This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
By Amanda Keats
I first encountered the work of Rowan Coleman through her short story Woman Walks Into a Bar, which raised money for domestic abuse charity Refuge. I then had the great pleasure of meeting Rowan at the RNA Winter Party last year and the moment we started to talk, I realised she was just as fantastic in real life as I had imagined having read her book. Then Team Novelicious made Rowan our author of the year for 2013.
It's not really a great surprise then that when the invite came to attend the launch of her new book The Memory Book, I practically pushed people out the way to get myself in. And it was certainly worth the effort!
After walking into the wrong room and immediately thinking 'these are not my people', I found my way down a floor to the right room and found the general cheer of the bookish world. Rowan was dressed in a gorgeous red dress, which worked well with the stylish décor of the bar in Piccadilly Circus, and greeted me with an enormous hug. I also met her fabulous team at Ebury Publishing and spotted a few familiar faces along the way.
Rowan's speech thanked her editor and the team at Ebury. She also thanked her agent, who wasn't there having being roped into a school trip, as well as her friends and her husband – who she said puts up with her 'reasonably well'. Rowan then followed on with a short reading, but having lost the page, said we had to talk amongst ourselves while she found a bit that wasn't too depressing! It was hours later when I eventually headed home, armed with a signed copy of the book and a yummy gift bag filled with a gorgeous notebook, flower seeds and Lindt chocolates!
This is an evening that will certainly going in my memory book!
Thanks Rowan and Ebury for a great night!