The Dark Palace is published on Thursday. It’s my, let’s see now, eighth published novel. So you would think that I would be used to the whole publication experience by now. And in a way, I am. But still, I can’t help being nervous about it all. Especially as, for once, I’m having a book-launch-do-thing. (At Goldsboro Books; details here, if you’re interested.)
To be honest, publication day is usually a bit of an anticlimax. I’m hoping that the launch will take care of that, this time.
What may make the experience slightly surreal is that there are several scenes in the book set in Cecil Court, which just happens to be the location of Thursday’s party. The reason for this was that Cecil Court used to be the centre of the British film industry, which provides the milieu for the book.
I can’t quite work out whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing if the thing that happens in Cecil Court in the book happens in real life on Thursday night. It would certainly be interesting. And it might freak a few people out. Me, most of all.
Maybe I’ve missed a trick. Perhaps I should have staged the scene, to disrupt the launch party, in the same way that it disrupts the movie premiere in the story. But I just didn’t have time to train a dog.
And I’m not sure where I can get a human eye from.