It’s now pretty much obligatory to film yourself holding your new book in your hands for the first time. This is my seventh novel; the thrill really never, ever gets old. There are so many physical iterations of a book – typed manuscript; bound uncorrected proofs; galleys; and then this. See each for the first time is exciting. But none is as sweet as this.

Right, now I have to sign all 240 of these books, then put them carefully back into their boxes, and ship them to my friends at the Alabama Booksmith.