Boost for the ego!

Had the best possible author’s night last night! It was a Battle of the Books at Montreuil, where young readers, in groups of two or three or solo, spoke up for their favourite book in 3 minutes. There were about eight books presented – and Le Worldshaker was the only book that got spoken for twice! What could be nicer than to sit and hear words of praise for one’s own novel, as young readers try to persuade everyone else to read it! Here’s the first group
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They had drawn pictures of Col and Riff that they held up as they talked – just visible in the photo. The second group focused mostly on doing a reading, which they did v well … But it was bad luck that their reading overlapped with the same passage that the first group had read. Here they are reading

Other groups or solos used different forms of presentation, e.g. Interviewing one another about the book – each group trying to do something different.
I’d have loved one of Le Worldshaker groups to win – a jury of three each gave a mark out of five for every presentation – but no, their best score was joint third, I think. The girl who won, speaking solo, was a v good, v natural public speaker.
I was the only author there, dressed in my steampunk gear, of course, and I got a big introduction at the start. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better than this!

Earlier in the day, we went to the chateau at Fontainebleau – another out-of-town trip. ‘Sumptuous’ was Aileen’s description – endless rooms of unbelievable luxury. And the sun came out for us!