Ladies who launch ...

Wow, what a day! We've had a fantastic time launching Jay Margrave's marvellous new novel, The Gawain Quest (http://www.goldenford.co.uk). Which - for those who don't know - is a medieval thriller taking the reader into the world and heart of a charismatic hitman, and his royal mission to find the secret author of a very rebellious poem ... Go on, you're hooked now, aren't you? Click on the Goldenford link and read more - you won't regret it!

First off, I paid a quick visit to the dental hygienist, and my teeth are now so white and sparkling that planes have been landing by them all afternoon. More fool us for living equidistant from both Heathrow and Gatwick (or Gatquick, as we like to call it ...) then.

Then Mother and Jim (stepfather) arrived this morning, shortly after I'd brought my teeth home, and I have attempted to be normal daughter for a day. You can imagine the strain ... Anyway, she's feeling fairly upbeat about the upcoming cancer scan and op - though the op has yet to be scheduled in - which is good to see. Apparently, my aunt didn't help though by coming over all weepy, but I told Mother to kick her into touch and do it her own way. She's always preferred the light-hearted approach and, bloody hell, in this family we're expert at it! Anyway, Lord H produced a roast lunch using only two boy scouts and a piece of sticky-back plastic, so his culinary skills continue apace. And after all that plus the washing-up, we set off for the launch party at the Abbot's Hospital in Guildford. I left Mother, Jim and Lord H in town for an hour while I busied myself putting M&S snacks on platters in an artistic way (dahlings, it's astonishing what you can do with a lettuce leaf and a cherry tomato ...) and attempting to look like a professional publisher.

Well, the party went with a swing - my speech was fine (phew!), and people chuckled in the right places, so that was a relief, and Jennifer's (AKA Jay) reading was great - she chose the one where the evil Gertrude does something very nasty to a peasant during a banquet for our hero, so it was suitably bloodthirsty, hurrah. The denizens of Guildford love this sort of thing. As a result, we made about £200 on The Gawain Quest, plus we managed to sell other Goldenford books, including one copy of Pink Champagne and Apple Juice. Double hurrah! Not only that, but I sold three copies of A Dangerous Man, and even - wait for it!!! - one copy of A Stranger's Table to someone who said she loved the poetry in it. Astonishing!! That's ten copies of my latest poetry collection sold then - I reach a round number at last, double phew ... Good grief, I almost sound like an author. Miracles will never cease.

Afterwards, I took Mother & Jim home for tea, and they have now headed off to the Essex hills, leaving Lord H and myself to get the flat back into its usual comfortable mess. And we have a free evening - wonderful! Honestly, the thing about people coming to see us at home is that - no matter how much I like them - it's always good to see them go. Which just goes to show what an antisocial cow I really am. No surprises there then!

Tonight, it's the glorious "Dr Who", with the special treat of Captain Jack, and we've already opened a bottle of wine to celebrate surviving a day of people - white wine of course, as I couldn't possible risk staining my oh-so-gleaming teeth, could I?...

Today's nice things:

1. The launch of The Gawain Quest
2. Selling some of my books
3. Dr Who.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com
http://goldenford.co.uk