A Wet Weekend in Hale

Well, the weather could have been better! It is July after all! But we travelled to Hale in Cheshire in torrential dowpours of cold rain. It made driving a bit difficult so my thanks have to go to the Magnet who took on that responsibility and coped admirably.

In Hale we met up with my dear friend Michelle Reid and her husband who had arranged to join us as Hale is sort of half way between her home and mine. We had a fabulous night together, enjoying a delicious meal at the San Rocco Italian restaurant and talking and talking and talking. I am also now the proud possessor of an advance copy of Michelle's next book The De Santis Marriage which is out in the UK and USA in September, and I can't wait to read it.

(This book is out in the same month as my own Bedded By The Greek Billionare, so Michelle and I are planning a joint contest for this one - watch this space!)

The next morning it was still raining . . . even more heavily at times, but luckily I was staying just around the corner from Hale library, so - again with the help of the Babe Magnet - it was aquick job to get my boxes of handouts and the goody bags that Mills & Boon had kindly donated into the library without getting soaked.

The room that the library had provided was warm and welcoming though, and Reader Services librarian Jim Gallagherwas there to welcome us. The room was packed with as many people as it could hold - and I was told that there was a reserve list of people who had wanted to attend but could fit in. I'm so sorry if you were one of the ones who missed out.

The audience I did have were just great. A lovely, lively, keen group who joined in, discussed, asked questions, and took up the writing challenges I gave them with enthusiasm. I just want to say a special Hi to everyone who was there. You made it a very special event for me and I can't believe just how quickly that 2 1/2 hours went. It just flew by!

We had coffee half way through and a light lunch was provided at the end. My thanks go to the library staff who provided this. We decided not to break in the middle for lunch as that would have interrupted what was asuch a lively event so by the end of the session, the sandwiches etc were really welcome - and so were the cups of coffee in the middle of the session. Thanks again the Jim who sorted all that out.

I didn't manage to fit in everything I wanted to talk about but I don't think it mattered. We had a great discussion about building up characters and how to create a hero and heroine who would strike sparks off each other to make a good story. We had a lot of fun too, and I just hope the laughter issuing from the workshop room didn't disturb the library too much.

As I said, Mills and Boon very kindly provided goody bags for every member of the audience and they were delighted to have these extra gifts to take home with them And therew as one extra special goody bag that was won by Olivia Smith who was clearly stunn ed and happy to win, to judge by the smile on her face.

The session worked so well that over half the audience stayed on after lunch to talk and ask more questions. I think we could have stayed there all afternoon, but the library closed at four so just before half past three we reluctantly packed up and cleared out of the room. The Babe Magnet was relieved to see that I had passed out so many of the handouts - and of course the goody bags - that there was a lot less to carry back to the car.

I was tired but happy at the end of the day - though my throat was raw from so much talking. Luckily the Magnet had book us a meal at a lovely little restaurant called The Samphire where we had a great vegetarian meal - fantastic soup - and a bottle of win to round off a good day.

And by then the rain had stopped! (I took the picture of the library at the end of the day which was the only point at which I could stand outside and not get drenched)

My thanks to Manchester Library Services for organising this event - to the library staff at Hale library for looking after us - and of course to M&B for the goody bags. (And if you're in Manchester, don't forget that the exhibition And Then He Kissed Her, celebrating M&B's 100 Years is still on at the Central Library until the end of the month

And as I said yesterday my personal thanks to Nicole from the group who helped me by taking some of the photos that illustrate this post.

I've already had a lovely email from Joan who was there on Saturday saying how much she enjoyed the afternoon and that she got a lot from it - that's the best news possible for me to hear. Thank you too Joan!