Launching

The book launch went really well last Wednesday at Blackwell’s in Sheffield. I’d been invited to hold the event as part of Sheffield Hallam’s MA Writing Masterclass* series – Hallam being the university where I studied for my MA.

My former tutor Felicity Skelton – herself an excellent short story writer – gave a lovely introduction, which was actually very touching. I then read the first story from the collection – ‘Sometimes Gulls Kill Other Gulls’. Afterwards I got a nice selection of questions from different people including if I was finding it difficult to motivate myself to write after the MA (Yes, a bit) and whether writing was like acting (Yes, because you have to immerse yourself in the lives of the characters). And by this point it was time to wrap up.

Family and friends were in the audience as well as a few people from the MA. My good friend Gill Blow was also there, as were work colleagues and online writing pal Valerie O’Riordan. Writer Rachel Connor, who I know from her connections to Arvon, had also sent me a lovely bunch of sunflowers as she couldn’t make the event, so that added to what was a nice, intimate and friendly evening.

Here are a few pictures from the night to give you a flavour of what it was like:

* The Masterclasses at Hallam are evening events which run throughout the term and usually feature visits from writers, agents and other publishing professionals.