So I’m writing this on the eve of my 13-month, seemingly never-ending book tour for Dark Chapter FINALLY coming to a close. If you told me a year ago, that I’d still be at public events talking about my first novel on July 1st, 2018… well, I’m not sure I’d have believed you. But some 80 or so public talks later, I think I’m finally at the end.
Quite fittingly, I’ll be finishing with TEDx London at the SouthBank Centre, where I’ll be speaking in the 4-6pm section on social justice. This is live in front of an audience of 2,000 with no notes or teleprompter… so it’s a bit terrifying and definitely a step up from any of my previous talks! But at least a way to finish in style. You’ll be able to watch the live-stream on the TEDx London social media channels, like Facebook Live.
Since my Korean promotional tour, I’ve been back to the US twice: for the Edgar Awards and the Bay Area Book Festival in April, and more recently for a three-city US book tour in Chicago, Washington, DC, and New York/New Jersey. At the Edgars, I had the pleasure of meeting fellow crime writers in the Mystery Writers of America, including MWA President Jeffery Deaver, who now has his own signed copy of Dark Chapter. 
Sadly, I didn’t win in the Best First Novel Award category, but it was certainly an honour to be nominated. Literally hours after the awards dinner ended, I caught an early morning flight to San Francisco, where I was in Berkeley for the glorious Bay Area Book Festival. I had the pleasure of speaking there at three different events, and meeting lots of amazing authors.
You know who else now has her own signed copy of Dark Chapter? JOYCE CAROL OATES. Yes, that’s right. I did the fan-girl thing and handed her a copy after her talk. And she TWEETED ABOUT MY BOOK FOUR DAYS LATER. So yes, that kind of made my year.
In June, I started another US round of my book tour at the Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, the Midwest’s biggest literary festival. This time I was in conversation with NYT- bestselling author Michelle Knight, one of the survivors of the Cleveland kidnapper. We had a powerful discussion about overcoming trauma and abuse.
My US book tour was a lovely (albeit busy) time to reconnect with friends from different parts of my life, some of whom I haven’t seen in decades. One of the most powerful events for me was in the private home of Mary Lou Hartman, who is the inspiration for the character ‘Barbara’ in Dark Chapter. In real life, she was the person I called minutes after my rape, and to be in conversation with her years later was truly humbling.
I also returned to New Jersey (the state I grew up in). This interview with me ran on the front page of The Wayne Today (my hometown paper) and in the digital edition of The Record, which I used to write a few articles for in high school. The past few months also saw interviews with me in The LA Review of Books, The Chicago Tribune, Ms. magazine, CrimeReads. And this personal essay of mine ran in Goop. 
Back in the UK, I was shortlisted for The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. Again, I didn’t win, but guest adjudicator A.L. Kennedy called Dark Chapter: ‘extraordinarily courageous… A remarkable book to read in this time.’ On TV, I appeared on Sky News and London Live, and wrote this piece for The Belfast Telegraph on the 10th anniversary of my rape.
While the past 13 months have been beyond anything I could have predicted, I am REALLY looking forward to a break from all this promoting. On July 2nd, I start writing Novel No. 2. I’m also one of the judges for the SI Leeds Literary Prize this year. So this summer, I’ll be doing a lot of reading and writing. Which sounds just about right, for a writer!