Book launch!

I had the most amazing time last night at the launch of my new collection, My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions, here in beautiful Bristol at the Arnolfini bookstore. Walking in to see the amazing display of about 60 copies of the book was fantastic! I was too flummoxed to take a picture...

 To be honest, I'd had a few book launch anxiety dreams, but it exceeded all my expectations, a gathering of people from all walks of my life here in Bristol - and some from much further afield, thank you Elizabeth Baines, Calum "Mr National Flash Fiction Day" Kerr and Elaine Chiew for travelling so far!

I didn't really have a minute to chat to people, from the first moment I was sitting at a table, signed copies...

Me signing books for Sara Davies and George Ferguson

The other special guest of the evening, who hadn't told me til a few hours before that she was coming, was....

Yes, she is no upright piano!

... my mother, who had fashioned this lovely hat for herself, although some doubted she actually was my mother ... :) The star of my book trailer, it was great to have her there, and she hadn't known that I dedicated the book to her, so I think that was a nice surprise for her.

Half way through, my publisher, the simply superb Richard Jones, of Tangent Books, made a speech, talking about difficult times for publishers and the need to support beautiful bookshops like the one we were in at the Arnolfini, and then he said some embarassingly lovely things about me.

I said some lovely things back, and talked a bit about how it feels to have a second book, and how this time rather than elated and deeply shocked, I feel really happy and very proud, a different sensation, very very nice. I mentioned how it's important to most short story writers that their stories find good homes, and how I feel that these 56 fictions have found a wonderful home and, although they were written over several years with no thought of a collection, I imagine them inside the book, having a conversation with each other... And then I read a few stories...which I thought were at the more cheery end of the spectrum, but look at their faces, poor dears!:

Some more attendees...

Fabulous writer friend Ally Kennon and wonderful partner Dan

Becky Jones the Biochemist, from the biochemistry lab at Bristol Uni that I was writer-in-residence in.

Wonderful writer friend Elizabeth Baines and her lovely partner John.

Professor Michael Berry, Galit and Robert

Dr Michael Short

My mother and my brother, Nick H

The excellent Joe "Mr Bristol Short Story Prize" Melia & the lovely Ali Reynolds, one of the BSSP judges

After the bookshop closed, we adjourned to the Arnolfini cafe and then the remaining few moved on to Las Iguanas for Mexican food, cocktails (and a cup of tea for me).

I'm not generally much of a party person, but last night was very special, just amazing - thank you Richard for throwing me the launch, and thank you to everybody who came and everyone who couldn't make it but was there in spirit! My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions is launched!