It’s hard to express what a book launch day means. It is the culmination of such a long process and sometimes it feels like you're never going to get there. I planned to launch Limits of Forgetting last year, but it was not to be. Instead, last Saturday the 16th of March it finally happened and family, friends and my wonderful Blue Mountains community came together to celebrate at Rosey Ravelston Books.
One of the twelve fabulous independent bookshops in the Blue Mountains, Rosey Ravelston Books had not long moved into their new premises and recently added a lovely event space.
Owners Zac and Cath are the most hospitable inclusive people you could meet and having them host my launch, the first they’ve hosted in the new space, made it all the more special. A huge thanks to them, but also to all who came along to support me and share the day, especially my Mounted ARI creative mates, Mark D, Julie, Vicki and Geoff.
Launched by friend Susan Templeman MP, with a reading by the wonderful Brittany Santariga (pictured) Sydney based actor and co-founder and artistic director of Stacks On Theatre Co, it was so exciting to finally see my book make it to the finishing line. For a time, there was doubt. Life as I knew it fell apart after the sudden loss of my husband in May last year and continues to be lived day by day, one foot in front of the other.
I hadn’t really begun my collection with a theme, and I certainly hadn't set out to write about grief and loss, but just as they are an inescapable part of life, I found they had crept, unconsciously into many of my stories.
I first heard about the new science of forgetting several years ago and found it had some very interesting things to say about the balance between memory and forgetting. As Neurologist, neuroscientist and researcher, Scott A Small says “we now know that forgetting is not just normal but beneficial to our cognitive and creative abilities, to our emotional well-being, and even to societal health.” (p.5) “Too much memory or too little forgetting imprisons with pain.” (p.8)
But, forgetting is not a simple matter. Renowned neuroscientist Mary-Frances O’Connor writes that there is now clear evidence demonstrating that “representations of our loved ones are coded in our neurons” and trauma too. And so, it seemed fitting that the limits of forgetting became a kind of touchstone for pulling together my collection.
The stories in Limits of Forgetting are fictional yet grounded in situational and emotional reality. What I wanted was to give voice to the lives of ordinary people and acknowledge the courage it often takes to endure and just keep living. I also wanted to write about the profound power of simple connection with others, and how it sustains us. One of my favourite short stories is by Raymond Carver and it’s called ‘A Small, Good Thing’ and I really believe, now more than ever, that it is those small good things that save us and keep us going.
Limits of Forgetting is available through RoseyRavelstonBooks.