A video to introduce The Country Set

I’ve made a short vlog which, like doctors Who, Foster and Caligari, I can only watch from behind a sofa cushion. If you’re brave enough to sit through it, you’ll note there are a few key differences – an absence of qualified medics for one – but I nevertheless like to think of Max the Shetland and myself as time-travelling avengers. We’re reclaiming the right to the romp, that wonderfully British fictional world in which characters get horny on damson gin and flirt in welly socks:

Tomorrow is the official hardback launch of The Country Set, a day known in the book trade as Super Thursday because more hardbacks come out than at any other time of year, a stampede of colourfully jacketed tortoises, all aiming for bestseller stardom by Christmas. While I don’t anticipate renewing that giddy climb just yet – it’s only in my daydreams that I gallop past every book with Girl, Train, Next Door and Highway Code in the title, get interviewed by Melvyn and am hailed as the new Barbara Pym – I’m gearing up for an excitable jaunt around social media in the coming days.

So if you enjoy bite-sized musings and digital schmoozing, please look out for updates on this blog and on media feeds. Max will be making more appearances, has demanded his own dressing room, and already has an impressive portfolio of Outtakes. Should you think all this self-promotion is a lot of puff, however, then I totally understand if you quickly scroll on, but do give the book a go. It’s pure autumnal escapism, and don’t we all need some of that?