I was totally going to write about something else today
It was going to be pithy and light, explaining about how my back is better enough for me to do some events, and then smoothly move into events talk, but then I changed my mind. I decided to take a detour into talking about hope, instead. (The event stuff is down at the end of the newsletter if you want to check it out. I have a few in Brighton so if you’re living down this way, or know someone who is, or just need an excuse to come to the seaside, then know that I would love to see you!)
Anyway, let me talk about hope. Hope and how you shouldn’t lose it. When the world feels like it is literally burning, as it is right now, it’s so easy to lose hope and to fall head first into despair. To want to give up because it seems pointless to carry on. But it isn’t. I promise you it isn’t. So please stay with me while I get to the point the long way round.
Right, so my favourite bit of Avengers: Endgame is that part where Captain America has just been given an almighty beat-down by Thanos. He’s down and almost out, but then he struggles to his feet, grabs his broken shield, straps it on, and starts to limp back into battle. Even though the heavens have opened and every manner of evil is coming to get him, he’s going to keep on fighting. I remember holding my breath in the cinema when I first watched it, knowing that this was it, this was the end of Captain America.
All hope was lost.
But then suddenly his buddy Sam was talking in his ear, and then just as suddenly the swirly fire circles started in the sky and T’Challa walks through with Shuri and Okoye, coming to literally back him up. And suddenly, all hope was not lost.
That’s why cynical old me has always loved comic books and movies – when it seems all hope is lost, it usually turns out not to be.
I know not everything gets that type of ending, I mean some of my book endings are the absolute anthesis of the ‘Hollywood ending’. But, I’ve just said all that to remind you that when good times and good things seem scarce, when it feels like we’re living in the worst possible timeline, we need to push on because hope is not lost.
I mean I don’t blame you if you currently feel like an 8-foot malevolent Titan has just stomped on you. And if you do feel like this, then ABSOLUTELY take some time out from the fight, recharge your mental, emotional and physical batteries; rest. But don’t give up hope, don’t give up the battle to make the world a better place for everyone.
I’ve said this many times over the years, terrible people have no rock bottom, they don’t get exhausted and overwhelmed in the way we do, they just find new ways to behave badly, new people to blame for this bad behaviour. New ways to make the world an awful place for everyone except them and their toxic friends.
Quick aside: My watch has just told me to relax because ‘higher than normal stress levels detected’. So, yes, for me, simply thinking about all the things going on in the world makes my heart rate rise. But you know what, I may get stressed, I may want to give up, hide away, cry and rage at the injustice of having to re-fight battles I could have sworn we’d won years ago, but I won’t. I won’t give up. And I won’t lose hope.
If you follow me on the socials, you’ll know one of my current battles is against allowing tech companies to steal the work of creatives for their huge profits. I don’t mind telling you there are times when I ask myself ‘what’s point?’. ‘Why don’t I just give up and give in to the inevitable?’ Then I remember, it’s not right what they are doing and I can’t just let it happen. And if it is going to happen, then they’re not getting it easily. I’m not going to just allow them to do what they want without a fight.
Which also means, I’m not going to look back one day and think, maybe I should have fought harder to prevent this from happening.
Terrible people who do terrible things want the rest of us to give up hope. They want us to think what’s the point, to retreat and allow them a clear field to do whatever the hell they please. So, nope, they are not getting that from me. They may be making my world a temporarily unpleasant place, but they’re not getting my hope, my desire to make the world a better planet for everyone.
So, lovely person reading this, if you’re feeling beaten down by the world, if you’re thinking we’re in Thanos-level endgame territory, please don’t give up hope. Please keep on keeping on, the world needs you and the good you bring to it by simply being you.
Talk to you soon, yeah?
Lots of hugs
Dorothy x
JUST SO YOU KNOW . . .
Every Smile You Fake is 99p for the whole of June. Grab a copy here: Every Smile You Fake 99p on Kobo and here: Every Smile You Fake 99p on Amazon
Beach Hut 512 is out in 11 days!! You can pre-order here: Buy Beach Hut 512
You can pre-order the paperback of Give Him To Me Pre-order Give Him To Me from Waterstones and here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Give-Him-Me-heart-stopping-thriller/dp/1472298195/
Yes, your summer reading really is sorted with me! : )
MY UPCOMING EVENTS:
The Longlist with Dr. Nussaibah Younis & Dorothy Koomson
Brighthelm Centre, North Rd, BN1 on June 21, 2025 3:00 pm
Join us as we talk with an author whose debut books was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for fiction. Pull up a chair as we dig into their journey of writing, exploring themes of power, immigration, refugees, bureaucracy and considering the difference that comes with recognition.
Friends of Brighton & Hove Hospitals presents: Meet crime writer Dorothy Koomson
Brighton Girls, Montpelier Road Brighton BN1 3AT on July 4, 2025 7:00 pm
We’re thrilled to welcome best-selling Brighton based author, Dorothy Koomson, to Brighton Girls for an exclusive talk about her latest book, Beach Hut 512. Dorothy will tease us with clues about her sinister story – all a bit too close to home!
City Books Presents: Dorothy Koomson – Beach Hut 512
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Little High Street, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5EG on July 11, 2025 7:00 pm
For the past six months, a wave of vandalism has plagued Brighton seafront’s iconic beach huts. The spree takes a chilling turn when Sims Rumakah returns from a dreadful date to find her hut destroyed – and shockingly, the police have discovered a body inside.
The victim has been dead for two months. However, Sims hasn’t set foot in her hut for three months. Who is this person, and how could they have ended up in her locked beach hut?
As the police investigate, and nosy beach hut residents’ gossip about the mystery, Sims begins to suspect this isn’t random. Someone put that body in her hut for a reason. As she delves into the truth, she’s forced to confront not just the secrets buried in the tight-knit, toxic beach hut community but also the ghosts of her own past.
£12 (Price includes ebook copy of Beach Hut 512)