King's Revenge Launch at Daunts in Bookbrunch

Launch party for Raffaella Barker's From A Distance

Barker: literary lightness

Last night Raffaella Barker launched her new novel, From a Distance, at London’s book launch venue extraordinaire (Daunts Marylebone.) There were Barkers aplenty, including Raffaella’s mother, Elspeth Barker, with whom I talked about the Roman poets. Her editor spoke about how she’d known Raff since she was a girl of fourteen, dressed in Victorian clothes in a vicarage; and how her wonderful first novel, Come and Tell Me Some Lies, followed on very soon after that. This, she said, is a novel for a hammock on a sunny afternoon, both light and literary.

Alex Preston Launch: The Revelations; Katie Dale

Preston

Dale

To Daunts! (A battle cry if ever there was one). A bit slow off the mark on this one, though, as it was last week (but things got in the way); it was the exaltation, or lift-off, or launch even, of Alex Preston's new novel, The Revelations. It concerns the lives of a group of people who join the Alpha course; it's already been well-received, and follows on from the acclaim generated by his debut, This Bleeding City. Fellow state-of-the-nation novelist Amanda Craig was in attendance, as were many other literary types. Unfortunately I couldn't hear the speeches as it was quite crowded and I was at the back, but I could hear some appreciative laughter, so I assume that what Mr Preston and his editor said was amusing. I look forward immensely to reading the book. Mr Preston was a few years above me at my alma mater, Lancing College, which also saw the launch this week of another one of its alumni's writing careers: Katie Dale, whose young adult book Someone Else's Life saw the light of day, as well as her series, Twisted Fairytales. There was always a bit of literary blood in the air at Lancing - ever since Evelyn Waugh went there (by accident.) Well done OLs, and for those of you as know, triumphales, o sodales...

Prince Philip and the UFOS: Philip Eade's launch of his biography

Prince Philip: ufologist

Daunts Holland Park is the launch party venue of choice these days, and there we flocked for Philip Eade's party for his biography of Prince Philip's early years (Philip's obviously a good name, isn't it? Ahem). We learned of the Royal consort's liking for ufos - apparently he calls in abductees to the palace and grills them, the royal presence being 'like truth serum'. (If only J K Rowling had known she wouldn't have had to bother with veritaserum, she could have just wheeled on the Duke of Edinburgh. I am seriously considering using this as a plot point in my next book.) There were gallons of champagne, although I didn't manage to snarf any canapés; and we discovered that the book has already shot into the Amazon Top 50. HRH himself didn't make an appearance (though one of his early girlfriends was present), but there were more than enough Philips there to make up the difference; this was before a saucer-like object landed on Holland Park Avenue and several grey men with large ears stepped out, demanding to be taken to our leader - or was that just the Duke's equerries? (NB this last bit may not be true).

Fame At Last!

Just a quick post: I was walking down Holland Park Avenue, and I saw a display in the window of Daunts. Edward St Aubyn's new novel, At Last, was piled up in the window. And printed on a card below it was an excerpt from my Telegraph review.... Anonymously, of course... Still it gave me a real thrill of secret pleasure to see it there. Somehow, it was much more satisfying than being quoted on the paperback of a book.

The Coincidence Engine by Sam Leith: Party

The literary great and good collected in Daunts Marylebone last night for the launch of Sam Leith (pictured)'s debut novel, The Continuum Transponder. I mean The Coincidence Engine. Attended by journos, hacks, a bearded Sebastian Faulks, and sundry other types wot have written books and so on (including Amanda Craig, Charles Cumming (so tall!), Louise Doughty, Lynn Barber and every literary editor the world has ever seen) the party went along rather swishingly. Sam's editor, Michael Fishwick, gave a speech in which he demonstrated how the idea for the book had come up over a lunch (those were the good old days); the book itself is about a man who invents a machine that can manipulate probability. If you had chained all the people in the room to typewriters for eternity I wonder what we would have produced? Sam's book has been chosen as a Waterstones Eleven debut, which is marvellous news. His new baby is also scheduled to be born on the same day as his book. I suggest 'Coincidenta' if a girl, 'Douglas' (after Adams / Coupland) if a boy. Congratulations to Mr Leith, his book, and his new family member.

A trailer for the book (dread practice, but now seemingly necessary) is below.

The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming: Party

Last night brought hordes and hordes of people to Daunts on Holland Park for the launch of Charles Cumming's new spy thriller, The Trinity Six. I've never seen so many people in the shop: at least one wine glass was broken (not that there are always wine glasses in Daunts, of course: it is a book shop, after all; one of the wine glasses might possibly have been broken by me, but I'm not confessing...) In attendance were Damian Lewis, Belinda Stewart-Wilson (who bought The Liberators! Which has been reprinted and has a weirdly shiny plasticky new cover about which I am weirdly excited!) and Dominic West, lending a thespian gloss to the affair; also sundry writers, including Liza Campbell and Raffaella Barker, with whom I spent a happy twenty minutes chatting, wedged into a corner behind the cookery books (so many cookery books!). Charles spoke charmingly, apparently having forgotten to bring his speech with him. The book looks marvellous - it's about the Cambridge Spies, and has apparently already been reprinted. It was an enormously amusing party, and it carried on round the corner for quite some time, and I managed not to break any more glasses. Click below to buy the book: there'll also be an interview with Mr C in this Saturday's Daily Telegraph, so look out for it.

Henry Underground and the Short Second Life of Stephanie Meyer

It's been quite a while. I have been caught up in the intermittent whirlwind that sometimes attends my existence: I have been riding bareback in Cornwall, dancing all night in Zurich, and attending myriad launch parties. One was for Ferdinand Mount's excellent new book, Full Circle: How the Classical World Came Back to Us , which took place in Daunt's in Marylebone. The book is a warm and wise account of how our supposedly modern mindsets are much closer to those of the ancients than we know.

There was also the private viewing of Henry Hudson's show, Crapula! I wrote a story for him, which was splendidly calligraphed and nailed to the wall (see picture) at the entrance next to a cast of Henry's head (which contains lots of human hair picked up on the underground, hence the title of the story, 'Henry Underground'.)

I have also had the misfortune (although some might disagree) of receiving an embargoed copy of Stephanie Meyer's new novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (Twilight Saga) (it's about four pages long, so that's pushing it). I am not a fan. I have always been a fan of vampires (although Lord knows why) and particularly enjoyed the recent film about Max Schreck, Shadow of the Vampire. But I think Meyer is just too inept a writer. Watch this space for a review.