How The Dinner Club came to be Served – Helen Aitchison
How The Dinner Club came to be Served – Helen Aitchison
I didn’t read much in my 20’s and most of my 30’s. University, my career and life got in the way! Then I began reading again, after a colleague wrote a book about his time in the police. It resurrected the love I had for reading that I’d lost as priorities emerged in my adulthood. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. I got lost in the journey characters took me on through the books I was consuming and I absorbed the escapism books gave me from a demanding day job. Then I went on holiday and read the book that became the catalyst for me wanting to possibly write.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. I read the beautifully poignant book where words were knitted together in a way that makes you think about life. When I closed the book, it stayed with me; the sentiments, the characters and the story. I wanted to write something that could make readers feel the way I felt about that book; moved, grateful, inspired and connected.
As someone who had never written more than emails and a short blog at work, I didn’t know where to start. I saw an opportunity to win a place on a local theatre playwriting course. I had nothing to lose, so submitted a piece and was offered a space on the programme. I was probably the least experienced on the course, but it planted the seed that actually, just maybe, I have stories that people want to hear. My 20 years working in the health and social care field with a vast spectrum of people in need from Veterans to people with terminal illness, homeless young people to adults being sexually exploited. This alongside my own life experience and that of those I love, made me feel I had a wealth of understanding of issues we can all face, as well as the essence of hope, change, recovery and the importance of human relationships.
I began experimenting with poetry, flash fiction and short stories, submitting them to competitions and anthology requests. Many of my pieces were selected and the bonus for me was that some of the anthologies were to raise awareness and funds for charities.
The idea of The Dinner Club came into my mind a few months into my writing experiment. I knew what I wanted, to explore different types of people and how they can connect. How their stories can become one and how the simplicity of friendship and acceptance can help dissolve trauma, dilemma and heartbreak. I wanted to write a book that allowed the reader to travel along a path of emotions and to create characters that you naturally root for.
The Dinner Club crew were born! Led by Derek, who is an average man in his early 60’s with a secret that makes him a little less average! Brought together by food, each with a secret and a need for more than the nourishment of a meal, the five characters materialised. Derek, Eddie, Florence, Violet and Cara evolved, interlinked and developed as the book did with each of their stories blending into one another.
Once I began writing about the characters I grew to love, it was hard to stop. Snatching time alongside my busy day job as an Area Manager for a national charity supporting vulnerable people, I wrote in any spare moment I could. The characters all had some small quirks of people I knew or reflected experiences I was familiar with, including elements of my own experiences. One of the characters, Florence, is based on my Grandmother and within the novel, Jessie, Florence’s carer is a real person. Sadly, whilst I was writing the novel my Grandmother died suddenly. I continued to write through my grief and writing about Florence both broke my heart and became cathartic. The Dinner Club was the final gift my Grandmother gave me and it’s the most precious thing that she lives on in print, as well as in my heart.
It took me around five months to write The Dinner Club. After sharing it with a few people and receiving positive feedback, I knew I had to do something with it.
As such a new writer, I didn’t know where to start but my goal was to have it published and to have someone feel that my book was worth investing in. I began entering competitions with my manuscript in the hope that perhaps I could also gain a mentor if I won, given I had only been writing such a short time. I wasn’t making progress with competitions so began thinking about submitting my manuscript to publishing houses. I was prepared to dedicate the time needed to organise the relevant admin for submissions. It was a big task, with publishers requesting different things including varying lengths of manuscript submission, different length synopsis, some wanted an author CV and bio, cover letters with fluctuating content dependant on the publisher. It was going to take some time, but I was determined to give it my all.
Luckily, I was delighted to receive an offer after submitting to three publishing houses. UK based publishing house, Cahill Davis Publishing were interested in The Dinner Club. It was the most wonderful email to read and I knew immediately they were a perfect fit, not only for my book but for me. It didn’t feel real and even now, it still feels surreal, but the most magnificent of feelings.
It took a year for The Dinner Club to be released, which was ideal as it gave Cahill Davis Publishing and myself the time to plan, market and prepare. Seeing my book for the first time was overwhelming and to have a launch party with so much support was beyond magical. The Dinner Club was released on 11th March and already the amazing feedback and reviews have made me soul smile and my heart feel full.
The Dinner Club is about loss, love, friendship, hope and acceptance with characters I hope we can all relate to in one way or another. It is available in e-book and paperback, from a number of stockists:
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Helen Aitchison is an author based in North East England. She began writing in 2019 alongside her day job as an Area Manager for a national charity supporting vulnerable children and adults. Her writing is inspired by 20 years working in the health and social care field, as well as personal experience and her interest in human interactions and relationships.
Prior to signing a publishing deal for her debut novel, Helen had short pieces featured in a variety of anthologies and on-line mediums. Some of her publications have focused on raising awareness and funds for charities including CALM, The Samaritans and The Princes Trust.
The Dinner Club is Helen’s debut novel, published with UK based Cahill Davis Publishing. The book focuses on five very different people, all with a secret, who connect over a dining club. Brought together for more than just food, the five connect in life changing ways as their stories unfold. The Dinner Club story is told from the five characters perspective and focuses on friendship, love, loss, hope and acceptance.
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www.cahilldavispublishing.co.uk
THE DINNER CLUB
Five people.
Five secrets.
Each needing healing, support and acceptance.
Derek’s life has changed suddenly. His wife of the past few decades has left him, unable to live with his secret anymore. Inspired by a TV show, he decides to start a dinner club to make new friends, the kind that might accept him if he can be brave enough to tell them the truth.
Eddie is grieving, a widower, struggling as a single parent. The void in his life slowly destroying him and his relationship with his young daughter.
Florence, supported by her carer Jessie, craves one more adventure to round off the last 80 odd years.
Violet needs a focus, a new identity, until she has the confidence to escape her grim reality with abusive husband, Ben.
Cara is lost, with nowhere to call home and no one to go home to, now she’s aged out of the care system.
Will this mishmash group fill each other’s souls as well as their plates?
Category: On Writing
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