken of me in fetish gear (black shiny PVC skirt, latex bra, black wig), standing outside the fetish club Skin Two in 1983. To complete the trio of very adult words, I then read out the story in the book about the word Dominatrix. If you want to know why I chose to write about these words and why they were significant at that time of my life, then you’ll have to read my book!
My next guest storyteller was the aforementioned Robin Bayley, who chose Intuition as his meaningful midlife word. The audience gasped when he reached the ‘big reveal’ in his story. And finally, Rona Steinberg chose Feel to represent her wise word, mixing humour and pathos to end with a touching message.
So by the end of the evening, together we had created a joint ‘life dictionary’ of significant words and showcased our storytelling skills.
After signing many paperbacks, I felt well and truly committed to my book. But writing now, a month on from the party, it feels like the honeymoon is over and the hard work of building a relationship is just beginning!
I’ve made a good start – 12 five-star reviews so far (I’ll update that number when more come in). However, I know from speaking to other authors that you never stop launching your book, so I’ll keep looking for opportunities to talk about it and promote it – and, of course, to celebrate its anniversary every year!
At least I know my book had a wonderful wedding day, with all my guests having a fab time and feeling the love in the room. Now I just hope my book marriage lasts longer than my actual marriage did!
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