Classic FM informed me that today, 2nd March 2023, is world book day. Perhaps as an author I should have known that. What is world book day anyway? UNESCO created world book day on 23rd April 1995, and it is now celebrated in over a hundred countries.
The Scotsman reports that ”Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.” I can believe that. The books that got me hooked were the adventures of The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. They led me on to The Famous Five, followed by the Biggles books of Captain W.E. Johns.
Literacy gives access to knowledge, and knowledge provides power. It certainly helped me. Therefore I fully support world book day. I just wish I’d known about it beforehand. They change the date from year to year, so I shall check the website earlier. Perhaps I shall make that my New Year resolution.
An email from the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) made me rather excited yesterday. It told me that June is National Crime Reading Month (NCRM). It gives me a further incentive to fix an appointment with Waterstones and see if I can interest them in a local author event. The only problem is that we hope to be sailing in June. Anyway it’s something to think about. I shall be better informed next year. My excuse is that The Spy who Sank the Armada was only published fifteen months ago. It was a long time in gestation, but four books of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures published in fifteen months is quite good going I think.