Waiting

The interview went all right I think (it's for Newstalk in Ireland, but I don't know when they'll broadcast it, if ever). A fairly straightforward interview with a guy called Sean Moncrieff, with the focus on Gilbert's character and family background. I had no notice of the questions so I was thinking on my feet mostly, trying to dredge all the information out of my brain about names and dates and so on, as well as trying to be interesting. I lost my track for a few seconds in the middle of one answer and had to backtrack.

This is the bit I don't like about what's happening with the book. I just want to fast forward to the moment when it's published and I can see what the actual reaction to the thing is. Because I think it will change the way people view Gilbert, but how can I tell before the event what they will say? After all, when Jane Stedman's great biography of Gilbert came out in 1996, Benny Green had the effrontery to say it contained nothing new!! So I mustn't think people will be predisposed to think well of my book. If it gets noticed at all (and maybe, like my last book, it will be effectively ignored) it will probably be skimmed by a bored reviewer and used as a prop for the expression of the reviewer's own opinions of Gilbert.