When I first read about the
Wigtown, also known as 'book town,' is situated on a picturesque promontory in Scotland jutting out towards Ireland and boasts no less than six book shops, which is reason enough to visit. Then there is the author line up, which this year includes well-known fiction writers Maggie O'Farrell, Julie Myerson and former GMTV newsreader-turned-novelist Penny Smith.
I'll also be there giving a talk, Toute Allure, on Saturday 1st October at 1.30pm
The festival programme is very eclectic and this year includes author walks and mountain biking.
Sadly, I'll miss the Hendricks Gin festival launch party on Friday 23rd but the festival director assures me that if no-one shows up for my event - sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that I will be talking at precisely the time most sensible people will be in the pub having lunch - he will have a bottle of Hendricks on hand and we can have a nice G&T.
Wigtown Ink meanwhile, is a festival within the festival, with a programme of events 'for writers by writers.' On Sunday 2nds October at 12.15, I'll also be joining journalist and author Stephen Armstrong to talk about the black arts of freelance writing for newspapers.
Two years ago I hung up my high heels, put the Prada handbags into storage and left behind my fashionable West London life to renovate an old village house in rural France. Et voila. This blog is about what happened next....
Next year why not investigate the possibility of attending the Hay Book Festival (Hay on Wye, borders of Herefordshire/Wales) Hay has more book shops than you can count (well almost ) and the festival is a great couple of weeks in the summer, very well supported by numerous famous authors.