By Marie Yates
Ok, so I don’t really feel like I have ‘lost’, I think that spending an evening in the company of author type folk has made me reach for my inner poet. It’s ok, I’m no longer reaching.
I had the pleasure of attending The People’s Book Prize Award Ceremony on the 27th May. My first novel, Reggie & Me, made it to the final and despite the black tie dress code, I was excited.
It was an unusual predicament to have found myself in as The People’s Book Prize is based on a public vote. Once I had begged everyone I know to vote, it was out of my hands completely, with no way of knowing how well my book was doing.
I was genuinely surprised to have reached the final and that in itself was a big step forward for the book. In a world where the mainstream media push horrific stories of what people are forced to endure as a form of entertainment, my story of positivity and hope for rape survivors was breaking in to a mainstream competition. That was my first ‘win’.
In doing everything I possibly could to whip up the votes, I experienced the most incredible wave of support. I had messages from adult survivors saying that they wished the book had been available when they were younger, messages from young people who had found it inspiring and messages from people who had fallen for Reggie! Alongside these messages, the incredible people in my life had taken on PR roles of their own and were asking everyone they knew for votes too. It was overwhelming… in such a good way!
Without the momentum created by The People’s Book Prize, this probably wouldn’t have happened on such a large scale. It is a frightening thing to put your words out in to the world, especially when they are linked to something so intensely personal. The wave of support was my second ‘win’.
The day itself was an adventure. A trip to London Town is always a ‘win’ and even though I have an aversion to dress codes, mainly because of the word ‘dress’, I was secretly excited
about the sense of occasion. I must admit, leaving the hotel and catching the tube while trying to maintain a level of dignity in a long dress, wasn’t my favourite part of the adventure.
Stationer’s Hall is a spectacular building and the second I set foot inside it I could feel the nerves starting to build. It would be a lie to say that I hadn’t thought ‘what if I actually win?’ I had thought about it and of course, I wanted to win. So did everybody else! There was a wonderful camaraderie as the evening got underway with authors sharing their books and talking about what had inspired them to write.
The funny thing about being in the children’s category was that Reggie & Me, a teen fiction novel, was competing against books for very small humans. There was absolutely no way of knowing how that vote was going to go!
Turns out, it didn’t go my way. The winner was a lovely guy called Rob Jones who’s book, Bernard, for 2-5 years olds took the award. I’d love to say that it was a win for dogs but strictly speaking, Bernard is a ‘wild hound’ who is on the prowl for jam!
It would be another lie to say I wasn’t disappointed. Of course I was! However, in the hours after the ceremony I was inundated with a second wave of support. That second wave was my third ‘win’.
After a late night and a long drive home, my fourth ‘win’ was being greeted by the main man himself, Reggie. He didn’t care that we hadn’t won, he didn’t care about anything, other than the fact I was home and that meant we could play in the garden. Just like in the book; Dani learns a great deal about acceptance and being good enough just as she is through her journey with Reggie. He does exactly the same for me.
With a renewed enthusiasm thanks to the waves of support, the fascinating people I met at the Awards and the main man, Reggie; I am back on the mission to share Dani’s story. The second book is nearing completion and Dani’s message of hope is being heard far and wide!
Thank you for your support.
If you've not yet read this uplifting tale of a survivor and her dog, you can find it here:
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