But what if I wet myself?

Of course it was fine. A warm welcome from a lovely group of women who said nice things to me afterwards and were generous in their donations of food and money.

With these things I know I will be alright once I start to speak - as long as I've prepared properly - but it's just the pre-event nerves: will I find the right room?, will they be nice? will they be responsive? Although this time I think I might have gone from normal stress level to 'now that's just silly' when I said to Husband just as I was leaving, 'What if I wet myself?'

When he'd stopped laughing Husband said, 'They'll all be older women; they'll understand.'

I'm not in the habit of wetting myself, you understand; it was just one of those thoughts that suddenly crops up when you're least expecting it.

Apart from a minor panic on the way - a combination of realising that I didn't actually know where Llansamlet was (or rather I realised it wasn't where I thought it was) and thinking that Ms Sat Nav was sulking and not speaking to me - I found the church easily. And I was wonderful, of course. And just before I left I said, 'By the way I'm a writer. If you ever want me to come and talk about writing or my books I'd be happy too.'

Remind me of this post next time I'm preparing to give a talk.