Yesterday ended on such an expected high! Just over a month after publication in Italy, The Perfect Friend has hit the Number 1 spot. This morning when I woke up I still couldn’t quite believe it, and double-checked, expecting it to have sunk without trace – but, there it was, still sitting at the top of the Kindle chart.
I only discovered it by chance. During a break from writing, idle curiosity got to me and I decided to nip over to Amazon Italy and see how the translation of The Perfect Friend (Un’Amica Quasi Perfetta) was doing. My partner, Paul was in the kitchen making a cuppa and heard me shout: ‘No! What?’
‘What?’ he shouted back.
‘No! What?!’ I shouted.
‘What?!’
“What?!’
Finally he came out of the kitchen and glared at me. ‘What’s going on? Why do you keep shouting?’ Not the most eloquent of speeches from either of us, but I literally could’t believe what I was seeing! Stunned, I turned the laptop towards him and said: ‘I’m at Number 1 in ‘Thrillers e Suspense’ and Number 9 overall in Italy. I can’t believe it – I’m in the Top 10!’
So, of course, I spent the rest of the afternoon telling myself not to check obsessively…and ignoring myself. An hour later Un’Amica Quasi Perfetta was at Number 6 overall. Could I hope to reach the Top 5, I wondered. Would crossing my fingers help? Would flapping my hands and somehow trying to push it up the charts help? Off course not, so I told myself again to be happy with this incredible achievement. Still I checked. Flipping heck, I’d hit Number 3..
Then it happened. Number 1. Oh. My.
The neighbours must be used to living beside a weirdo, because they surely must have heard me shriek: ‘I’m Number1! I’m Number 1!’
After running around shouting for a few minutes, I finally calmed down enough to tell Paul and call my family. Oh, and pop it on social media. The more people I told the more real it had to feel, right?
I’m still in total shock and floating on a cloud of happiness. I can’t thank my Italian readers enough for sending me to the top of the charts and making a dream come true. I keep looking at the picture below, with all the Number ones lined up, and shaking my head in amazement. Now if that isn’t a spur to get on with my current book, I don’t know what is!
