London Book Fair

I went to London Book Fair with Chris on Tuesday. It was fun (as anything is with Chris) but a little bit scary too.

We somehow went in at the wrong entrance and didn't even have to show our passes. I was a bit miffed that I didn't get to wear my flashy 'author' badge, but ended up with it tucked down my skirt later on...best not to ask really!

The first person we saw was someone Chris knew, an illustrators' agent, who showed us the spreads for a book he was trying to sell. It was whilst we were squatting on some steps poring over the pages that I realised that whereas Chris and I were there out of curiosity, for most other people there it was a place of business. Then I had one of those 'my book has to compete against all these' moments.

I am notorious for my wobbles of confidence, but in truth I haven't had one for a while. I have been spending so much time with Little Doogs and his friends recently that I know just what I love about them and I am finding out just what other people love about them too. And the one thing I'm always pleased about is that 'passion' is the one word usually mentioned. I AM passionate about our little characters, and about 'On The Flipside' of course, and I think that's the most important thing, always. Without passion you might as well give up.

One other lovely thing which gave me a boost was an email I received from Russell from Chichester Library. He said that one of the families who had been to the workshop had returned to thank him and to ask if there were any other similar events planned because his daughters had really enjoyed it. They had both been especially good at Honey's stroppy walk, which had been sort of a breakthrough moment of the afternoon as I remember. Apparently the family are Polish and hadn't made many friends in the area yet, but both girls were now fired up to visit the library regularly and meet other children through the events there. RE-SULT!