London, Part One

Current work: sorting Med duo outline, doing some PM work, tidying my desk so I have thinking space, and my next Modern Heat
Listening to: not at the moment as everyone else is asleep
Reading: Jane Jackson, Dangerous Waters (aka I will be starting this tonight)

So… London. Was Fab. End of report.

[Pause]

No, of course it isn’t. I promised photos and a report. I would've had more pics but sadly some ended up blurred. (Not because of alcohol consumption, I might add.)

Had a really early start on Friday morning, which meant breakfast on the train (aka a latte and a raspberry muffin from the new Italian place at the station - the coffee was fantastic). Easy journey to Liverpool Street and then went to Green Park.

[Green Park, London]

Really nice morning (sunny with that early autumn nip in the air) so arranged to meet Michelle and Donna and worked on a park bench on the PDA until their arrival. (Great phone call ensued. ‘We’re in Green Park now. Where are you?’ [So I looked round and spotted her.] You’re wearing a black dress, right? ‘Ye-es…’ [I could almost hear the ‘How do you know?’] See the woman on the park bench in front of you with a green top, waving madly…? [She wasn’t actually that close. I have poor hearing but very good eyesight.])

[Kate Hardy and Michelle Styles]

Lunch was in the RAF club in Piccadilly; lovely to see so many friends there, includng Carol Marinelli (all the way from Aus – and, bless her, she’d brought me a signed copy of Lilian Darcy’s ‘Café du Jour’ – which I exchanged for chocolate, heh heh)

[Kate Hardy and Carol Marinelli]

and Sarah Morgan, Nicola Cornick, Kate Walker, Fiona Harper - [pause for pic]

[Kate Walker, Kate Hardy, Fiona Harper]

- and India Grey, Trish Wylie, Gill Sanderson, Heidi Rice, Michelle Reid... And lots more!

Lunch was scrummy - mushroom and asparagus tart, peppered chicken with rice and broccoli, mixed berry cheesecake, coffee and petits fours - and let it be noted that I had ONE CHOCOLATE. I was really, really, good. (Michelle Reid will back me up there.)

We had a really interesting talk on marketing and PR and the company’s centenary next year; being part of that will be so exciting!

And then it was off to a café in South Molton Street for coffee with Carol, Caroline, Sarah, Nicola and Sharon Kendrick. Talked a lot, laughed a lot, swapped perfume, sighed over shoes (yes, even me, but then I have a Radley handbag habit rather than a shoe fetish). Actually, you would’ve thought we were a bunch of women in their late teens, not their forties. (There’s a lightbulb flickering here.)

Then it was the champagne reception at the Oriental Club.

[The Oriental Club, Stratford Place, London]

Beautiful building, and we were in the library - as if I could've resisted browsing titles on shelves. :o)

Had a long chat with my lovely ed, Sheila; and chatted to the other eds and editorial assistants too, as well as the editorial director, managing editor and the head of M&B. Also enjoyed catching up with other author friends such as Jan Jones, Stephen Wade, Abby Green, Natasha Oakley and Julie Cohen.

[India Grey and Abby Green]

Karin Stoecker, the editorial director, gave us a lovely toast - and then it was time for awards. I had a lump in my throat when my dear friend Kate Walker was awarded her pin for her 50th book. Just before that, Historicals author Mary Nichols was awarded her pin for her 25th book.

[Julie Cohen and Kate Walker]

Oh, all right. I did say earlier in the week it was a special night for me, too.

So I got my pin for my 25th book, in between Mary and Kate – after an incredible speech from Karin that made me feel amazing (but has, ahem, added to my ‘Scary Kate’ reputation!).

[Kate Hardy and Karin Stoecker]

Also had the most fantastic letter from Harlequin’s CEO, Donna Hayes. (Talk about crow-thwacking material. Am going to frame it and stick it above my desk.) Jan took a nice pic of me afterwards (thanks, Jan - to you and to Roger for holding bags/making sure I looked tidy/reminding me to smile and giving me the confidence not to fall over!)

[not quite a matching box but... inside there's another... beautifully presented and very exciting]

I mean, I knew I'd had 25 Mills and Boon books on the shelves - I had a fab party here in July to celebrate it, I've also had various dinners out to celebrate it, my husband bought me a gorgeous necklace to celebrate it (the one I'm wearing in the pic) - but it didn't feel quite real. Now, it does. I really do have a place to belong. (This isn't posturing or whining, by the way. It's known as 'impostor syndrome' and I'm very far from being the only author who feels that way.)

So this year is going to turn out memorable for me for the right reasons, rather than the very upsetting period during the spring.

After the party, met Fi and Liz at Bond Street tube station and we had dinner in Café Rouge off Shaftesbury Ave (and yes, of course I read the menu from the bottom up. Crème brulee. Happy sigh). Great evening catching up and reminiscing. But a loooooong day - and I was dog tired by the end of it.