And it wasn't a disaster

It wasn't.

On time. The book delivery that is. But it didn't matter in the end. I had enough - just - for the Book fair, and to prove it here's my stall.

The weather forecast for the weekend had been quite bad but as it turned out there were only intermittent showers. The town's food festival was happening next door so Narberth in west Wales was the place to be on Saturday.

Where to begin? Two big surprises. The first was that all day parking next door to the hall only cost £1.50. As you can pay that for an hour's parking in Swansea it was a pleasant surprise. The second surprise happened when I spoke to Judith Barrow, co-organiser of the event. For some reason, known only to my psyche, I had expected her to sound like a posh English woman even though she had lived in Wales for forty years. She actually spoke with a strong northern English accent.

When she first came across and spoke to us I was astounded - and told her so.

Anyway those two things are irrelevant really. There was good footfall (which I have learned means people coming through the doors) and I sold nine books, which may not sound a lot but is good for an event like this.

It was wonderful to be to put faces to bodies to names that I know from FaceBook and Twitter, and there was a generally lovely supportive and encouraging atmosphere.

A few odd things. At one point a couple stood in front of my stall, spoke to each other, and laughed. The woman then said, 'How's your husband? We read about him in The Bay magazine.'
I said, 'Oh fine.'
Her partner then said, 'That's exactly the sort of sympathy I'd get if I had a heart attack.'

We laughed some more and shared stories of how hard done by husbands are during labour when we make them stay with us when they could be sleeping.

It was odd because The Bay only covers a small delivery area in the west of Swansea - where presumably this couple were from - and Narberth is some distance away. 

Not long after that two women approached my stall. One come towards me saying, 'Liz Hinds! we meet at last!'
We hugged and all the while I am thinking, 'Who is she?'

Quite soon the penny dropped and I realised this lovely lady was no other than my editor on The Bay, Lesley. We have only communicated by email and more recently on FaceBook - where she has a photo admittedly ... Anyway, I think I got away with it.

Two more coincidences. One woman stopped, picked up a copy of The Dog-walking Club, and said, 'I've already read this.' That's odd because I haven't sold that many so she probably read it for free on kindle unlimited but still she'd read it.

Another woman picked up a copy of A Cop for Christ and said, 'I gave this to my son years ago, 'and 'what's it got to do with you?'
'I wrote it.' I showed her my name in small letters on the back cover. 
She said, 'Oh, the cover was different on mine, and it was a smaller book.'
I said, 'Yes, Hodder re-issued it.'
I still don't think she believed me though.

The organisers gave us a goodie bag including sweeties - always a plus - and a sign to put on the stall. I've pinned it to my notice-board now so when in future I begin to doubt myself I just have to look up to remind myself.