My recent book talks and book trails went very well, and thank you to everyone who has asked about them. It didn’t even rain on the book trails, which was nothing short of a miracle!
I enjoyed all of them to some extent, but I properly enjoyed the second book trail because, as it was exactly the same as the first one, I had just done it the day before and was no longer nervous. With all the other ones, the enjoyment was tempered by the usual anxiety, self-doubt and nerves. I understand that I must suffer from these less than the average person because 1) everyone says I don’t seem nervous when I speak and 2) if you suffer from worse nervousness, you probably have the good sense not to give talks to groups of strangers.
There’s a saying: Do one thing every day that frightens you. It’s not a maxim I live by, but I understand the point. It’s about pushing the boundaries of what you feel confident doing, and not limiting yourself through habit. Of course, there are frightening things that are worthwhile to do and frightening things that are not. I once jumped off a 10-metre platform at a friend’s hen do, which took years off my life and provided no compensating exhilaration whatsoever. I am not much of a (falling off) heights person. The waltzers and the Miami are much more my thing than anything that simulates falling to your death. But I digress.
Giving talks to the public about my books is a scary thing that is worth doing, because I usually enjoy it in retrospect, because it shifts lots of books (not an unimportant consideration), and because it’s something I’m quite good at and would like to get better at. There’s something very satisfying about acquiring a skill, whether that be crochet, salsa dancing or public speaking.
There’s one more talk coming up this year, to the Old Glasgow Club on the 9th of November, so if you missed my other outings you can catch me there, talking about Rambles Round Glasgow. It’s £5 to non-members, but you get your first visit free. And it you think it’s too intimidating to go to a club you’re not a member of for the first time – spare a thought for the confident-looking scared person standing at the front!
K C Murdarasi 
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