Hello there, I am Lucy Brazier although some you may know me as PorterGirl, from the Secret Diary Of PorterGirl blog. I have just released a book of the same name and Chris has kindly invited me along to say a few words about it.

Like many of us who peruse these eminent pages, I came to writing quite young and often wrote stories for my school friends, usually featuring ourselves as the heroes. I wrote a lot of science fiction back then, I have no idea why. My Mum has kept many of these illustrious tomes and they are delightfully bad, as you might imagine.

Once into adulthood, I didn’t write much for many years, apart from a song or two here and there and my dream of being an author was all but forgotten. Until, that is, I randomly took a job at an Oxbridge College as their first female Deputy Head Porter. For a College that was (and presumably still is) six-hundred years old, this was no mean feat. Having left school at sixteen with barely a qualification to my name (due more to a misspent youth than lack of ability, or so I tell people) the world of academia was something of a mystery to me. Even for someone who hadn’t spent their formative years hanging around pool halls and playing in rock bands, understanding the British academic elite is something of a challenge.

It started with bemused social media posts about esoteric ceremonies and an endless obsession with keys – as I was instructed by Head Porter on my first day, “Porters are not the carriers of bags, we are the keepers of keys.” Anyway, so amused were my friends and family at my new adventures that it was soon suggested that I start a blog. I didn’t even know what a blog was at this point, I must admit, but it didn’t take me long to get the hang of things.

Of course, the blog had to be anonymous and not easily identifiable as relating to a particular College, as no doubt I would lose my sparkly new job. This is why very few of the characters are named and places are ambiguous. Somehow, it added an almost fairytale-like feel to proceedings and before long the style became second nature and eventually became the signature style for the blog. I shall not bore you with how things progressed from there as I am sure you can have a peek at the blog yourself, should you feel inclined. But things went well, the blog grew in popularity and I had found myself a delightful new hobby.

As you might expect, my musings were soon discovered by the College and were, to put it mildly, ‘frowned upon’. The blog took a hiatus until after the academic world and I parted company, but it was not to disappear into the blogosphere, never to be seen again –oh no! By the way, the blog wasn’t the reason for me hanging up my bowler hat – although there are those that would have you believe so. I continued in my role for a good six months after that, although it was plainly obvious to both the College and myself that I was quite literally the worst Deputy Head Porter they had ever seen in six-hundred years. Which is quite something in itself.

The blog continued as a fictional adventure – courting controversy in local and national press at one point – as I honed my craft and characters into the slick operation you see today (ahem). The book seemed the next logical step. Of course, long time readers will recognise plenty of the original blog in the book but there are other elements there that haven’t already been covered. The murky history of Old College is explained further and the real reason behind Deputy Head Porter’s appointment to her role is revealed. But apart from anything, it is far easier to sit down and read the whole story in this format than the cumbersome clicking back and forth of the blog. Also, the cover is a nice colour and looks good on a coffee table.

All in all, nothing quite tops the interactive experience that blogging provides and without the input of my awesome readers PorterGirl certainly wouldn’t be the thing it is today (to think I almost killed off The Dean!) Then again, holding that first copy of my very first book in my hands for the first time was quite something. I wonder if the second one will feel just as special…

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