Safety In Numbers

The launch party was fun -- fairly near my hotel, so I arrived early, signed a lot of books for a lot of booksellers, acquired a lime, was introduced to Mitch Benn (of Mitch Benn and the Distractions) (who had blagged his way in because his sister Rachel was a Real Bookseller) who was, I learned, a Sandman fan although I think I rather surprised him while he was still in the process of explaining who he was by pointing out that I was also a fan of his and had already bought his first two CDs (incidentally, you can watch the video of Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now at http://www.everythingsoundslikecoldplaynow.com/).

The launch party location was full enough that apparently at one point someone on the door started invoking fire regulations and not letting anyone else in. (If you were one of the people they didn't let in, sorry about that.)

Wound up at the end of the evening eating a terrific Indian meal at a Wardour Street restaurant called Soho Spice with my very first ever editor, Faith Brooker, who turned rather pale when I pointed out to her that my son Mike was the same age now that I was when she first took me out for lunch and bought my first book, with Roz Kaveney (and the complete version of her Alan Moore interview is at http://www.livejournal.com/users/rozk/94959.html#cutid1), with Vanessa (who I've known since the Society of Strip Illustration days in the late 80s), and with Suw Charman (of the Chocolate and Vodka blog) , who I'd only met earlier this evening, had recognised from her blog, and who is helping to organise a Digital Rights Group that I've agreed to be Patron of.

(As a Patron-to-be, I'd like to point out that of the thousand people who have signed up to pledge 5 pounds a month "to support an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK ", they now have 931, and need only 69. So, particularly if you're in the UK, you might want to go to http://www.pledgebank.com/rights and see if you'd like to be in that final 69.)

If you're in the London area tomorrow night, just a reminder that there are still a few tickets left to the Blackwells event with me and Lenny Henry at
7.00pm: Event at Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London
Contact: 020 7292 5100 (Tickets 7 pounds, 5. conc.,). (Here's a link to a map, along with a slightly silly "review" of the event.) (Blackwells are expecting walk-ups on the night, so you should be fine if you just turn up, but if you're concerned, phone and reserve tickets.)

Right. Bed.

Many books to sign tomorrow. Many many.