So to the Club at the Ivy last night, for the Harper Ficton Christmas drinks for authors. Jolly nice of them too. I met fellow writer Carrie Duffy (author of fabulously glam Idol and Diva) beforehand and together we went up in the glittery glass and crystal lift to the club, where we left our bags and coats. From the expensive leathery gentlemen's club atmosphere of the first floor, we ascended still further to the Loft bar, getting increasingly excited at the prospect of meeting more fellow authors and all those lovely publishing peeps. (The bar wasn't empty like this, of course, when we got there - although it almost was by the time we left. More of which later.)
And what a fun evening ensued. The fiction team went out of its way to make all of us authors feel welcome, appreciated and part of a big happy family of scribes. Introduction followed thoughtful introduction to other writers that they thought we'd be interested in meeting.
I met the delightful Alex Brown, whose debut novel Cupcakes at Carringtons is out in January. I'm dying to read it - the previews are fantastic. Also Louise Voss and Mark Edwards, whose first two thrillers Killing Cupid and Catch Your Death were the first self-published novels to reach No.1 on the Amazon Kindle AND the Amazon Fiction list. Blimey. In retrospect, I should probably have been a bit more in awe of Louise, but she was such good fun that I just chatted merrilly away as I glugged back the vino. (I've ordered them both from Amazon and just started Killing Cupid - it's very clever and funny, and utterly compelling - highly recommended.)
I also bumped into the lovely Amanda Brooke (author of Yesterday's Sun), whom I first met with her beautiful daughter at the Harper Collins summer party at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. It's a tough life, being a Harper Collins author. Yesterday's Sun was recommended by the Richard and Judy Book Club and described by Fern Britton as 'a haunting and heartbreaking story that stayed with me long after I'd finished.' Oooh, she was there too - Fern Britton, that is - but we were not introduced. Had we been, I'd have been brimming with questions about all things Strictly, sparkly and Artem-related. Possibly just as well that we weren't.
It's always great to see the people who actually make the books happen, but it was particularly good to meet my new editor, Kimberley Young, who is covering Sarah Ritherdon's maternity leave. We had a very exciting chat about the way forward once I've finished Treachery. I'm saying nothing more, except watch this space...
And so the night rolled on. According to Carrie, she and I were the last two authors propping up the bar. My fault, not hers, I imagine.
I met the delightful Alex Brown, whose debut novel Cupcakes at Carringtons is out in January. I'm dying to read it - the previews are fantastic. Also Louise Voss and Mark Edwards, whose first two thrillers Killing Cupid and Catch Your Death were the first self-published novels to reach No.1 on the Amazon Kindle AND the Amazon Fiction list. Blimey. In retrospect, I should probably have been a bit more in awe of Louise, but she was such good fun that I just chatted merrilly away as I glugged back the vino. (I've ordered them both from Amazon and just started Killing Cupid - it's very clever and funny, and utterly compelling - highly recommended.)
I also bumped into the lovely Amanda Brooke (author of Yesterday's Sun), whom I first met with her beautiful daughter at the Harper Collins summer party at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. It's a tough life, being a Harper Collins author. Yesterday's Sun was recommended by the Richard and Judy Book Club and described by Fern Britton as 'a haunting and heartbreaking story that stayed with me long after I'd finished.' Oooh, she was there too - Fern Britton, that is - but we were not introduced. Had we been, I'd have been brimming with questions about all things Strictly, sparkly and Artem-related. Possibly just as well that we weren't.
It's always great to see the people who actually make the books happen, but it was particularly good to meet my new editor, Kimberley Young, who is covering Sarah Ritherdon's maternity leave. We had a very exciting chat about the way forward once I've finished Treachery. I'm saying nothing more, except watch this space...
And so the night rolled on. According to Carrie, she and I were the last two authors propping up the bar. My fault, not hers, I imagine.
It was such a good evening. Enormous thanks to everybody at Harper Fiction for organising it.
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