A successful launch - and old friends.

There weren't many left by the end of the evening.

I had a lovely time last week - a short stay in London, which included a day at the British Library's newspaper archive, in Colindale, immersed in war time editions of the Local Government Chronicle (Hey - to each his own!) Then an evening at Goldsboro books in Cecil Court, for the Crime Writers' Association Christmas party - packed, noisy with writers, let out of their ivory towers for the night, and the chance to catch up on friends and meet new ones. Many thanks to Rebbecca Tope for introducing me to some interesting people.

The next day was spent in Uxbridge - my home for many years - and one of the settings to the new book. I spent a frosty morning wandering with the camera, taking pictures of locations mentioned in Out of Sight Out of Mind, which will be part of a new location tour when I have a complete set - I need a trip to West Wales for that. It is such a hard life, being a writer.

In the evening I had a date with another Choc-lit author. Henriette Gyland was having her launch party in Waterstones in the Chimes Shopping Centre and I was there to introduce her and her fabulous book - Up Close. It was a lovely evening - and a few friends from my old workplace, whom I have not seen in a long time, came to meet me, so it turned into a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Everyone enjoyed themselves, Henri read an extract from the book, beautifully capturing its atmosphere, and books were sold and signed. Waterstones were great hosts - altogether a lovely evening and a suitable launch for a smashing debut novel from another Choc-lit author.