As ever the Theodore Bullfrog did us proud. The Villiers room upstairs has a lovely atmosphere. Slightly mismatched furniture alongside some elegant seats, and windows that let in plenty of light, really make it cosy.
We’d booked for twenty-six and had twenty-one turned up. As ever unforeseen circumstances prevented people attending at the last minute.
Storm Darragh did its best but although some journeys were a little disrupted most people managed to get there on time. Odd, if you look at the reports and predictions about Darragh. Were we in some sort of bubble? Unfortunately, though, those travelling from North Wales didn’t stand a chance.
It was lovely to meet up with old friends and see some people for the first time. Good to put faces to names.
The buzz of conversation told me that everyone was having a good time. Even though there are wooden floors there and only a few soft furnishings we could all hear each other.
We had a good half hour at the beginning to mingle, look at books people had brought along to sell and enjoy a glass of prosecco of orange juice.
The meal was enjoyable though my seating plan went to pot.
An innovation this year was that I gave every delegate a ‘secret Santa’ – one of the books published this year, wrapped up in pages from my colouring books. In the past I’ve lugged along copies of the annual anthology and The Best of CaféLit and I’ve always had to take more home than I’d wanted to. It’s a dilemma – people don’t want to carry books home but then are surprised if there aren’t any to buy there. I matched the books to people as best I could. Hopefully they’ll all enjoy the books and write reviews!
One member of the Scribblers Group suggested I take along order forms instead of books. I did that and a few people took them home. Maybe we’ll get a few orders.
Several people read from their work: Penny Dale, Henry Lewi, Allison Symes, Madeleine McDonald, June Webber, Alicia Rouverol, Lynn Clement, Georgina Wright and Debz Hobbs-Wyatt. We didn’t discuss who was going to read what but by some miracle there was a very good balance. We had some light-hearted stories, some darker ones, and a few that made you think quietly.
And of course we announced the theme for next year: Magi. You can tell or retell the normal story of the three kings. Maybe you can give it a twist. Could the Magi have been women? Could you tell an alternative story? Perhaps they didn’t visit Herod first? Magi will be a collection of stories about wise people perhaps? So you could even have a story about one wise person. Or can you think of a really clever twist?
And then shall we see you at the Theodore Bullfrog on 6 December next year? Already booked!
No comments:
Post a Comment