Monday Coffee

Tonight, we are sitting on a wet log near the warbling stream, keeping an eye on the wet, grey blanket of skey above us. It’s cold; it’s muddy; however, for those of you who prefer the creature comforts of home, I’ve brought some black coffee with a dash of brandy to warm your cockles.

To be honest, I needed the air and an escape from the confines of domestic bliss. Losing us in the frosty embrace of the shadows of the forest felt like the best way to do it. Option B was tequila shots off a hairy barman’s chest until we were drunk enough to use him as a salt lick. I think you’ll be happy with my choice of Option A.

There are only a few days left to the Bloggers Bash in London this weekend and I’m a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Meeting new people in an unknown setting talking about books and blogs might sound appealing, but the fact that I have to hold conversations for a whole eight hours feels excessive. My only consolation is that this will be a meeting of many introverts, so I should be able to slip into a corner every couple of hours for some quiet time if necessary.

Hats off to the great committee/organisers of this event. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of blood, sweat and tears they have shed to make this event even bigger and better than last year. Plus, to top it all, Fahrenheit Press is sponsoring the event with prizes and goody bags for winners and attendees. Now that’s what I call an unexpected bonus!

As if the weekend ahead isn’t exciting enough, I have a radio interview booked for tomorrow with the lovely Annette Rochelle Aben, internet radio show host and author of Angel Messages. Since it is my first radio interview, I am very excited and can’t believe my luck! Finding a great host to interview you is always an advantage to any public speaking event and I’m sure after you’ve followed a few of her podcasts, you’ll understand why I feel as though I am in safe hands.

Now, before we finish off the flask of coffee, I need to push my agenda again: book reviews. Last week, I sent out a message on my Book Tuesday blog asking my readership to send in their reviews of my books. So far, I have found a few on certain sites, but there are many more readers that have not given feedback on the books. If you feel unsure about voicing your opinion, please don’t worry. Whether it is good or bad feedback, I would like to hear from you. It also helps other readers to find my books – otherwise they tend to disappear into the ether where books go to die. I’m a terrible marketing person and this is about as good as it gets, so please, if you do enjoy reading my work, leave feedback!

On that note, the weather is taking a turn for the worse and I can see your fingers are turning a tinge blue. I don’t want you getting sick before the Bash on Saturday. Watch your step as we slip through the darkness, back to the house at the edge of the forest.

 

Monday Cooffee

Notice the cooffee instead of coffee. I was in desperate need of some French roast tonight and nipped over to Trent’s for a decent cup. Lucky for me, Teagan was already there, taking a break from her fantastic stories and having some downtime, so we got to talking about writing books and the unforgiving process of editing!  

There was a loud bang at the door and Chris walked in, dragging poor Colleen in his wake! The mention of editing sent them both straight to the kettle to brew a cup and we discussed how exciting it was for Colleen who is in the process of editing at the moment.

After a delicious cuppa, everyone settled on the rather comfy sofas and listened to some of Trent’s music. I felt a bit peckish but didn’t feel it would be polite to ask Trent since he was busy entertaining us. One quick text and a five minute wait brought in our next guest. The smell of freshly made Christmas mince pies followed him in and a lot of interest was shown in the wicker basket he carried in his right hand. 

Trent jumped off his seat by the keyboard to give Hugh a big hug. The basket was uncovered and the scrumptious mince pies were handed out. Just as we were starting to argue about Christmas pressies and whether or not the bloggers should have a Christmas bash, Colleen reminded us to tune into Anette’s Tell Me Story programme as Jo Robinson would be on tonight. 

We spent the rest of our evening nibbling on our early Christmas confectionary as we listened to Jo’s interview.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Jo also started out as a reporter many years ago. It was interesting to hear her ideas about the process of creating a book, enjoying the nuts and bolts of putting it all together.

All too soon it was time to head home.  Hugs and promises to meet up at Trent’s were made before we disappeared into the ether, back to our respective countries, back to our respective homes. 

I love the Internet, don’t you?