A WRITING DILEMMA

When I started writing The Sum of all Parts, I initially didn’t want to use my own name. I fancied reinventing myself, choosing an exotic name perhaps, an androgynous name or just initials to keep my identity hidden. I thought about using a name from my family tree, a certain Charlotte Miles – an ancestor my father had not been able to find much information on. I considered using my mother’s maiden name and my own (Elliott Gunn). I seriously considered S.A Gunn or S.A Sheeran. I was keen to keep readers guessing about my identity. Then I realised my naivety: I would have to put myself out there, on social media, at book launches. There was no point in using anything but my own name as any anonymity would be short lived, especially as my publishers requested an author photo and author blurb.
Now, personally, I don’t care much for author photos or personal details about the person who writes the book. Most of the time I don’t even bother to look or read these bits of trivia, all I care about is whether the story is appealing and convincing, whether it transports me or opens my mind. I don’t care what gender the author is, what they look like, or whether they have 2.4 children and a dog. This is inconsequential to me. But apparently this is not the case for publishers and for some readers. So I had to find a suitable photo to adorn my website and any other promotional platform that might come my way. Simple, you would think, but not for me. You see, I hate having my photo taken (I have a face for radio) and so I don’t have a great deal to choose from and was not keen to subject myself to staring down the lens of a camera. Luckily I found a relatively recent photo, a headshot, taken when I was feeling reasonably relaxed and therefore not too visually offensive. A click of a button and I changed it to black and white (why is it by the by that a person looks far better in black and white??) and my photo was sent off to my publishers before I changed my mind. It’s the photo that I also use for this blog, my webpage, Twitter/X, and Instagram; and in retrospect it is not the best I could have chosen: it’s more a photo of my nose than me.
Perhaps I should have provided a more staged picture, acquired an item that ‘made’ me into an author, some kind of uniform – armour even – that once on would transform me into a confident writer, ready for the camera and any book-related event that came my way. I could take inspiration from the late great Sir Terry Pratchett and acquire a hat perhaps. Now there’s an idea.
So I had the photo sorted. Now for the author blurb. What to write. What does the average reader want to know? Personally, as I have said, I don’t really want to know anything about the author. Ok, so it is interesting to know a bit about Margaret Atwood’s background especially as some of her childhood experiences seep into her earlier work. I love reading about Terry Pratchett. It’s interesting to know that Sarah Vaughan has a background in journalism. But this is me that I had to write about. A first time writer. What would anyone want to know about me? So I kept it brief and to the point: where I was born and where I now live (England and Ireland), that I’m a qualified Early Years Professional, that I’m married with three children. But perhaps that wasn’t right (and it already isn’t, I put that I’ve lived in Ireland for 27 years and time has passed since I sent the blurb into the publisher!). Perhaps it wasn’t enough. I mean, if an author blurb helps to sell books then maybe I should have been more interesting, more revealing: Sara sings constantly (her youngest daughter is frequently heard yelling “mammy we don’t need a soundtrack”); Sara prefers cats to most people; Sara has a nose complex; Sara likes to draw and paint; Sara likes to garden and is often found talking to her plants (well, I need to apologise when I’m pruning); Sara hates making decisions. What exactly do you, dear reader, want to know exactly? The ins and outs of a ducks backside or are the basics acceptable? I truly would love to know, that way I might get it right for the next book. In the meantime, I’m off to find a suitable hat.

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