Back in the days before I was blogging I used to work in the heady world of publishing. My most recent publishing job was in marketing for a commercial publisher which meant working on campaigns for bestselling authors fabulous works of fiction as well as celebrity autobiographies. Working in publishing was very exciting as you never knew who would be turning up in the office, Steve Redgrave, Lorraine Kelly, Jo Brand, Denise Van Outen, James Cracknell and the huge bestseller, Martina Cole were just a few of the big names that casually walked through the doors.
One of the best bits of working in publishing was the launch parties, basically a chance to interact and have a few drinks with these fabulous famous authors in very cool venues. I’ve been out of the publishing world for years now and I miss those parties! But I was very excited when my lovely friend Tori invited me along to the launch of a book written by her father.
The launch took place in Daunts Bookshop in Holland Park, a beautiful place with gorgeous oak galleries holding a selection of literary fiction, non-fiction and travel books.
Tonight No Immunity by Alan Hunt was the star!
No Immunity is a gripping diplomatic thriller; starting with a murder of a British ambassador in Buenos Aires the story follows Adam White, Assistant Head of Security in the Foreign Office, as he searches for the truth behind motivation the murder. The trail takes Adam on a hunt through Argentina and Chile and back to London with many twists and turns along the way.
Alan Hunt tells the story with a highly authentic voice as he is a former British diplomat who has served in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and East Asia. As you can imagine Tori has had some fantastic opportunities to see the world owing to her’s dad’s role.
Drinks and nibbles were served in the gorgeous environment of Daunts as I caught up with Tori and a few other old publishing friends. My friend, Jon Slack, has achieved fantastic success first with the South Asian Literary Festival and, subsequently, the Australia and New Zealand Festival of Literature and Arts. Watch this space as Jon and his team are currently gearing up for even bigger and better celebration of the Antipodean arts in 2015.
Beside the usual bottles of red and white wine served at book launch parties there was also a brand new beer being served, produced by a good family friend.
The Gipsy Hill Brewing Company specialise in making beers below 4.5% so that they very drinkable by the pint. Gipsy Hill are having a launch party this Saturday so head down the brewery for a DJ, fun and games and beer tasters.
It was great putting on my publishing hat again for the night and seeing some of my old publishing friends. Alan Hunt is planning a sequel to No Immunity so hopefully there will also be a second launch party 😉
