How I got published: JULIA GOLDING
The established author tells Dolores Gordon Smith how she has created her own publishing luck
‘Some authors start out on a train, others in a shed at the end of the garden, some nibble on a madeleine; I started out in the basement of the United Nations in New York.
‘Unless you’ve worked in the world of international campaigning, you probably haven’t been to this particular windowless spot on the planet. When the UN is in session, non-governmental organisations like the one I worked for, Oxfam, are invited to set out their stall and talk to policy makers. My issue was the protection of vulnerable people from gun violence in the countries where Oxfam delivers aid. However, we only got to see the diplomats out of session so there was a lot of hanging around.
‘That’s when the imagination gets going.
‘“Okay, Sauro,” I remember saying to an Italian friend and Amnesty colleague over coffee, “how would this character from Sorrento speak?”