My lifestyle can hardly be consider glamorous. I’m either sat at my desk on the computer or grubbing around in the undergrowth for Tupperware but last night I got to travel into London to attend the book Launch of a friend: Empire State by Adam Christopher. It may not have been superstar-glamorous but it was a good evening and there was even some quaffing.
I first met Adam Christopher at an Eastercon a couple of years ago. He was probably one of the first people I got to know within fandom. At that time we’d both had some minor success (fiction for him, non-fiction for myself) and eagerly discussed the novels we were writing, our hopes and dreams.
Adam was very active on Twitter, not trying to push his work, but just talking about things that interested him: Stephen King, Dark Shadows, occasionally about stuff he was working on. And that was the thing, he was always working on something, going from one completed project to the next.

It’s a truism that every author’s career is different, none follow the same path, and so those of us who followed Ghostfinder on twitter did so with interest. Secretly, I was telling friends, “I reckon he’ll be the first of us to get a deal”.

I know much has been made of him being ‘found’ on twitter, and to be honest, it makes for an interesting PR hook, but the truth was he was just personable and social. If there’s a reason Adam got a deal (beyond obvious talent), it’s because inbetween those tweets he was working very, very hard. When one book didn’t seem to work out, he’d just get on with the next; no fuss, no drama.
So when the deal for Empire State was announced, the vast majority of us who chatted with him on Twitter weren’t too surprised (and no, he never let on).
It’s been great following Empire State as the momentum has built for the book. I even joked he’d got just about everyone to blurb it. But then you can understand why, given the way he engages with everyone via social media.
Last night saw the launch of the book at Forbidden Planet and the culmination of all that hard work. It seems people are liking it, and there was a sizable crowd turn up to the launch comprised of writers, twitter followers and others. There was a reading, a Q&A, and a signing.

We then retired to the local watering hole where we toasted his success, discussed plans for SFX Weekender and tried not to miss trains (some succeeded, some failed).
I picked up a signed copy of the book, although I’m already reading it on my Kindle and enjoying it.
All in all a very enjoyable night, and I wish Adam and the book all the best.