A bloody book launch
November 2, 2007
Sadly not my own. I went to the offices of Serpent’s Tail on Wednesday for the launch party of Cham, the latest novel by my chum Jon Trigell. He’s had a busy week. When not writing he’s working in the ski industry and living in Chamonix (hence the title of the new book). So last week, he was busy with the Ski Show in London. He even found time to do a short reading from the book. The audience were surprised to see Jon turn up with two black eyes and a plaster across his nose. Everyone was giving him respect for this serious looking injury, suspecting it must have come from a ski trick that had gone wrong. In fact, it transpires it was a UDI – an unidentified drinking injury.
Anyway, after the Ski Show, Jon was at the Times BFI London Film Festival on Sunday where the film version of his previous book, Boy A, was getting its UK premiere. The film is directed by Paddy Considine and is, by the accounts of those who managed to see it, a corker. I couldn’t make it but awaits its showing on Channel 4 later this month.
So to Wednesday and the new book launch. Jon was there with his proud parents and partner and still sporting the UDI. Sadly, before he could speak, he suffered a gushing nosebleed and disappeared for the rest of the evening, with talk of his needing to go to hospital. Hope it’s not too serious – he is one talented guy.
A reader writes
October 5, 2007
Unlike in the world of blogging, it sometimes takes time before someone sends you a comment about the printed word. Email has made it easier of course and I’m all for interaction with readers.
Today, however, I received an email from Random House, who published my first book Codebreaker. Attached to the email was a scan of a letter they had received from an pensioner in Beverley who has read the book and is working through a series of code challenges at the end of the book. He has worked out the first four but is stumped on five and six. I sweated for ages over those challenges so I’m glad someone is bothering to do them. He even calls the book “fascinating”.
He doesn’t have a computer but notes that I have a “Web sight” and the letter looks typed. I’m quite excited about sending him a hand-written letter in return.
