TALKING HEADS

I’m always nervous before public-speaking. Like a lot of authors I prefer my characters and words to represent me. This time around I used hypnotic CDs by Marisa Peer in preparation weeks beforehand.

Flowers given at the end of the talk

They must have worked because despite feeling the adrenaline kick–in before I started, everyone present said how relaxed I was.

The talk went very well and it was lovely to see the room packed out. I signed quite a few books afterwards and then headed to the Bank Hotel with a few friends to celebrate Poet’s Cottage over a Thai meal.

with good friends at the Bank hotel

Here we enjoyed lively conversation of books, real-estate, ghosts, tarot and magic. The Bank Hotel is always special to me because I met my husband there.

Josephine Pennicott with Mary and Michelle. Very relieved it is over.

I was very touched by my friends’ support of my book. So many people came to hear my hour-long talk about my personal journey and my road to Pencubitt.

Last Friday evening, I went to see Anna Funder talk to a crowd  at a very full Seymour Centre.

Anna was eloquent, intelligent and elegant  as she described her experiences writing All That I Am. I found it fascinatingto hear her life journey and to put the jig-saw pieces together which led to her writing All That I am. And Anna herself was very gracious when she signed the book.

As I waited in the signing queue I overhead this from two men: ‘What did you think of that?’

‘Oh it was alright. But I prefer her book to hearing her talk about it.’

Do you enjoy hearing writers talk about their work? Leave me a comment and let me know which writers have held you spellbound.  Do you feel the writer should be a mystery and allow their creations to represent them? Is the enjoyment of a book lost if you find out too much about the author?‘

Perhaps Daphne du Maurier was correct when she said, ‘Writers should be read but neither seen nor heard.’