Hello.
I don't know what to write, so I thought I would go and talk into my phone instead. I am just sitting by the river, the Hudson River in, uh, sort of upstate New York, a little bit upstate. And today is the day that the books are out. Log Off and The Island, those titles I have said, uh, it feels like a million times over the past few months.
I've been working on these two books since last November, I think it was, when we decided to go for it. So it's been, I mean, in some ways that's not a long time, but it feels like it's been a very intense time. And yeah, I had my eye on both of the manuscripts before that, so it took me a while to even get to that point. And now, yeah, now we're here.
I mean, today, in a way, is nothing for me, right? Today is just the day when other people are able to order the books from the internet. And you can't actually read them or see them for a few more days and there's no event or anything. It's just like… it's just the official date. So it's a little bit of a strange feeling and a little bit like the calm before the storm, because we're about to go on a ten date tour. But, yeah, I guess it's a good opportunity to reflect on what's happened and try to prepare for what's about to happen.
I'm thinking, or I have been thinking about how many people have helped in this process. I did a quick count in my head and it got to 50 really fast. Whether it was, you know, the people who helped to design and illustrate the books, Mad Manning and Jinhwa Jang, who did the covers, and Tim Vienckowski, who did the design for Log Off, or the people who helped to edit, like Caroline Rayner and Sebastian Castillo, all of those people who have had a visceral role. But there are also so many people who have or who will read with us, bookstores who are going to host us, friends who are going to host us in their homes as well. Friends who have just, like, listened to us talk this through. All the people who have been on the podcast episodes too.
There are just so many people who have contributed and supported the project because they care about it and because they want it to happen. So I think a lot of the time it might seem like it's just me making Shabby Doll House, but it really really isn’t. It's a huge community of people. And I remember last year when we did one of the launches for The Moan Wilds by Caroline Rayner, and afterwards we were talking, there was a group of us talking, and we were saying that at that moment, we were sort of imagining it, kind of like a human pyramid and that at that moment Caroline was at the top and that everyone was supporting her and trying to make her book happen and trying to make the events as fun and as exciting as possible.
And then we knew that it would reconfigure and that next time around, you know, somebody else was going to go to the top and that Caroline would move into support. And that we would all kind of be playing different roles. Um, and I think, yeah, now that has happened. And is continuing to happen.
And so it's just, really it's very emotional and intense to have been doing this for so long. This is twelve years into Shabby Doll House and a lot of the relationships that I have with the people who are part of it, you know, only happened because of Shabby Doll House. I wouldn't know any of the people who I've published. I wouldn't know many of my friends if it weren't for having done this. So it's really exciting to feel that this is still developing and that those relationships are evolving. Over the past however many months I feel like I've gotten to know Kristen so much better and working together has been so, um, just I mean… I feel like I've been truly matched, you know, she edited The Bushwick Review for a long time and knows how these things work, and it's been a real combination of forces, I think, the two of us working together. And then also working with “Oscar” on his book, it's like a new kind of depth or level to that relationship where you, um, you realize like, how to cooperate and collaborate on things and how to get the best out of each other's strengths.
And then all three of us together, um, the sort of main unit of three for this round of books. It's like, yeah, everybody's been so involved all the time. Constant communication, constant texting, constant voice notes like this one. And it just feels like a great, great thing to do with your friends. If you want to have a book or to make books, you can figure it out and you can do it and make it into a big deal and a success. And, it's a lot of work, but it's, for me, the best kind of work that it's possible to do. So yeah, just feeling, I guess very grateful now. And yeah, I'm not, as you can tell from my voice, I'm not like, Oh my god, it's here! The publication day! I'm more like, wow, okay, we did it. And it's going to continue and this is more just like a little moment to switch gears, because for a long time we've been preparing the books and now they're going to be received by people, they're going to actually be read. And that's going to be a whole different thing.
For the past six months or something, we've just been showing you pictures of them and you don't know what's inside. And you don't know, you don't even know that they're great books yet. I mean, I hope if you know the press, then you would already think that they're going to be. But I think that people are going to really, really love these books and it's going to be special for them to be in your homes and in your hands and with you wherever else you go, and in your heads afterwards when you think about them and talk about them with your friends.
So what's my point with this? Right, I was trying to figure out what to say. I've probably forgotten some stuff, but I've covered a lot of it.
If you live in any of the places, or if you live close to any of the places where we're going over the next month, then please come. And if you do come to any of the events, then come and say hi. We would love to talk with you and hear about what you are doing and help you if we can, with any kind of writing or publishing questions.
I guess I really started this voicenote feeling like I didn't have much to say, but now I've talked for ages. Um, so for now, if you feel like it, then I highly recommend ordering these books and reading them. There will be copies at all the events if you can make it, but if not, they can be delivered to your home within a few days, I'm sure.
And yeah, I just hope you enjoy them.
Thank you so much!
Lucy