Idle Tom calls with "Great News"
"GREAT NEWS!"
It’s Idle Tom the Publisher on the phone. Again. "FANTASTIC NEWS!" he said.
"Really?" I said.
Forgive my scepticism. It’s just that Idle Tom’s version of "great news" is very slightly different from my own. Or, for that matter, anyone else’s.
"No, Bill, this is good. This is hot. Perk yourself up because you’re just going to l-u-u-u-rve this one."
"OK Tommy. Hit me with it. What have you got?"
"Hackney library! We’ve got a stall there! Two stalls, in fact! And you can come along! And sell your book!"
"Hackney library?"
"Yeah, it’s going to be brilliant!" I don’t know why, but it’s as if Tom believes that his enthusiasm is infectious, and that somehow it’s going to rub off on me. This has rarely been the case.
Tom waxed on: "There’s going to be a "Visit Your Hackney Library" day! They’ve got writers going along to every library, and there’s going to be lots of stuff on, reading games, you name it. It’s going to be really good fun, I know it is, and you know what?"
"What?"
"They’re not even charging for the stalls!"
"So when is it?"
"April 12. Are you on?"
"Am I going along to the Visit Your Hackney Library day?" I mulled it over. "How could I possibly refuse?"
* A first for my blog. I’ve got a hot tip for the races. It’s a nag called, I think, "Carruthers", racing today in the Albert Barlett Novice at Cheltenham. I’m putting my shirt on it!