This was the first year at Kensington Olympia – Earls Court has been deleted – and the comments about the layout were not too complimentary. However, feet having been found and map consulted, I made my way to the SilverWood Books stand, to meet up with Helen Hart, the director and my new publishing assistant, Bron.
Then off to the author talks, not before I bumped into Mel Sherratt, crime writer extraordinaire…
…and a crowd of Romantic Novelists!
With Liz Fenwick, Fiona Harper, Sue Moorcroft, Brigid Coady
On to the talks. First, a general introduction to publishing:
David Shelley (Little Brown), Alison Baverstock, Lizzie Kremer (David Hingham Assoc.)
Then a passionate discussion about rights:
Nicola Solomon (Society of Authors), Joanna Penn The Creative Penn), Lorella Belli (Literary agent)
Author friends waiting for the next talk which wasn’t particularly remarkable:
Elizabeth Johns, Anna Belfrage, Bron Wooton (SilverWood Books), Freda Lightfoot
I was so interested in the genre spotlight talk on crime and thrillers with Sarah Hodgson from Harper Collins, agent Oli Munson and critic Jake Kerridge that I forgot to take a photo – sorry!
Then followed ‘networking with wine’ run by Byte the Book where I met up with a crowd of ‘virtual’ friends from ALLi. After talking myself hoarse, I toddled off to the bus back to the hotel.
So many people popped in and out my view – handshakes, hugs, kisses and some quick words; Orna Ross, Ian Sutherland, Piers Alexander, Chele Cooke, Ricardo from Reedsy It was like being an express train snaking through a vast forest of people…
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS and SUCCESSIO. The fourth book, AURELIA, is due out in May 2015.
Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…
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