Newcon Press and Glass of Shadow launch

We came up to London on Friday - annafdd is very kindly putting us up. Headed out to Queen's Park and a rather good gastro pub called the Alice house, which serves cocktails in teapots (we stuck to the wheat beer). Yesterday, we caught the bus into town, heading past a lot of T's childhood haunts in Maida Vale and around Marble Arch, arriving early in Holborn. We wandered around for a bit, looked at some remarkably overpriced jewellery in Hatton Garden and stumbled over a magic shop - the other sort of magic - which has apparently been there for 54 years. I had a long conversation with them, mainly about my dad and their upcoming conjuring convention.

Then we headed to the Cittie of Yorke, encountering messrs Whates and Watson en route. What a spectacular pub it is, with a high beamed ceiling and vast barrels. The room where we held the launch is like a gentleman's club - panelled, with leather sofas. Later, the long main bar became filled with a collection of lawyers, Guardsmen (with spurs) and subsequently the Met, lots of them, and all rather grim, who hauled out a number of disreputable blokes who had been in a fight down the road, run into the pub and hidden in the toilets (when I mentioned this to a woman at the launch, she said "What are they - 6?")

Ian thinks that about 80 people came. It was great to catch up with everyone, and to see Tanith, John, Anne S and co, and to meet Storm Constantine, who did the layout on my short story collection. She was one of the first people to publish me, over a decade ago, in Visionary Tongue, which was in hard copy then. Also great to see Peter Lavery, my now-retired editor at Macmillan. Too many people to mention by name, but it was lovely to see you all.

We left the pub about 7 and headed into Bloomsbury, splitting up in order to eat. Trevor and I ended up in Kimchee, which is a big Korean place. I had bibimbap, which I like but which means that the word gets stuck in my head ("Bibimbap! Bibimbap"). I'm sure this is very childish but some words just do that. Then we headed back to Kilburn and are now winding gently into Sunday: I think a trip to the local Asian supermarkets is called for before we head out.

I'd like to thank Ian Whates for organising this. It wasn't just my launch, but the 5th anniversary of Newcon Press. In the current climate, this is one hell of an achievement and Ian deserves to be congratulated for it. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Anne Sudworth for the cover, Storm and Andy Bigwood for other formatting and of course, to Tanith for her introduction. I don't wish to gush, but her comments have made me very reflective: I have admired her work since I was a teenager, and like so many other people in the professional SF field, she has been unfailingly supportive of me since I started out (we did not know one another). At the events at which she appears, I watch Tanith giving her time and her support to newer writers, and she is exceptionally generous with both.