BOOK LAUNCH 30TH JULY @ FOLK PRESERVATION SOCIETY, TEIGNMOUTH
At the end of this month, I will be releasing a new book, The Art of Accidents.
This will be my seventh book, and I have high hopes as seven is considered to be a lucky number – according to PlanetNumerology.com. Google also tells me that seven also features prominently in both popular folklore and various religions, so there’s that too. It has personal significance for me, as it is the number of times I usually have to be told something before I take any notice of it.
The book is a combination of two stories that I had been mulling over, one about a young homeless person and the other about a woman with PTSD.
With nowhere to live and no job, Joe needed something to read, to fill some empty hours. The drawings in the margins of the charity shop book were intriguing and beautiful, swirling across the page and hinting at unseen figures and places. He knew he had to find out who had drawn them, but how could he start on a quest like that?
If Angela’s house is like a prison, it’s only because she has made it that way after the accident. Now she wants to break out, but she doesn’t think she can do it alone.
They are both helped by strangers who become friends, and their paths cross in the most unexpected circumstances.
At first, there didn’t seem to be any obvious connection between the two of them, and they were destined for hard drive limbo. But once I had added in some mysterious and beautiful found artwork, they came together quite easily. Well, as easily as any book does when you are trying to work out who is doing what, when and why, while attempting to make the characters do the heavy lifting of the storytelling.
My previous books have mostly been introduced to the world in a low-key way. I press the ‘publish’ button on Amazon, then send out a Facebook message to people who know me and hope. Despite this laissez-faire attitude, and helped by some low-key advertising, my books do seem to manage to get noticed eventually. But this time I have decided, in my wisdom, to have a book launch.
I should say straight away that I have never been to a book launch before and have no real idea what is supposed to happen. I’m guessing people will queue up to shake my hand and speak to me before buying the book, insisting I write a personal message in it for them before having their photo taken with me.
Whatever, celebrating the birth of a new book seems like a fun way to spend an hour, so I’m going for it.
If it’s just me, standing next to a pile of books in an empty shop, then that’s what it is. If it’s a case of a few people dropping in and chatting with me, so much the better. The best part of it is that it will be in my local record store, so if nobody turns up, I can at least spend the time browsing the vinyl.
If you want to join me, you will be able to buy my books CHEAPER than you can online.
I will be at Teignmouth’s SPS Records (The Folk Preservation Society) from 6 to 7pm on Wednesday, 30th June.
Find out more about the author, Steve Beed, and buy his books here