Strangely emotional

I was startled to hear the doorbell ring on Sunday afternoon and even more surprised to see a delivery driver at my door.

That’s a first for me, a Sunday delivery!

The box he handed me was quite heavy and I thought it must have been samples of a new wine I was expecting. The wine comes in unique bottles that look like this …

But when I opened the box, something much more exciting lay inside …

My book!

I felt a surge of unexpected emotion that I wasn’t expecting, as it’s not a soul-filled novel.

It was a bit weird to be standing there with my book in my hands and no one to share the excitement, so the tears didn’t fully form.

It has been quite the project though, so it was thrilling to finally see it in print.

A Nashville-based arm of Harper Collins contacted me early last year and asked me to write the book in my capacity as editor of Drinks Digest. I have no idea how they found me. They didn’t even ask for proof that I was capable of writing it, they just signed me up.

I naively agreed to the project and almost killed myself in the process – 100 recipes is A LOT.

There was also so much room for error, so I am a bit terrified that I will be chased by angry inn owners with burning pitchforks …

But, there you go, I am a published author.

It flies in the face of me telling a former employer that I didn’t have a book in me when they insisted I sign a clause in a legal settlement, promising I would never reveal their dirty secrets in print.

I don’t think I have the evolution of a plot and characters and scene-setting in me. But this project was different, it simply includes an introduction that focuses on the history of drinks in Sydney, plus lots of bartender profiles and recipes.

Thank you to Margot for contacting me via private message when I confessed in a blog post that I was drowning and offering to help me edit the recipes.

I’m currently facing the pointy end of another deadline, which means there are even more words flowing from my fingers than usual!

This time I’m writing it on my own, as my weekends aren’t filled with the usual distraction of DD, who heads from London to Iceland in a few days time for another conference.

The deadline is a few days before he returns. Then that’s it! No more books for me!

Song of the day: Elvis Costello “Every day I write the book”