Lovely Review...

by the lovely Caroline for Leading the Dance here. Am mightily chuffed. (and that's a word I've found isn't in use here - it was strange to explain because it's more than pleased, it's a combination of champagne and puffed up, which I'm sure academic research will show us is how it probably came to existence.)

Yay! TWO in the top ten...

And if it wasn't glittery enough that Tell Me Everything came Number Nine in Scott Pack's Top Ten books of the year(and jumped several million in its Amazon rankings as a result), I've just seen that Leading the Dance came in yesterday as his Number Four.

This looks like being an expensive list for me though - I've already ordered two of the others, Number Ten and Number Three. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, when they're not helping my fingers to click the 'Buy' button on my computer, my writing muscles are getting nicely warmed up as I prepare for going away on retreat in Virginia ...



And my writing prompt for today is ... Silent Night

A touch of starry-dust

I am in danger of going to see Stardust every night at this rate. I don't even need to defend my obsession - it makes me happy and fills up my imagination so I really want to write. And then last night, I came back from the cinema to an email from my publisher directing me to Caroline Smailes's wonderful review of Leading the Dance. So now as well as D M Thomas's quote, I now have "Sarah Salway injects fragility and grace into the art of storytelling."

To say I'm chuffed is an understatement - and I haven't even had to find a fallen start to cut her heart out to put this spring in my step!

A good blurb

D M Thomas's The White Hotel is defintely on my list of the top ten most influential books for my writing, so you can imagine how surprised, proud and grateful I am to hear that he enjoyed my short stories, Leading the Dance and has given me this quote to use for them:

"These short stories explore the often wavering borderland between love and boredom, sensuality and repression, fidelity and betrayal. They are written with a spare and subtle elegance." D M Thomas

Puppies, Liverpool and Fireman

Off to Liverpool yesterday to read - an excellent night. A good audience, and a good friend to stay up too late with.

Suffering on the train home this morning, I tried to will no one to sit next to me but it didn't work. No problem though because I got the best fellow passenger ever. Peter the Liverpool fireman - who reads masses of fiction and offered to share his tea with me. He told me he always had a travelling book, a home book and a work book.

'So you get to read at work?' I asked, imagining some furtive desk-reading at lunchtimes and that's when he told me what he did. Apparently they have bookshelves in the station and swop them with other stations. He even, whisper it, reads in the engine on the way to jobs sometimes.

'Do you discuss the books?' I asked.

'Yes, with my wife,' he said.

'No, I mean with the other firemen. Do you have a bookclub or anything?'

He looked at me as if I was crazy. 'We are men,' he said.

Anyway he's now got a copy of Leading the Dance for the fire station shelves, appropriately the red one!

A friend sent through these letters to God . Although I like this one:



it's Joyce here that I can really identify with:

Reviews

I haven't put up many reviews or comments about my books up here but I have been persuaded I should, and this one I came across yesterday for Leading the Dance has given me enormous pleasure. Looks a good website too, and one I'll definitely be visiting again.

"A no-holds-barred compilation of extraordinary accounts of everyday occurrences.
Salway's concise yet graphically detailed style of recording ordinary people struggling with their mundane lives (particularly when that mundane life is suddenly thrust into unknown and unforeseen events) is captivating, heartbreaking and occasionally salacious.
My personal favourites are "Every Time You Open Your Eyes", "Jesus and the Aubergines" and "The Woman Downstairs"... although the brutal honesty of her characters could quite easily inspire, endear or simply titillate any of you.
You will find your own personal favourite in this collection of the most intimate foray into other people's lives.
Quite extraordinary and highly recommended."

I love the idea of combining all my reviews and turning into a 'no-holds- barred Princess'...

Mind you I've also been lucky enough to have these recent comments from Neil Gaiman (I know I've put it up before but you probably could have no idea how PROUD I am of this), this one from Nik Perring, author of the excellent (just ask Meg and Sam) book, I met a Roman Last Night, What Did You Do?, as well as this notice from the Man himself, Scott Pack.

Book signing

My hand is crab-like after signing the special editions of my short story collection, Leading the Dance...
Luckily I only had 125 to do, although it became strangely soothing, almost like meditating, and the book is so very beautiful.


And to launch the edition, I'm reading at the Waterstones in Tunbridge Wells on Wednesday 30th May at 7pm. No need to book, and all welcome!