Lots of nerves and even more thanks

Firstly, a big thank you to the lovely readers and even lovelier librarians of Torpoint and Looe in Cornwall, for looking after me when I visited to talk about the tvdetective books.

As you now know, you were amongst the first victims of my little ramblings about The Balance of Guilt, and I was delighted - and more than a little relieved - at your reactions to the new book.

It is an odd experience this writing lark, when you shut yourself away for weeks, trying to finish a book.  And even when it's done, then rewritten, edited and published, more than a few attacks of doubt creep in - is the thing actually any good?

It's only when you read some of the book to an audience do you get a sense of that - and I was so pleased by your response.  I see the first few reviews have also appeared on Amazon.  If youre interested, you can have a look via the books page - www.thetvdetective.com/books.html

Thanks also to the wonderful teachers and very boisterous youngsters of Willowbrook School in Exeter.  I was visiting to talk about writing, and possibly even more nervous than with the events I did at Torpoint and Looe!  I can now confess that I've never tried to explain my love of words and books to primary school children before, so it was an entirely new experience and way out of the Hall comfort zone.

However! I had a fantastic day, and suspect I might even have learnt more than the youngsters themselves.  If they're reading this - a big hello to Years 5 and 6!  And remember - keep reading and keep writing, they're brilliant things to do, as I hope we all discovered together.

Finally for this post, if you're in Dorset and fancy a day out on Saturday (9th Oct), there's a Readers' Day at Bournemouth Library, at which yours truly will be appearing.  There are more details on the News and Events page - www.thetvdetective.com/news.html