MiniSky: Thoughts About Everything

The Edinburgh writer Deborah J Miller, author (under the name Miller Lau) of the excellent Last Clansman series (partly set in Edinburgh) celebrated the publication of her first novel with Tor Macmillan by going round the city recently and leaving copies of Swarmthief’s Dance (one of the SF book picks in the first issue of the FPI magazine) artfully arranged for complete strangers to find.

I know of some friends who have tried this phenomenon of bookcrossing before, where marked books are left in public places to share with others (see here for details on the bookcrossing website) but this is the first time I’ve heard of an author doing this with their own work - I thought it was a great way to promote new work and some readers get a free book too, so it can’t be bad! Debbie generously shared her literary excursion around Edinburgh and the emotional trials of sending your book out into the Big World on its own:

Here Be Dragonflies.

The karma of literature…

Well, it’s certainly a strange feeling, releasing your books into the great unknown … Book Crossing involves leaving books in public places for people to find, read and pass on. I have done it in the past with books from my own collection and have even been successful in getting a hit – that is, when someone records that they have ‘caught’ your book, in the wild.

Of course, not all books that Book Crossers release are recorded as caught, primarily because people who find the books either don’t want to post on the website or do not have Internet access. When a book you release IS caught, it’s a strange, vicarious thrill… similar to receiving a response to a message in a bottle.

And this frisson of uncertainty and excitement is doubly magnified when releasing your own work. I set out to release five copies of my new novel, “SWARMTHIEF’S DANCE†on the day of its publication. My friend Christine agreed to help with the task, and it was just as well she came along – I found myself strangely reluctant to let go of the first copy, as if abandoning some errant child into the wilderness. It seemed to exemplify what happens to all writers’ novels once they are published, sending them out into the world, to a completely unknown reception.

We set the books free in Edinburgh city centre, my home town, and a place that has featured in my earlier - Last Clansman - novels. The first copy was left on the Scott Monument and we sat there for about ten minutes while I warily eyed the passing people. What if he picks it up? Will he like it? What if he just tosses it in the trash?

Eventually, we had to make a move and, with a certain amount of cajoling from Christine, we wandered off along Princes Street Gardens with me glancing anxiously back every few paces.

After that it seemed easier. We took a picture at each location just to record the release. Rather cheekily, we left one in the leaflet stand at the Writer’s Museum – probably the only time I will be counted amongst the esteemed Edinburgh literati! (Naturally I disagree and consider Debbie a valued part of the UN City of Literature’s writing community - Joe)

The final copy, we left in the Entomology Department at Chamber Street Museum. The department is in the old Victorian section of the museum and, amongst these less glamorous areas that attract mainly scholars, there is a vaguely musty air. A couple of the lights illuminating the cases flicker on and off as the bulbs are dying.

Although I was slightly worried about creating a security alert, (but you could tell straight away it was a book, honest!) it seemed pertinent to leave a copy there, in such beautiful and slightly creepy company, as the novel is full of giant dragonflies.

I hope those who find the books take the time to read them, and hopefully, enjoy the story. I’ve been checking www.BookCrossing.com each day since we did the release but so far, nothing is been recorded as found. I don’t feel too badly about this, because sometimes a message in a bottle gets lost in the ocean and all we can do is wonder about its journey…

Deborah J. Miller, Edinburgh, September 2005

Of course, if anyone does come across a copy then please do go to the Bookcrossing site and register it and we’d love to hear from you here at the FPI blog too. And if you weren’t fortunate enough to pick up on of those copies, despair not for the excellent fantasy that is Swarmthief’s Dance is available in FPI store and from our online site now.