It was a rare five-hour window of peace on Wednesday for Canberra sensation Ginger Gorman, as she took a break from her frenetic media schedule promoting her flying-off-the-bookshelves work, Troll Hunting.
She used that time to get a striking tattoo from her armpit to her thigh, scarring her body in celebration of the book's success and refusing to be bowed by the emotional wounds left by the vicious online trolls she had been studying and interviewing for more than five years.
The tattoo artist, George from Armani Artspace in Narrabundah, was apparently so gentle Ginger fell asleep on the table.
That was also no doubt a reflection of the crazy media schedule she has been following promoting the book, whose full title is: Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and Its Human Fallout.
She has been interviewed by media outlets around Australia, and will soon speak to the BBC and a current affairs program in Ireland.
Troll Hunting has been named the non-fiction book of the month by bookseller Angus & Robertson and online outlet Booktopia, where it was also a number-two trending title on the day of its release.
Such was the demand for the book, publisher Hardie Grant has ordered a reprint.
"I asked one of the publicists if this was normal and she said 'No, this is what people dream of'," Gorman said.
The official launch of the book will take place on Tuesday at the National Library in Canberra, which has confused a few people who can't understand that Gorman can't possibly not be from Sydney or Melbourne.
"I've been asked why the launch is at the National Library and I say, 'Because I live in Canberra'. The next question is, 'When are you coming to Sydney?' or 'When are you coming to Melbourne?'," she laughed.
The spirograph design of the tattoo was chosen to reflect "tangled lines" and the feeling she might never escape the dark content of her book.
"Writing the book was so damaging and I wanted some kind of proof of that on my body, although that sounds a bit bananas," she said.
Ginger has been receiving counselling from a psychologist specialising in trauma in journalism since finishing the book, having underestimated the mental stress she would be placed under while delving into the lives of people who spread hate online.
"I was drinking a lot, crying all the time and yelling at my children and once I had submitted my manuscript, I realised I needed some help," she said.
The tattoo is as much a symbol of survival as a celebration of the book's success.
"I woke up one morning with absolute certainty that I needed to somehow mark my body in the same way I'd been marked inside," she said.
"It is quite beautiful."
On a lighter note, the hashtag #trollhuntingselfie has taken off - just post a photo of yourself reading the book! Ginger's favourite so far has been a photo of an ACT firefighter reading Troll Hunting.
- The launch of Troll Hunting is on Tuesday at 6.30pm at the National Library in Canberra. For tickets go to www.nla.gov.au/event/troll-hunting
