The book has been out in the world for a month now, and it has been a blast. I’ve done libraries and galleries, I’ve done bookshops and birthday bashes. I’ve had an absolute ball meeting readers and amazing bookish peeps, chatting, and performing, and working on my book-signing scrawl. I’ve met amazing writers and fangirled on Insta over writers and artists whose work I truly love.
The greatest joy has been speaking to women, and it has been mostly women, who feel seen in the book. Women telling me how much they needed to hear stories like theirs shared with the world. How much they have laughed and cried and yelled me too!
I still have a lot to learn, mind.
I have not found the correct face for when people tell me they loved the book.
Nor have I found the correct response for when some flag-shagger on the internet suggests my book is a middle-class conspiracy to demonise working-class people – (other than fuck that shit!) (And maybe try reading the book first?) (but I think fuck that shit works better???)
The book has had some amazing reviews.
REVIEW: Chopsy by Maya Jordan – Folding Rock
(I will be talking about the impact of reviews next time)
The book even made the national press
‘I was ordered to work in Co-Op until I had a baby – now I’ve written a bestseller’ – The Mirror
I’ve had features in my favourite literary magazine
And in my online launch, I managed to suggest I was once in a cult with Michael ‘bloody’ Sheen (coming soon to YouTube)
I’m going to be at the Hay Festival! The bloody Hay Festival!!!!!
Maya Jordan talks to Richard Benson and Claire Malcolm – Hay Festival
And get this – CHOPSY is even in the Tate Modern gift shop, sold alongside the Tracey Emin range!!!
All this in a month. Seriously, my head could not get any bigger.
But that’s ok because the m.e fairy is all about keeping it real.
So, while I have been having a whirlwind of a time, my body is utterly broken.
Most days, I manage a dog walk in my wheelchair, then return to the sofa for more Disney+ and Ribena (other streamers available) (and for the sake of accuracy, it was actually Belvoir blackcurrant and blueberry cordial, because it was on special offer, and I am that posh!)
More days than I like, I’ve been in bed. (I am in bed now.)
(quick question, do you think I have a problem with ((())) ( I’ve forgotten when they are called) I’ve noticed them creeping into the blog more often) (Should I be worried?)
It is hard not to feel lazy, even though I am doing more than I should.
It is hard not to feel guilty that I’m watching way too much telly and not reading enough books.
It is still hard to recognise that I’ve done so much, and if what I need to rest and restore is watch Zootropolis 2 and handsome firefighters, then that’s ok.
And in these days of Insta-worthy perfection, I think it’s important that while we celebrate the successes, we are honest about their cost.
‘Refuse to be anyone else’s story.’
It’s called a chronic illness because it doesn’t go away.
It’s a disability because having it is disabling.
I feel too ill to celebrate ‘all that time in bed’.
I feel too rough for there to be any pleasure in lying down on the sofa again.
The dog walks in my wheelchair lift my soul, but physically hurt me.
And its ok to say that out loud.
‘I haven’t always been chopsy but being chopsy has always been in the bones of me. It was in the way I asked why, when people said no. It was in the way I wouldn’t stop asking questions, when the answers made no sense. Chopsy was always a question waiting to be asked. Some days I rise chopsy, ready to resist with my very last breath, but some days I’ve no energy for the fight or my words are lost in whispers. This silence doesn’t diminish my chopsy, it makes it all the more remarkable when it shines.’
This is my reminder to myself, and you if you need it.
You are not a project in need of fixing.
Rest is never a luxury.
You are more than what you do.
FUCK. THAT. SHIT
May your bubble be filled with joy xxx
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Not got your hands on a copy of my book?
order here or from the great indi place where ya buy ya books https://linktr.ee/chopsymayajordan
And please, please please leave a review.
( not here, silly goose, that would be weird, but did you know you don’t need to buy your book at the big A place to leave a review, and Amazon reviews really help a book get noticed.)
Bordering Grey 