"Oh my God, you’re Alan Sillitoe..."

Sunday 25 April 2010
reading time: min, words

Nicola Monaghan met her hero a couple of years ago, and just about managed to hold it down...

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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

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