Isabel Ashdown’s ‘Glasshopper’ Launch Party

I went to the launch event for Chichester writer Isabel Ashdown’s debut novel ‘Glasshopper’ last night. It was at Chichester University where Isabel has already completed her BA in Creative Writing and is currently studying her MA. This was the first book launch event I’ve been to so I was very keen to see what went on. I hope to go to hundreds more in the future – a few of them even my own!

The format was a brief introduction to Isabel by one of the University faculty members and then an interview/chat with the author and one of her lecturers. Isabel also did several readings from her novel. Acknowledgements were made at the end to her publishers, Myriad Editions and her agent and we piled out of the lecture hall off to another room where drinks and, to my delight, Twiglets, were being served.

The event was very well attended with over one hundred of Isabel’s friends, family and fans. I bought a copy of ‘Glasshopper’ but suggested to Isabel as I introduced myself that she sign it at the Waterstone’s signing she has coming up on the 21st October in Chichester, as she was very busy. She’d said she’d introduce me to her publishers but she was going to be too busy signing copies for some time and I had another appointment at a viewing at a gallery to get to. Glass of wine in my hand, wondering what to do next, I spotted the chap she had pointed out as her agent standing alone. Never backwards in coming forwards I leaped over there and started quizzing him on various aspects of Isabel’s journey into print. I explained that Isabel had found and contacted me because I run a Book Club in Chichester via the meetup.com site and showed him this blog on my iPhone. I’d just published the interview with Andrew Blackman so that was another nice internet networking story for us to talk about. I explained that I was also an aspiring author and this morning I have sent him the current draft of ‘Thirty Seconds Before Midnight’. Can’t wait for his feedback!

Watch this space for a review of ‘Glasshopper’ and an Interview with Isabel Ashdown.