Well, thank goodness I had something to do instead of moping around the house all weekend feeling miserable because Glastonbury wasn’t on this year; and thank goodness it was something as fabulous as this! You should’ve heard me this last couple of weeks; ‘Oh, sorry I didn’t phone you back straight away, I was at an award ceremony;‘ or ‘Wasn’t the weather lovely at the weekend? I was at an award ceremony in Lancashire and it was lovely and warm;’ or sometimes blatantly just, ‘Did you know I was at the Lancashire book awards ceremony last Saturday?’ !!
To be honest I am still totally amazed I was on the shortlist and am very grateful to the award as it is the teenagers themselves who choose the shortlist (the only award in the country that does this) and as I’m a newcomer and relatively unknown, I’m sure I would never make a shortlist otherwise.
It was the 20th anniversary so there was a special meal at Lancashire University the night before, and that was lovely. We had a beautiful string quartet playing for us as we mingled with our wine, and the food was just gorgeous.
On Saturday I got to meet the readers and judging panel, who did some impressive speeches in front of a big audience in the Preston Council chambers. Thanks to Georgia for her lovely comments about Be In The Place. I received a delicious goody bag with locally produced cheese, biscuits, toffee pudding and bottle of ale, and Anthony Horowitz gave a very funny acceptance speech (for Raven’s Gate).
I had a really good weekend; I got to meet some interesting people and as it was my first literary ‘do’, I discovered the world of gossip amongst authors, publishers and agents! Thank you!