I did my first ever book reading this week at Headington Library, with two other writers and the publisher of Double – Decker More Tales from the John Radcliffe Bus.

Headington Library is a beautiful building and is in Bury Knowle park. You can read more about it here: Bury Knowle House

I was a little nervous before so I stood in front of this splendid lion wood carving in the park and thought about The Wizard of Oz and the cowardly lion who found his courage. Then I ate a cereal bar so my stomach didn’t rumble. Not all preparation is  deep and thoughtful!

The audience was a lovely attentive, receptive group and I really enjoyed chatting with some of them after.

I was delighted to see copies of Double-Decker for sale in Blackwells today in the local books section. It was such a lovely project to be involved with and we’ve begun making plans for the next book. Bus journeys have become more exciting for me because now they are potential sources of short story inspiration.

It’s only been out for a couple of weeks but already the short stories book that I contributed to is getting some attention. It will be reviewed in the Oxford Times soon (probably 23/12/16). I read my copy partly while eating chocolate and partly while on the bus. A lovely colleague of mine bought a copy and asked me to sign it and although it felt wrong using pen in a book I was delighted to oblige.

You wait ages to see a copy of a book about a bus journey and then three come along at once

I’ve got a couple of short stories in this book, which can be bought in Blackwells book shop on Broad Street in Oxford, the League of Friends at the JR Hospital and in Oxford Bus Company travel offices or online at the link below

http://www.bombusbooks.co.uk/double-decker.html

It was a great fun project to be part of. All the writers met up on Sunday 3rd December to celebrate the book being a real thing you can hold in your hands. Thanks to Cristina Parry for taking a photo of our proud faces.

I always like to look at the titles of short stories and try to guess what they might be about so here is the contents page.