On Saturday I attended The Darker Side of Fiction book signing event in Peterborough, run by the wonderful Rachel and Jo from Hourglass Events, and I’m already looking forward to attending the same event in 2019!

The Friday night was spent in the hotel bar sampling their array of gins (fell in love with the violet one and now have a bottle at home) with avid readers, now friends, Emma Precious-White, Claire Field and Yvonne Davies. There were other authors and general public in the bar and we laughed a lot until 1am when I thought I should go to bed as the signing started at 9am!

It doesn’t take me long to set up, with the help of my glamorous assistant, Peter (hubs). It was lovely to be seated between Joey-Paul and Lavinia Urban. It’s always good to catch up with authors as well as established, such as Katrina Lecoy, and new readers.

I’m gradually get more confident at speaking to people when they approach my table. the first year I tried not to give eye contact so the people didn’t feel pressurised to buy, but now I know that they want to chat with the author and discuss the books. They may or may not purchase a book – they may buy it on Kindle when they get home – but it doesn’t matter, it’s all about making connections with readers and giving them a bookmark and pen so they hopefully remember me in the future.

Pre-orders are wonderful as I’m already prepared with bags and goodies already for those people who’ve placed an order. There are still goodies for those that purchase on the day, of course.

The room was buzzing with people and I managed to buy a couple of books from Paula Acton. I buy some books from the other authors each year so I get to know their work. It’s an exciting time as people approach the table to discuss my books. Rachel and Jo always provide goody bags for the author and assistant, including a bottle of water and a personalised gift – I received a gorgeous coconut scented candle and hubs got a mug depicting a humorous  fishing scene.

My crime series featuring DI Eva Wednesday and DS Jacob Lennox is always popular, but so was The Reluctant Mother, a contemporary novel with dark edges. Not sure if I’ll have a new novel ready for next year, but who knows? I’m working on one currently, but I’ll say no more.

It was an amazing day, and unfortunately we were unable to attend the Darker Ball due to family commitments, but we’ll be there next year.

The actor who played Nick Cotton was staying in the hotel, making some authors and readers very excited, but not me. It would have to be Greg Davies to make me happy!

I’ve included a few photos below, sadly I don’t yet have all of them to show. I’m sorry if I’ve left anyone out – the gin night was a bit of a blur!