Well, I seem to have managed to order two copies from Amazon… I thought I’d pre-ordered one ages ago, but then I couldn’t find it in my account, so I ordered it again, along with another book about being a chef. Got an email yesterday to say TMOL had been dispatched but didn’t mention the other one. When I checked, I found the cheffy one and a second copy of TMOL about to be dispatched and it’s too late to cancel. So that pre-ordered copy was there after all.

I can't bear the idea of sending one back, so I’ll save the extra one for a Christmas pressy for a friend who’ll appreciate it.

Dee

Well, I'm glad to know it's arrived, but isn't that typical of Amazon? I only use them if I absolutely have to!

Your cheffy book sounds fun. I love the magpie-ness of being a writer; good excuse to explore just about anything.

Emma

Emma, I loved it!

Sarah

Sarah, I can't tell you how thrilled I am to know there's someone out there - not family, not trade - who's actually read it! And I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Emma

Oh god, yes, Emma, I'm obsessed with all things cheffy at the moment – purely in the realms of research for the new novel This book is called The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America by Michael Ruhlman, and it’s the predecessor to The Soul of a Chef by the same author (who is brilliant btw, if you're interested in that sort of thing).

Yes, I love the freedom writing gives to explore all sorts of stuff we wouldn’t feel able to look at without that ‘author’ tag. It’s great!

Dee

Congratulations, Emma. Was that you in Time Out? That's their idea of the contemporary writer's garret, I suppose.

I'm looking forward to the readings. As stated in a previous post, it's my new hobby. Is it true what Alison Baverstock says in her book, that you have to supply the wine for the book-signings yourself, by the way?

Sheila

Emma

Congratulations!

Pete

Yes, it's the fat paperback - very nice indeed. I love the transitions between the early 19th century and the 1970s - can't wait to see how it pans out. I've just been glutting myself on the Sharpe series, so this comes as a nice, and also topical, change.

D.

Cornelia, thank you! Yes, it was me in Time Out - they would pick my entirely deplorable garden for the photo, instead of my adequately respectable (when shot out-of-focus) house! As far as book-signings go, I think it depends on your publisher's budget and outlook, and whether you organise it, or the bookshop does. I'm probably lucky in being published by Headline.

Pete, thank you!

Darren; glad you're enjoying it.

Just got back from a day in the West End signing stock and chatting up booksellers: 12 (I think - it's all a blur) bookshops and about 700 books. You wouldn't have thought it could be exhausting, but I'm absolutely shattered.

Emma

I got mine, as Ry Cooder once sang. Got it from Foyles - the nearest bookshop to my place of work. They had a good stack of them on prominent display on the 'Just Published' shelves. Plus it's got a £3 off sticker on it. That's a good thing, no?

Oh and the signature is at an angle, more or less 45 degrees. Is that significant?

Looking forward to getting stuck in, though it will have to wait until I've finished my current read: something called Pink Champagne and Apple Juice by one Anne Brooke. (It's a fun read, Anne - very enjoyable. I must look out for the Den next time I'm in Muswell Hill.)

Roger, I was signing the Foyles stock at about noon yesterday, so it's fresh off the shelf. Money off stickers are good for sales, bad for profits and infuriating for cover designers. The angle seems to be how it works best - I think it's because the rest of my hand is on the page, rather than falling off into thin air, and when you've got lots to do - as you know yourself - that kind of thing makes all the difference. Talking of which, I saw Taking Comfort looking very smart in the New Books section of I think Blackwell's Charing Cross Road.

Hope you enjoy TMOL when you get there.

Emma

Glad you're enjoying Champers, Roger - I'm sure Uncle John would be happy to entertain you in The Den at any time and ... um ... in any costume you wish!

)

A
xxx

when you've got lots to do - as you know yourself

Thanks for the compliment, Emma - but I don't think I come close to your ballpark! The only bulk signing I did was at Goldsboro, and that was not that many. Did you see David, by the way? I feel guilty because I was intending to get it from there, but time was pressing and I just nipped into Foyles which is a bit too close.

I'm amazed you saw some Taking Comfort copies - and on display. That is frankly astounding. I think Foyles have already sent their copies back. It's a harsh business this.

Anne, I said I'd look out for it, not go inside!

Anne, can I buy Pink Champagne from Goldenford's website? it sounds such fun, and I hate getting things from Amazon if I can possibly help it.

Roger, yes David and Daniel were in fine fettle - about to move to a much bigger shop just up Cecil Court.

Emma