Solihull Children's Book Award and Mortlock's Launch

Relax and ... breath. Phew, what a day! The isolated life of a writer turned out not to be so very isolated yesterday. In the morning I caught a train to Solihull from Marylebone station. This is possibly one of my favourite stations in London - charmingly wee and one of the locations where The Beatles filmed Hard Day's Night. I love The Beatles. I loved The Beatles when I was a child too small to even really understand what a 'pop group' was. Round of Yellow Submarine, anyone?

I was going to the Solihull Children's Book Award where I'd been shortlisted from readers' votes alongside Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andrew Norriss. I was there to represent Sisters of the Sword and I'd been asked to prepare a ten-minute speech. I hadn't quite realised how many children I'd be addressing from a spotlit stage behind a podium. Here they all are, settling into their seats. Nervous? You betcha! But then a lovely, beaming Lord Mayor walked in with one of those brass things around his neck and I thought, 'Ah, how bad can this gig be if the town has such a sweet mayor?' His lovely, beaming wife was by his side. I decided to relax.

All three writers talked. Frank was brilliantly entertaining and funny and even had exploding props. Andrew told the fascinating story behind his novel, Ctrl Z. Then it was my turn. Hands shaking, voice trembling, smile shaky but in place I got through. Suddenly it was all over and I found myself sat at a desk, signing copies of Sisters of the Sword as these utterly charming kids queued up to meet me. That part was really, really nice. I met some lovely people. Aren't readers great?

Then I was on the train back down to London (reading a post-Bologna email from my agent) and straight to the launch party for Jon Mayhew's Mortlock. Below is a photo of him with a stuffed crow and his beautiful daughter. Actors performed spooky extracts from the book, Jon gave a speech, we all got to meet his lovely family and camera bulbs flashed and flashed. Off for dinner with Julia Churchill of Greenhouse Literary Agency and then a final train home and collapsing into bed.

My day was crammed full with children's books, readers and writers. It was wonderfully exhausting. Today? I sit in a house on my own and I write. Quite a contrast.