BookThing!

It’s not often I get an invitation out of the blue that makes me actually squee with excitement, and I think I scared my cats the day I got the invitation to attend Piatkus’ blogger event! Piatkus publishes a lot of the authors I love to read, and to get to have a look at what titles were coming up, plus meet the people who have been so kind to me, was a dream come true.

Normally, doing something like this twice in three months is out of the question for me, since I live so far out of London and have an anxiety disorder, but both Simon & Schuster and Piatkus were brilliant and understanding, and had no problem at all with me bringing along my friend Tracey (and fellow Piatkus fan!).  I believe she squee’d too, when I asked if she could chaperone me again   We even walked to the offices from Liverpool Street Station which was fun and also good to avoid having to use the Underground.  Didn’t take very long either, only about 30 minutes.

The building Piatkus is housed in is very impressive and we had a bit of a giggle registering and going through security.  Who knew I could be outfoxed by how to call the lift!  The offices themselves were amazing; books!  Everywhere!  I think I was at risk of whiplash as I kept catching sight of much loved titles and authors on display.  I did ask if I could move in, but for some strange reason, they said no

First off, we got to meet the staff who are responsible for publishing these lovely books, and I can honestly say they could not have been more welcoming and friendly.  One of the things that impressed me most, is how excited and passionate they are, not only about their own books, but their readers as well.  Normally I am very shy and try and hide in the background at gatherings of people and find it hard to chat, but they made it so easy and effortless to get involved in conversation.  It was a real pleasure to finally meet Paola who had been my main contact, such a nice lady!

HUGE thanks go to the wonderful staff at Piatkus :

Donna Condon, Senior Editor
Paola Ehrlich, Press Officer
Lucy Icke, Assistant Editor
Sophie Harris, Editorial Assistant
Madeleine Feeney, Publicity Assistant
Joanne Dickinson, Publisher Piatkus/Sphere
Steph Young, Marketing Manager
Kate Webster, Marketing Manager
Emma Beswetherick, Senior Editor

It was lovely to meet fellow bloggers as well, some of whom I had come across on the internet but not spoken to.  It was great to talk about my favourite subject and get different perspectives on things.  We all differed in the genres we read too, some crossover but it seemed we each had a favoured one.  So a shout out and wave to the others that were there :

Sarah – Feeling Fictional
Vivienne – Serendipity
Carolyn – Book Chick City
Ina and Tanya – Murder One Romance Book Club
Ayo Onatade – Shotsblog, Mystery Women
Kirstie Long – Mystery Women

I apologise if I missed anyone off!

Here is a great shot of us all!

Now… Onto the books, oh the lovely books!

We were treated to a great preview presentation of upcoming titles that they were really excited about and in turn, that made me really excited.  My own preferred genres are Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Sci-Fi and Crime and I have to say there were titles in genres I would never normally pick up.  They do sound so fascinating though that I think it might be time to broaden my reading horizons!  I will be doing additional posts over the next few days of the books we were introduced to in the presentation but I can’t end this post without mentioning a couple of my favourites!  Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Darkness Unbound by Keri Arthur (already reviewed by Tracey!), Lover Unleashed and Envy by J. R. Ward.  I can’t wait!  Seriously!

We were spoiled rotten with food and drink, and I had to try all the different varieties of cupcakes… just to be sure, and also indulged in a couple of beers.  Saying ‘no, I’m fine thanks’ to Donna Condon is impossible   I do have to say I was really surprised that Bookthing had been invited to such a small gathering.  Compared to some of the other blogs, I am pretty small fry being the one person band that I usually am. I was both surprised and humbled to be even on their radar!  I even got told off for being too shy in asking for review copies, and I DID warn them that they should be careful what they wished for   Or would that be what I wished for?

We left the offices to get back for our train and I was sad to go, but we did leave with big smiles and goodie bags that we couldn’t wait to dive in to.  We were given several lovely proof copies of books we’d seen in the presentation and to fix their way into our hearts, a chocolate bar.  Couldn’t have been better!

So I sign off here and apologise for this blog post being so late after the event but as usual life smacks me upside the head just when I don’t want it to!  Better late than never though

THANKS!