Touchdown!

Talking of touchdowns and landings...

At almost the same time as Chinese rover 'Jade Rabbit' touched down on the moon last week, The Housemaid's Daughter landed in the USA!

No connection, of course, other than the fact that I remember very clearly the earlier, manned, touchdown by Apollo astronauts on the moon over 40 years ago. I was a teenager, and I recall how the world held its breath as Neil Armstrong come down the ladder of the lunar module for that first famous step. No-one actually knew if the moon's surface would hold him or swallow him up or if some mechanical failure or unknown space wind would sweep him away. Nothing like that happened, of course, and in time we got used to seeing grainy images of men in spacesuits bouncing across the surface. Apparently their footprints will be imprinted forever in the grey moon dust, unless they are obliterated by an incoming meteorite.

My particular touchdown also has some unknown factors.
Will The Housemaid's Daughter find a receptive surface?
Will my South Africa story of two women fighting against the odds strike a chord with US readers, and reach into the farthest corners of the country?

Incidentally, my book is due to be translated into Chinese one of these days...