My Edinburgh Diary

Hi girls! I hope you’re enjoying being back to school! Good luck if it’s your first day back, and especially if it’s your first few days at a new school!

One of the things I get to do as an author is to have events at book festivals, and I thought you’d like to read about my trip to Edinburgh this year. So here’s my Edinburgh Diary…

One Tuesday in August, 10am

It’s the middle of the summer holidays, so I’m in full mummy mode, doing battle with a constant pile of washing (and washing up!), slathering suncream onto Holly and Freddie and making picnic mountains for the park. Then I realise I have to go to work, as an author, to do an event at one of the most prestigious book festivals in the world. 

Have minor freak out. 

OK, OK, have major FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK out!

Then I pull myself together, pack my stuff, leave my husband in charge, drive to airport and get on plane. 

Late-ish evening, I arrive at the lovely Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh and am blown away by the gorgeousness of my room…

And it’s beautiful glass ceiling!

And settle down for a lovely sleep without Matt snoring, Holly poking me by getting in with dressing up shoes on, or Freddie using my head as a handy place to rest the iPad.

Wednesday – EVENT day!

Not so excited by magnificent glass ceiling at 5am when the seagulls start landing on it and screeching so loudly I go to put my ear plugs in and find I’m already wearing them! Use all my linguistic skills to hurl imaginative insults at seagulls. Make tea.

Do some yoga – mainly lying down poses, so that I can re-appreciate the ceiling.

After breakfast, venture off to wonderful book festival, where I have time to enjoy a couple of events myself, one in the fabulous Speigeltent.

I see Joanne Harris speak too but later in the writers’ yurt I am too shy to tell her I loved her talk/all her books!

Then I browse round fabulous bookshop in the festival and buy myself a few books, oh and remember one  to take home for the children as well! Event now looming. Freak out a bit. Unlike these cool dudes!

 

I also sit in one of the lovely deck chairs in the garden square where the book festival is held and listen to music on my iPhone. I always like to put on some of my fave songs before doing an event. This time it is Read All About It (Professor Green feat. Emili Sande) and Remedy (Little Boots). Have to restrain myself from leaping out of the chair and singing and dancing around. Am definitely ready to get on stage now!

In the writer’s yurt I meet the fabulous girls from Lush who are taking part in my Rainbow Beauty event – we can smell when they arrive as the gorgeous scent of Lush lotions and potions wafts through! Then we all get mic’d up and it’s time to go. 

The event is great fun, the girls and mums (and one dad and granddad) in the audience are brilliant, and after a reading from Strawberry Summer, some girly goss and the lowdown on how the Rainbow Beauty series went from idea to finished book, we all get a go at making a blueberry face mask. 

The girls leave with goodie bags, signed books and big grins, and I head to the cafe for a drink with my lovely friends Jayne and Emily who came along to the event.

Then it’s time to jump in a cab and get back to the airport.

Back at Gatwick, my car appears to be missing, so I have a mild panic until I discover that there are TWO short stay car parks, and I jump in and get home around one in the morning. A very long but very fabulous day!

Thanks, Edinburgh! xxx