Bright colours and happiness

Thank you so much for all your kind messages and congratulations, everyone! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about all of this. It is such a relief, after two years of work and striving for publication, to reach this milestone.

At this stage, my editor wants to release the book in early 2011. Which seems like a long time to wait, particularly if you are blessed with the patience of a fruit fly, as I am, until you realise that it needs to be published at that time in order to have the best chance of succeeding. New books are generally released at the beginning of the year, after the big names have released new titles in the northern hemisphere's autumn, in time for Christmas. Early 2010 is only six months away, and so my book won't be ready in time. Hence the wait! I'm just happy that it's all coming true. (Yes, I am still checking and rechecking the emails to make sure it is not an elaborate hallucination).

A couple of you have asked whether I can reveal the title of the book. It would be my pleasure! The book is called 'Ngozi', which is a Shona word meaning (loosely translated), 'vengeful ghosts.' Here's an excerpt from my query letter, where I gave a brief blurb:

"Being a white Zimbabwean in the 1990s is a near-perfect life. Your clothes are always clean and ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gins and tonics are served on the verandah, and, in theory at least, black and white live in harmony. As Mugabe’s presidency turns sour, however, this idyllic and privileged world begins to crumble into anarchy.

Told through the eyes of a young girl, Ngozi follows the struggle of one troubled white family to stay afloat in the collapsing economy and escalating horror of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. When the farm invasions begin, the violence threatens to destroy their way of life forever, and escaping the vengeful ghosts (‘ngozi’) of their past seems impossible. Can they stay, or must they go?"

Thanks again for all your support through this whole process - I appreciate it greatly.

P.S. The lovely vintage bag I'm carrying was a birthday gift from my friend Hannah. My old favourite is out of action after the dastardly mugger broke it, so I'm especially delighted to have a beautiful new bag!