Having conquered my addiction to e-Bay, I still look on the site from time to time, but don’t buy often. I was idly browsing this morning and came across the first copy of Karma that I’ve ever seen on eBay. The seller is local (<5 miles away, according to the site) and I was SO tempted to ask the seller what they thought of the book. So, if you haven’t bought a copy yet, you have just over an hour to get your hands on a very cheap second-hand (sorry, previously loved) copy!

Hmmm…once again, I’m glad of my pseudonym. Lack of a book buying budget means that I’ve been visiting my local library more often than usual, and I nipped in yesterday to borrow a few more books. I’d just finished ‘Welcome to the Real World’ by Carole Matthews, but hadn’t yet returned it. I grabbed my hastily chosen books: two more by Carole Matthews and ‘In My Sister’s Shoes’ by Sinead Moriarty (which I discarded on discovering illness was pivotal to the storyline). As the librarian stamped the book, he asked, “Do you have a book at home?” I said, “Yes, I have,” thinking, what a friendly chap to be interested in my reading material. It was at this point that he told me that the book was overdue and I owed the library a 36p fine! My first thought was doesn’t time fly - I can’t possibly have had that book for three weeks. My second thought was the next time I’m back here, it will be at the Book Group event - how bad will it look, me having to pay off a debt in front of the book group?

That brings me nicely to the reason for this post. What happens at a library (or anywhere, for that matter) when an author is invited to discuss their book? I don’t have a clue (that seems to be becoming a theme for me) and I’m worried that I’ll make a fool of myself (again, I’m sensing a theme here). I’ve had some great advice from Sam Grosser, who was my co-featured author at The Book Club Forum, but she was able to do readings from her book - my ‘audience’ will have already read Karma, so don’t need to hear me stumbling through it in my ‘posh Geordie’ (think Jimmy Nail in anything other than Auf Wiedersehen, Pet). If you’ve been to an event where an author discussed their work, please feel free to contact me and let me know what to expect.

The ‘comedy night’ I went to was a joke (pardon the pun). I really felt for the compere and comedian(s), as the venue is not conducive to any act which requires the attention of the audience - it is one huge bar, with various sections of seating. The ’stage’ was located at one end of the venue…on the route to both the exit and the toilets (both of which were used frequently, and required people to walk right in front of the act, and also to step over his mic lead). Oh, and the venue even left the TVs on, which were showing Sky News (large screens showing stories about the critically ill Pavarotti, classmates applauding in memory of the child that was shot in Liverpool, and the possibility of a breakthrough in the case of Madeline McCann) - surely a distraction for both compere and patrons?

As soon as any performer describes the night as ‘career suicide’, you begin to feel uncomfortable. When it happens within the first five minutes, you want to hide your head in your hands and cringe on their behalf. He was also hampered by one female heckler, who appeared to believe she was more entertaining than the entertainment. The comedian dealt with her brilliantly and made her a laughing stock, but this only encouraged her further, and it became a two-way conversation between her and the comedian. It was unfortunate that things deteriorated so quickly, as both the acts (I think there were three but one refused to perform) were funny. Consequently, the ‘comedy night’ ended less than half an hour after it had begun. Shame, as I looked up the comedian (I’ll spare his blushes by not mentioning his name) and he had rave reviews.

I absolutely adore comedy in every way, shape or form (except that which is deliberately offensive in order to provoke a response). It provides light relief from our everyday lives, and I’ve often said that if I hadn’t been able to laugh at myself or the situations that I’ve found myself in, I’d have probably gone insane! Remember, laughter is the best form of medicine…

I just found out today that, despite all the family dramas which unfolded prior to my counselling exam, I actually passed it! I am still waiting to hear if I passed the whole course, but it was the exam that I’d been worried about. Phew! Hoping to go to a comedy night tonight to celebrate - am going to ensure I blend into the crowd (if that’s possible, given my tendency to embarrass myself) so as not to provide fodder for the comedian(s)…

Oh, and Karma now has a ranking on Amazon.com - presumably this means someone has bought a copy. Woohoo!