Nicola Monaghan met her hero a couple of years ago, and just about managed to hold it down...
The next time I saw him was at the Authors’ Club Awards when I won my Betty Trask. We were standing almost back to back when I turned and noticed him, then tried to restrain the excitement in my voice and not point as I turned to tell my husband who I’d seen. Chad skipped off and took a book from the Killing Jar display and gave it to Alan, who then asked me to sign it. This messed with my head a little; my equivalent to most people’s meeting Elvis and being asked to sing for him.
I signed the book and Alan asked me to put our address inside the cover too. To my delight, some weeks later I got a letter from Alan saying how much he had enjoyed it. Besides providing my publisher with some lovely cover quotes, this made my year. That letter is stored in a very safe place to show my kids and their kids when they learn to read. Although at the rate I’m going this could be a century or two away, I’m convinced they’ll still be reading Sillitoe, and that they will be impressed.
Nicola Monaghan is the author of The Killing Jar and Starfishing
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
