A strange sort of crowd.

The Bolton signing went all right in the end, but it was a tough crowd. This last week has been school half term in Bolton, and this has certainly affected the people out and about. A huge number were with children in tow and headed straight for the children's section (the author of Horrid Henry seemed to be doing rather well). Other people were moving through going for the Costa for a coffee and left again 30 minutes later without having looked at a single book.

A lot of people did stop and talk. There were a few who already had a copy of the book, and a number who did buy a copy too. But there were also a lot who were very interested in the book but said that cash was too tight at the moment. Maybe after the end of the month payday some will come back and buy a copy off the shelf. It does tally though with the struggle that a lot of people face in a recession so I cannot complain. Still, we did enough to keep me happy so that's the main thing.

Next stop will be Durham and Gateshead Metrocentre Waterstones back-to-back over a Saturday and Sunday in March.

Test card Jenny

It wasn't meant to, but this picture reminds me of the old test card on television when I was a child.

New venue dates

I'm signing books tomorrow in Waterstones Bolton. I've also been booked today for Waterstones in Chester and Hanley (Stoke). Two days ago I got booked for Waterstones in Warrington and the Metrocentre so all is going well :)

The full list of signing dates is now up on the front page of the website.

New signing dates:

Warrington Waterstones on the 23rd of April
MetroCentre Waterstones on the 13th of March (I'm in Durham Waterstones on the 12th)

Chester Waterstones; dates to be confirmed in the next few days.

This is what every morning is like!

'Bed head' is the newest strip on 'All over the house' and mirrors my real mornings. It is safe to say that the artist I work with isn't a morning person! (Or at least: not one for the part of the morning that comes just before lunchtime).

Get up first thing in the afternoon, she says.

Jennifer Kirk Book Signing in Wigan

A video that Zoë took on the day of the Wigan Waterstones signing.

The Wigan debrief.

I've just returned from Wigan and another highly successful book signing event. They're a very chatty crowd in Wigan, and I spent a lot of time talking passionately about books and writing with people. I signed a lot of books too! I've been invited back later in the year, so I mustn't have been too annoying!

I failed to find pie in Wigan, resorting to pasties instead for lunch. Whoever told me that Wiganers love pies failed to mention that they would have eaten them all too by the time that I arrived!