Don't Forget the Ginger Beer!

a bit over-emotional!
(photo by Judith Greenwood)

It felt just like my wedding day all over again! Weeks of preparation, then suddenly in the limelight, surrounded by wonderful family and friends, having a fabulous time but at the same time fretting that everything should go perfectly to plan.  Trying to talk to everyone at once and generally feeling a bit weepy and over-emotional.

The launch party for The Mystery of the Dinosaur Discovery and The Mystery of The Drowning Man was held on Thursday 26th April Heffer's Children's Bookshop in Cambridge.

packed with family and friends

It was so much fun! 

The place was packed with family and friends. There were jam tarts and gingerbread and lashings of ginger beer - and wine, of course. There were colouring pages and puzzles for the younger children, lots of speeches and a reading from The Mystery of the Dinosaur Discovery, brilliantly enacted by four young volunteers playing the parts of Scott, Jack, Emily and Drift. And then there was the video trailer film. I've been working on it for  months (feels like years!). It starts out as a spoof travelogue for Castle Key and then turns into ... well, that will be a surprise (video coming to this blog very soon - just tweaking the last few dodgy bits!) And there were lots of books to sign too, of course!

the actors all have hats for the reading

There were a few hitches along the way, of course. Vicki, the lovely bookseller at Heffers, who had been helping to plan the launch from the start, was ill, and valiantly struggled in from her sick bed for the evening. The rail and road systems of South East England did their best to stop my wonderful agent (Jenny Savill), incomparable editor (Amber Caraveo) and fabulous Orion publicity lady (Nina Douglas) making it to the party in time, but they were all more than a match for the gremlins and made it just in time!

I even managed to leave the ginger beer behind in the fridge at home, but a frantic phone call later and it arrived to save the day.

Mum and Dad (photo by Judith Greenwood)

Thank you to everyone who helped make the evening such a wonderful event: Vicki, Jenny, Amber and Nina whom I've mentioned above (and Louise from Orion too, who wasn't able to be there). To everyone who helped make the video film (more about that soon!), to my parents, husband and sons who helped in lots of different ways, on the day and beforehand (including baking ginger cake - thanks Mum! and bringing the ginger beer at the last minute - thanks, Mac!)

And of course, to everyone who came along to share the celebrations!

You all made it a launch party to remember!