Heart to Heart Communication - Pauline Fisk

VIRTUAL READERS?

Pauline Fisk says I think not

I blogged the other month about the ups and downs of being a virtual author. At the time of writing, I had my first e-publication day in mind but now it’s readers I’m worrying about.

Anything that creates a barrier between the books we authors write and the people out there reading them is a bad thing. Too often, whilst visiting schools, I’ve found children amazed to discover that an author like me is made of flesh and blood. But how much less real will I seem now that I’m a virtual writer? And with no physical books for them to buy, or bookshops for them to buy in, aren‘t I in danger of thinking of my readers as virtual too?

I hope not, because I hate this use of the word virtual. The connections people make online are as real as anything else that happens in their lives. Authors Electric is a virtual group, but it’s a real group too, full of fellow-writers far too alive and kicking to be described as ‘virtual’. And the readers I’ve been hearing from since Midnight Blue’s e-launch aren’t virtual. I may not have met them in the flesh, but I’ve been thrilled to hear from them, old fans and new, some children when Midnight Blue first came out and adults now; some children now, discovering the book for the first time.

I’ve never been an author who writes regardless of her readership. At the age of nine I discovered that having an audience for my work was almost as satisfying as the writing itself. The weird introvert/extrovert contradiction at the heart of every writer had revealed itself to me and ever since, as much as I’ve wanted to write, I’ve also wanted to have readers.

This is one of the reasons why I enjoy author visits so much. Only a couple of weeks ago I was in St Patrick’s Primary School, Wellington, talking about my gap year novel ‘In The Trees’. Who says modern children have an attention span of eight minutes? With just a few photographs and the power of words, I kept children from as young as seven enthralled with tall jungle tales about moonlight in the rainforest, howler monkeys in the trees, swimming in crystal rivers and trekking through the jungle surrounded not just by danger but by clouds of yellow butterflies. 


Engaging with readers isn't something I intend to stop now that I've begun publishing in e-format.  To me the essence of a good story comes down to what the great American children's writer, Katherine Paterson, called a 'heart-to-heart communication' - hearts in hiding reaching out to each other to create something that otherwise wouldn't be there.  A book is only ever half finished when it's written.  Only when the reader - each reader with their own unique imagination - reads it, does it truly come to life.


So readers aren't virtual.  They're very much alive, and e-books aren't virtual either.  They're as real and vibrant as any other book.  And the partnership between writer and reader - that isn't virtual either.  To celebrate it, and in the spirit of World Book Night, Authors Electric will be running a two-day Great Giveaway of e-books, and I'll be a part of it with my Smarties Prize winning novel 'Midnight Blue'.

'Midnight Blue is about growing up, about self-knowledge, and about the redeeming power of love. It's imaginative and magical. And just a little bit scary. What more could you want? ...Here's hoping this new edition gives this lovely and unforgettable book a whole new generation of readers.' JILL MURPHY, BOOK BAG

'To my embarrassment, this book made me uncooperative and uncommunicative until I had finished it. It certainly has an appeal far beyond the juvenile fantasy category. It is intriguing, beautifully written and keeps the reader wondering until the very last page. The suspense of disbelief is not merely willing, but eager; the fantasy becomes reality in one's mind, springing from that rich central core of England that gave us Elidor, Puck, Middle Earth and Watership Down. This is fantasy at its best.' FICTION FOCUS

So there you have it. As I said at the beginning of this post, anything that creates a barrier between the books we write and the people out there reading them is a bad thing. But from the 23rd to 24th April, all the barriers will be down. So do come back then. You'll be glad you did.

www.paulinefisk.co.uk