An Evening with SJ Watson

Last night I headed down to the Arts House for a World Lit session with best-selling author, SJ Watson that Kenneth was moderating. If you haven't read either of Watson's books, what are you waiting for? They're brilliant!

So it's not surprising that the event was fully booked with all the estimated 100 seats snapped up within a few days.  I arrived early to save a seat for myself and Claire, who was running late. Some fans on the waiting list turned up early, hoping to snag coveted places and luck was on their side. Two of Claire's friends were unable to attend so I gave up their tickets on the spot.








There was no sign of either the author, Kenneth or anyone else I knew  so I perused  the book table and snapped up a copy of Before I Go to Sleep for Claire and   a copy of Second Life for myself at the discounted price of $13.60. What a bargain!




As the minutes inched towards the appointed hour of 7:30pm, there was still no sign of Claire; I was beginning to panic. The last messaged I received was that she was on the MRT and was  still 18 minutes away. The room was rapidly filling with ravenous readers who were streaming in from both both entrances.  

It would have been terribly bad form if Claire had turned up late to take her seat in the front row. Meanwhile, Singapore Literature Prize winner, Josephine 'Phine' Chia and her fellow writers Emma Nicholson, Jo Furniss and Tracy Tristram had already anchored themselves firmly in prime positions for the night's proceedings.

Then,  just as Kenneth, SJ Watson and Lisa from the Arts House strode into the room, Claire slid into her seat next to mine.



Now, with his in depth knowledge of books and their plots, themes and other literary technicalities and his relaxed, engaging interview style, Kenneth, it seems, is fast becoming a favourite for events at the Arts House.

I think his questions must have stumped the author, because Mr Watson had to ask: "What was your question again?" midway through his answers. Maybe the author was just channeling his amnesiac character, Christine Lucas.

For the next hour, the author spoke about his inspiration for his book Before I Go to Sleep, and how an agent snapped it up,  How it got optioned for a movie before it was actually published and his experience on the movie set and watching the finished movie at the premiere. I was relieved to hear that SJ, or Steve, as he prefers to be called doesn't follow a strict writer's guideline when it comes to writing.  So I guess that I'm not the only one who does that, but then again, I ain't no SJ Watson. Oh and as a special treat, he read an excerpt from his book Second Life.




After taking some questions from the audience, it was time for his autograph signing. I, of course, ran to the autograph table as fast as I could to get my books signed. I. of course, shameless gave Steve a copy of my book A Day with the Duchess, telling him that he could use it as a doorstopper as well.


Claire and the author

Phine and SJ Watson
With books signed and photos taken, Claire, Emma, Phine, Jo Furniss and I decided to cap off the evening with cocktails at the Stamford Hotel.  Good job on moderating, Kenneth. I'm looking forward to the next author talk!


Steve and Ken