Making Hay

In the September sunshine, Hay-on-Wye was as appealing as ever yesterday. It was my first visit for eighteen months to the book town on the England-Wales border. I really have to ration myself, not least because I just don’t have the space at home to accommodate too many more books. But Hay does have an irresistible attraction as far as I’m concerned, and I did try to ration my purchases, with a degree of ‘success’.

My impression is that, since it became famous as a booktown, Hay has thrived economically. Whereas the streets of so many market towns in England and Wales have empty retail units and countless charity shops, Hay has plenty to offer quite apart from books. But books, of course, predominate. Even the half-ruined castle has been turned into a rather splendid bookshop – there could be no better use for an ancient monument!

As usual, I made a pilgrimage to the specialist crime shop, Murder and Mayhem, and also to the vast Cinema Bookshop, as well as a wide range of other haunts. One recent book I picked up was Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which I’ve heard is pretty good.

My other purchases included an obscure (but apparently most intriguing) example of Eurocrime, and a rather fascinating piece of crime fiction- related memorabilia. More about these in future posts. And I hope that soon, Blogger, which has become mysteriously unco-operative, will allow me to upload some of the photos I took in the Hay sunshine yesterday!

2008 in retrospect - 1

Here are some images which encapsulate just a few of the very many memorable aspects of my 2008.

It’s been quite an astonishing year – in the same week in July, I was short-listed for one literary award, and won another, my first. I published two new novels, and an anthology that I’d edited, and enjoyed their launches at great locations – the Hard Day’s Night Hotel, Manchester Central Library, and St George’s Hall – as well as running a short story competition, won by the deserving Cathy Roberts.

There were conventions at Bristol, Baltimore and Harrogate, and events at venues as diverse as the Lit and Phil in Newcastle, Waterstones in Liverpool One, and the Peabody Hotel opposite Baltimore’s Washington Memorial. I met for the first time such marvellous writers as Thomas H..Cook, P.D. James, Jason Goodwin, Tim Heald and Laurie King. And I was elected to the Detection Club.

I feel as though I’ve packed a lot in, and there have been times when I know I’ve made the mistake of trying to do too much. 2009 is likely to be quieter in some ways (no books to launch for a start – I need to finish the current work in progress first!) But if it’s half as much fun, it will still be pretty good.