I first 'met' Vivien when she was a short story writer and we found ourselves sharing the pages of the same magazines. Since then, Viv has branched out into novel writing and her debut romantic novel, How to Win Back Your Husband, was published on Wednesday... hurray!
In celebration of her new book, Vivien has very kindly offered to write a post for me on the best way to say thank you to all the people who help authors along the path to publication.
Over to you, Viv.
HOW TO SAY THANK YOU
When Wendy asked me to appear
on her blog, the first thing I said was ‘Thank you.’ Well, you do, don’t you?
It’s the polite thing to do.
We all do it, almost
automatically, every time someone hands us a gift, holds a door open, or passes
the salt. We write thank you letters after Christmas, or make sure our children
do, and we can even buy ready-made Thank You cards in the shops, so we don’t
have to work out exactly what to say. But there comes a time in a professional writer’s
life when we are expected to say thank you in a much more formal and permanent
way, and very much in our own words... and that’s the day when we are asked to
compile our first acknowledgements page.
After a year of writing my
novel, followed by the long and painful process of looking for either an agent
or a publisher to take it on, and then weeks of working through edits and
changes, it was lovely, when the book was finally ready to meet the world, to
be given the chance to say thank you to anyone and everyone who has helped me
along the way. No word limit, said my
editor. Thank as many people as you like.
It’s entirely up to you…
I must admit that visions
popped into my head of Oscar winners who stand on stage just a little too long,
thanking their producer, their agent, their fellow actors, everyone who voted
for them, their parents, their first drama teacher, their taxi driver, the
midwife who brought them into the world, their dog… As the list of people
nobody has ever heard of gets longer and longer, you can see the audience
losing interest as their eyes glaze over and they start to nod off!
So, I needed my list to cover
the essential people who really had helped me, without going over the top… and,
more importantly, without leaving anyone important out. I thought perhaps a
good place to start might be by reading the acknowledgements in other authors’
novels. Not to copy them, obviously, but to get an idea of how many pages they
might use up, who they choose to thank, and how.
One of my favourite books in
the last couple of years has been I Let
You Go by Clare Mackintosh. Now, I knew that was Clare’s first novel, just
as How To Win Back Your Husband is
mine, so I took a look at her page of thank yous first. And, yes, it was just a
single page. But her opening words rang very true: ‘I always used to read the acknowledgements pages of books and wonder
how on earth so many people could be involved in the creation of a single piece
of work. Now I understand.’
She goes on to thank all the
obvious people in the publishing world - her early readers, agent and
publishers - before moving on to friends and family, highlighting the fact that
they have not only believed in her but supported her and cheered her on ‘from the
sidelines’ – what an apt image that is as we writers sit with our heads down
writing away like mad while others can only look on and help in simple ways like
bringing tea and giving us the time and space we need.
Having listened to Jane Corry
give a fascinating talk at a recent RNA meeting, I turned to her book next. In My Husband’s Wife Jane has included two
pages of acknowledgements, starting on similar lines to Clare’s but also
thanking various people who helped with research - Jane’s book enters the world
of prisons and the legal system, with a few medical questions thrown in for
good measure. Was there anyone like that who I needed to thank?
And, lastly, I turned to
Veronica Henry’s How to Find Love in a
Book Shop. It’s the book I’ve just finished reading - and its title sounds
a little like mine, don’t you think? But here I drew a blank. Apart from a
one-line dedication to her late father, there is no acknowledgements page at
all.
So, it really was up to me. I
could thank pages and pages of people or nobody at all! I settled for somewhere
in between. Of course, I mentioned my writing friends, although not all of them
by name. And my editors. And a few ex-colleagues in the children’s centre where
I used to work, whose day to day work with toddlers had inspired a few scenes
in the book. But I kept my husband until last on the list, just as so many
writers seem to do. Without husbands, wives, partners, supportive families at
home, how would we ever get around to writing a whole novel and still manage to keep
the house clean, the freezer stocked, and put food on the table? I certainly
couldn’t have done.
So, when you write your first
book, who are you going to thank? Please don’t say the dog!
Vivien Hampshire
HOW TO WIN BACK YOUR
HUSBAND
Published by HQ Digital on
18 January 2017
Nicci has made one stupid
and seemingly unforgivable mistake and, after eight years together, her husband
Mark is divorcing her. Her best friend is determined to help her get over it,
start enjoying life again and move on, but Nicci knows getting over Mark just
isn't an option - she still loves him and she wants him back! With no clear
plan in mind and only thirty days left until the divorce is finalised, the race
is on to prove her love, regain his trust and save her marriage, before it's
too late. A debut romantic comedy with a sprinkling of winter magic!
You can buy How to Win Back Your Husband here
