Fine…but not dandy!

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.