Favouritism and questions

Thanks to the kind folk of Ashburton and Charmouth who came along to see my talks at their library and literary festival respectively.  Thanks also for some very good questions.

From my experience of other authors, I've noticed a stark divide in their view of questions.  Some love that part of a talk, others hate it.  I suspect that's because most of a session can be controlled, with the author talking about their work, inspirations, reading from their books, all the usual kind of thing, and some writers like it that way. It's only when the questions arrive that things can get a little more unpredictable.

I'm of the school that likes the questions session, for the very reason that you never know what's going to come up, and it can really force you to think on your feet.   Well, one such fine question came up at Ashburton.

Which of the tvdetective books is my favourite, I was asked?

Now, this is a tough one, because I do have a favourite.  I'm just not sure I should reveal it!

I wonder if it's a little like a parent being asked which of their brood of children is their favourite.  If they were absolutely honest, they might admit they did have one, but would never say which.

So in that tradition I kind of take a literary version of the Fifth Amendment and don't answer - better to let you decide which you think is the best of the set so far, and wonder if I would agree?!

One final matter to mention here, the Poole Literary Festival two weeks today (Sun, 31st October). There's a very fine looking line up, into which somehow I've managed to sneak - I'm doing a talk and a panel discussion.  If you fancy an interesting Sunday out, it'd be good to see you.  There are more details on the News and Events page - www.thetvdetective.com/news.html