The Readers' Dinner

One of the highlights of the Harrogate Festival for me was Saturday evening’s Readers’ Dinner. This was a chance for writers and readers to get together, but I didn’t know quite what to expect.

The dinner was sponsored by Mira Books, who have developed a very interesting specialism in fast-moving thrillers. I’d never heard of them until a couple of years ago, when Paul Johnston, who was once a fellow Hodder author, told me they had taken him on. Ever since, Paul has sung their praises, and he’s someone whose opinions command a great deal of respect. Their list is growing rapidly and impressively.

One of the Mira authors, E.V. Seymour and I were on the same table and we enjoyed the company of a diverse range of people. They included a group of Dutch publishers and some very charming Americans – who had arrived in Harrogate after a few days spent in the Lakes checking out the real locations behind some of the fictional scenes in my Lake District Mysteries. Although they hadn’t managed to find a ‘cipher garden’, I told them about Mellor’s Garden, the unique and fascinating Cheshire garden which contains symbols tracing the story of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ and which gave me the inspiration for the book.

Eve Seymour, it turns out, is the author of The Last Exile, which is due to be published any time now. It features intelligence officer Paul Tallis and I look forward to reading it.

All in all, the dinner seemed to me to be a great success. I certainly enjoyed it.