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With just a couple of weeks until it’s officially published, people are asking me what’s with the title, Homeward Bound? The answer is in the book, but for a few clues, the first chapter opens with seventy-nine-year-old George reluctantly being given a tour of prospective nursing homes by his daughter and son-in-law. And he’s not happy about it. At all!

And, of course, there’s a song, Homeward Bound, sung by Simon and Garfunkel. It’s one of the records George’s nineteen-year-old granddaughter, Tara, discovers in his music room, and its discovery leads to a mystery.

Music plays a big part in both George’s and Tara’s lives – as it does in the novel. If you’re not familiar with the song, you can hear a recent-ish live performance by Paul Simon on youtube. There will also be a Spotify playlist of all the songs mentioned in the book nearer to publication.

See what happened when I told Bing Crosby – just as he started singing ‘White Christmas’ – that I’d written a novel . . . . .

‘Homeward Bound’ has been printed! It’s now waiting for its official publication in January. In the meantime, it’s available on pre-order from your local bookshop or Waterstones (https://www.waterstones.com/book/homeward-bound/richard-smith/9781838591595). I hope the wait is worth it – maybe the perfect post-Christmas come-down!

This is how the cover will look. I just stared into my local bookshop’s window and looked at the fancy artwork and brightly coloured sleeves of other people’s hardbacks and special editions… and crossed my fingers that this simple design will stand a chance of getting noticed. Odd how months and months (then add a few!) of work suddenly boil down to worrying about graphics.

Anyway, please feel free to spread the image. And I hope you like the blurb. Every time I’m asked to summarise what the book’s about, I come up with a new approach – the one on the book cover is quite different from the publisher’s original ‘Advance Information’. I’ve refined it somewhat by necessity. If I’m asked to describe it face-to-face by anyone, I find I’m mentally sub editing as I speak while watching their expression change from interest to indifference! It’s a bit like answering ‘How are you?’ with a full description of your sinus infection, tendonitis, cough that won’t go and bunion (or whatever!). I’m still searching for a perfect, “I’m fine, how are you?” response.

By the way, I’m fine – how are you?

Scary as it is, the time for changes to my novel has passed. Each night I think of something new to add or how my characters might react differently in conversations and situations they are confronted by. Too late! The manuscript has been proofread and it’s off to the printers. Bookshops have been sent advance information for them to get excited about (or most likely, to ignore under the heavy weight of other stuff to read and deal with). So it’s all now down to marketing, good luck and hopefully, favourable responses.

There are still decisions to be made on whether international versions or e-books are a good idea. At the moment, it’s print only.

I’ll post up the cover in a few days. In the meantime, the marketing puff is on this site (‘Information for booksellers’). I hope it sounds promising to you!