This post is by way of a huge thank you to all the friends who have supported me in different ways on my writing and publishing journey. I am blessed in having a great number of friends spread all over the world – some going back to childhood, others relatively new, most somewhere in between. Writing is a solitary occupation and it’s easy to get discouraged. Being able to call on so many loyal friends has made all the difference – whether for moral support on the rollercoaster ride to publication, for giving me valuable feedback on early drafts, for practical help with accommodation, lifts or launch arrangements or for spreading the word about my books among their own friends and social media contacts.

In business circles, it would probably be called networking, but as a writer, I feel uncomfortable viewing contact with friends as a business strategy. In fact, although I’m selling something (my books), I have great difficulty thinking of it as a business at all. Perhaps this is because, up to now at least, it hasn’t provided me with any significant income. Perhaps it’s because money has never been my motivation for writing. Then again, perhaps I’m just being precious.

Launching the book at (so far) half a dozen different venues in both the UK and Spain and always seeing friendly faces in the audience has meant a lot to me. I am truly grateful to all who made the effort to come and who then bought and read the book, posted reviews and/or bought more copies to give as presents – all of which has helped massively in getting the books out there.

Thinking just of The Red Gene (though it was a similar story with Secrets of the Pomegranate), I have a multitude of friends to thank. My artist friend Allan drew the maps. Lala recommended reading material and put me up in London while I researched at the Marx Memorial Library. Javi, my pilates teacher, invited me to visit his parents in Antequera, the setting for a large part of the book. Lucy put me in touch with Pepita, a retired Spanish midwife. Paloma, a nurse friend in Granada, provided me with details of hospital routines. Rosa, a doctor, checked some of the medical details in my novel. Resu introduced me to her lovely mother, who spoke of her life during the dictatorship but sadly didn’t live long enough to see publication. Sue, Lily, Andrew, Lucius, Ann and Jane gave me valuable feedback on my first draft. Isabel read the Spanish sections to check their authenticity. Expert photographer Candi did a photo-shoot that has provided me with an ample choice of shots for publicity. She also arranged for me to use the beautiful Carmen de la Victoria for my Granada launch and introduced me to Gerardo, a fellow Granada University professor, who gave a brilliant introduction to my talk. My brother Tony helped arrange my Oxford launch and spread the word mong his friends and acquaintances as well as putting me in touch with Marcos, the flamenco guitarist who played at the launch. Barbara, Anne and Jill made sure my book was included in their reading group programmes for next year. Flor took the record for number of copies bought for friends – about twelve, I think! Sue arranged my talk in Mojácar and invited me to stay with her for the weekend. Almost all my Spanish interviewees were friends of friends or relatives of friends. Numerous others – too many to mention by name – encouraged me along the way when, believe me, encouragement was badly needed. My sincere thanks to every one of you. Without your support and belief in me, my journey would have been lonelier, less successful and a lot less rewarding.