The Crowded Bed - book launch

Last night Nicki and I took a break from the bookshop, left Alex in the safe hands of his grandmother ("Grammy" who had braved the nasty weather and 2 hour drive down from Warboys), put on some posh clobber, and went along to the Ashmolean for the launch of Mary Cavanagh's book "The Crowded Bed". We were both terrifically excited, having never been to one of these things before (and also because we don't get out much), and the choice of the Ashmol was inspired. The whole thing was very well put together, and much kudos is due to publisher Transita, and to the large number of Transita authors who made it to the evening as well (thanks to Christine Coleman, Susie Vereker and Stella Sykes for posing so obligingly for a blog pic!). As well as meeting authors, we met customers, bookcrossers and at least one other blogger. It was particularly inspiring to meet Sara Banerji - she is a brilliant author (bit gushy this bit, but Nicki and I are big fans). It's very uplifting when you meet people in real-life and they are just what you expect - inspirational, life-affirming, and just the right amount of British eccentricity which always gives me a real buzz. Mary clearly enjoyed herself - here she is reading an excerpt from the book. Mary is an Abingdon author (hooray), and The Crowded Bed is her first book. We've had it in the shop for almost a week. Mary came into the shop shortly after we opened, as one of the authors of The Sixpenny Debt And Other Oxford Stories, a collection of short stories by Oxford writers (The Oxpens group). This has been one of our bestsellers since we've opened, so we hope this book does even better. To round off a perfect evening, we even managed to slip round the corner for a pint at the Lamb & Flag on St Giles (The Eagle & Child being packed out). Ahh, memories of simpler days.

8 comments:

  1. Yes, wasn't it fun? A triumphant evening for Mary, and I hope she found time to enjoy it as much as we did. Sadly, you were two of the few people I didn't get a chance to meet. It was quite strange having the overlapping circles of my fellow Transita authors, Oxford Writers' Group and RNA members all gathered together in one huge party. What nice pictures! Unfortunately mine were rubbish, so I'm hoping someone else will post some on our Transita Authors Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, wasn't it fun? A triumphant evening for Mary, and I hope she found time to enjoy it as much as we did. Sadly, you were two of the few people I didn't get a chance to meet. It was quite strange having the overlapping circles of my fellow Transita authors, Oxford Writers' Group and RNA members all gathered together in one huge party. What nice pictures! Unfortunately mine were rubbish, so I'm hoping someone else will post some on our Transita Authors Blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree, Mark, it was a fantastic evening. Mary was incredibly generous in setting up a Transita table as well as her own, and it was a pleasure to support her.

    I would have had pictures too, except I'd carefully put my camera in the wrong bag!

    All the best, Jan

    Stage by Stage - Transita - Winner of the 2005 RNA Joan Hessayon Award

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was so sorry not to be there but am a huge supporter of this book as one of Transita's occasional manuscript readers.The Crowded Bed got a great big thumbs up from me and I'm looking forward to Mary's next book which I read in unfinished form and sent a message back via Nikki begging for it to be finished as I needed to know the end.Delighted you had a good night off Mark and Nic.I wonder if Bookcrosser Lynne M was there?
    We did our OU degree together years ago and I know she lives near Oxford and loves Transita.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, Lynne M was there, with a contingent of lovely book-crossers from Birmingham (there ought to be a suitable collective noun), and, in case you book-sellers are wondering, as usual, they bought books!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What exactly *is* a bookcrosser? Sounds a little ... something.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Ben,
    You need to go to
    http://www.bookcrossing.com/

    It tells all.

    All the best, Jan

    ReplyDelete
  8. I know more than I did this time yesterday!

    ReplyDelete