Welcome to my very first happy post.
So I recently became single, moved to a brand new city and started a new job. Well not all that recently actually, about five months ago, but in that time I’ve had a lot of opportunities to pursue things that make me happy, and I’m going to document all these wonderful things here.
First, I met one of my favourite authors.
I’m a journalist by profession (and I love that I can say that), so writing has always been pretty important to me. With that in mind my two favourite authors have not only shaped my writing, they’ve taught me crucial life lessons. The first is Marina Lewycka, and the second is Elizabeth Gilbert.
I know, I know, I’ve seen the film too, and it’s not that good, but Eat Pray Love is genuinely one of the best novels I have ever read. It’s taught me so much about how to look at life and how to juggle religion and fun. So when the opportunity came up on Twitter to hear Liz talk I jumped at the chance.
Not only was the talk at the world’s oldest music hall….
BUT I got to listen to some incredible talks from three authors nominated for the Wellcome book prize 2014. There were some incredible stories about a doctor’s wife who supported her husband via post during the First World War, women who avoided being certified as insane by money-grabbing husbands, and lastly Liz’s own tale about her cantankerous great Grandfather.
The best part, of course, was getting my copy of Eat Pray Love signed by Liz herself. I must admit I got a little bit starstruck and had no idea what to say. You have about thirty seconds at these kind of events, but how do you say to someone ‘oh my gosh you’re work has influenced me so much you’ve given me a new perspective on life and helped me get through every break up I’ve ever had and if I can affect one person like you have affected me I’ll be happy with my writing’, without sounding like a weirdo?
Meeting my favourite author, and realising she was a real person was pretty awesome. It filled me with hope that one day I might be able to write something half decent too.
Anyway, here it is my newest prize possession. And I grinned all the way home.
Emma Pocklington 