I was invited, along with lots of other bloggers, to attend a presentation/party at Headline. I was thrilled, to say the least. So, just to warn you this post is going to be of a gushing nature. It will also be very long, but please bare with me.
When I arrived in London I met up with Jenny (Wondrous Reads) and Carla (The Crooked Shelf) *who are absolutely adorable and so much fun*. As I came in on the underground and they both came into the main station, which are 200m apart, unknown to us, we spent 15 minutes trying to find each other. Eventually we did and realised we had no idea how to get to Headline HQ, so out came my trusty iPhone and maps app. It did a great job and got us there in one piece – it was like a little mini adventure 
We then bumped into Amanda (Floor to Ceiling Books), author Alex Bell and Sophie (So Many Books, So Little Time) and as we had all arrived an hour early we settled down at E.A.T. and had coffee and chatted about… yes, you’ve guested it, Books!
Headline HQ is very swish. I must say I was a little nervous as we headed on up to the 16th floor. But once inside and after meeting all the publicists who were warm and friendly, just like their emails, all my nerves went away. We were given little name tags along with our blog names (otherwise we wouldn’t have recognised each other!) and was handed a lovely big canvas bag with catalogues, pencils, bookmarks etc, but was then bowled over when Caitlin (head of publicity) said the most wonderful words: “here’s your canvas bag, now go fill it up”
As you can imagine this was an ‘OMG!!!!!!” moment, but I didn’t waste a minute and managed to fit 7 books into my bag in about three seconds flat! There were many others, which I didn’t take as they weren’t in the genres I read, but I think 7 is pretty amazing! So, these are the books I managed to stuff in my bag with growing glee:
I then spent some time talking to a few bloggers before the presentation: Dot (Dot Scribbles) who is just lovely and a brief hello to Gav (Next Read), Liz (My Favourite Books), Becky (The Bookette), Jo (Once Upon A Bookcase) and Rhys (Thirst for Fiction).
I also met the lovely publicists and editors I have been emailing for the past eight months and they are all so lovely. They had also put on a wonderful spread of cakes and treats, which was just yummy – so thank you ladies! 
We all then watched a twenty minute presentation of the books Headline will be releasing throughout the coming months. I wish I was a little more savvy about these events as I wish now that I had written some of the books down so I could tell you about them but unfortunately I didn’t. But let’s just say I can’t wait for the new zombie book coming from the legendary George Romero and a young adult novel called Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw. There’s also exciting news about Glee!
After the presentation there was some time to meet the authors before we were put into teams for the quiz. Meeting Paul Magrs was *amazing* – I was a total fan-girl!! I had initially thought that we would have a lovely intellient conversation, but my mind went totally blank and all I kept saying was “so great to meet you, I love your books!” Luckily, Jenny was also talking to him about his new YA novel, A DIARY OF A DR WHO ADDICT and so I don’t think he noticed *well, I hope not* Paul was a lovely guy and I’m so pleased to have met him. His words “I stop by your blog everyday” have been burnt into my brain and will never be forgotten *squeals with delight and pride* 
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Me & Paul Magrs
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Me, Paul Magrs & Jenny
Another fabulous author I met was Carole Matthews. Although I don’t read a lot of chick-lit now and have never read a book by her, it was still wonderful to meet her. She really is a lovely lady and we chatted for a good twenty minutes or so about books and blogging. I was also a member of Carole’s quiz team (we came second!).
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Dot, Me, Amanda & Carole Matthews
After reading I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, I was dying *sorry for pun* to meet Dan Wells. This book is just so good and I can’t wait to read the second book in the series, MR MONSTER. Dan was a real cool American and completely delightful. *Loved* his accent and his marvelous hat! This was another author that I had a list of questions for, but again my crap girlie fangirl brain went blank and I just ended up saying “I loved your book”, again…. *shakes head at disgust at oneself* He was at World Horror Con this weekend so I hope I gave a better impression and showed that I do have some intelligent things to say….ahem. Dan was also kind enough to sign MR MONSTER for me!
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I also had a quick chat to the completely mad but very funny Sean Cregan, who’s new novel THE LEVELS (of which I have had my eye on for some time now) is out now. We chatted about his book and he had me laughing for most of it. A really great guy who I hope to meet again in the future. He also signed my book for me!
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Me & Sean Cregan
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After the event a few of us went to the pub for a drink where we chatted for a while longer. I slipped away about 8:30 but heard that Amanda and Alex didn’t get in until 3am (dirty stop-outs!)
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Jo, Carla, Jenny & Me
This was a really great event. Thank you to Maura, Sam, Caitlin, Helena and Rosie, I had a fab time. Thank you so much for inviting me and I hope to meet you all again very soon!
20 Comments
hahaha Dan mentioned he'd taken to apologising in advance for the cat.
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Wow! Filling your canvas bag?! How great is that?
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It was such a great day! I finihsed Mr Monster yesterday and loved it!!
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It was such a great afternoon and it was lovely to meet you. Hopefully Headline will hold another one of these soon!
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Hagelrat – He said "do you like cats?" and I said "I love them" He then chuckled – I can't wait to read MR MONSTER, but I must say I'm now wondering what horrors I am going to come across regarding the cat!
Ines – I know!!!! I was totally stunned – but didn't have any trouble filling up my bag LOL
Dot – It was a great day and it really was lovely to meet you. I hope we get to do it again soon too!
So Many Books – You too, just a shame I didn't get time to chat to you properly! Here's hoping we will bump into each other again at another event soon!
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Oh wow – thanks for sharing the details – I loved reading about this. SO FUN!
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I love you Carolyn!!
Let's meet up soon and go to Foyles!
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Thats sooo cool!!!
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Great pictures! You look fab fab!
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Wow! What an event! Looks like you had a great time!! How fun!
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Sheila – I love reading these kinds of posts too – and it was *a lot* of fun
Jenny – Aw thanks *blushes* We should create a 'Foyles Fan Club' we love it so much! LOL Next time you're down this way text me so we can arrange to meet
Gaby – I know – too cool, loved it!
Juju – Thanks!
Mary – Had a blast. Everyone was just so nice!
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It was an awesome afternoon. The Headline offices are so swanky and 21st century, aren't they? Lovely to meet you even though we didn't get a chance to chat.
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Sounds like fun! I've been wanting to read Johannes Cabal the Necromancer and so, am quite jealous you have a copy.
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This sounded like SO much fun! Glad you enjoyed yourself. I can't imagine someone handing me a bag and tell me to fill it. Oh the joy!
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
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All of you look so happy! Glad it turned out to be a great experience for you.
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Thanks for sharing your day. What fun! Enjoy your bag of goodies
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Becky – It was nice to meet you too!
Erika – It was fun and I've hear really good things about Necromancer so have bumped it up my To Read list
Melissa – And it was joyful! I was totally stunned, but didn't waste time and managed to stuff my bag full of books pretty quickly. So generous of them – lots of yummy food too. Had a blast!
Donna – It was a really great experience. I had never been to anything like that before so was all very new to me, but had a wonderful time
Mama – you're welcome and I certainly will enjoy my bag of goodies – I keep looking at the books now and wish I could read them all, but alas… can only read one book at a time
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Great report, Carolyn! It was such a great event, wasn't it?
And Dan Wells was just so, so cool! It was great meeting you!
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Completely mad?! I… no, I really can't offer any kind of defence to that.
Glad you enjoyed the event, Carolyn, and it was good meeting you. I stuck it out in the pub till closing time, staggered onto the last train home to get in at nearly 3am, and spent all the next day hungover. Great stuff!
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Jo – thanks, it was a great event and it was nice to meet you too
Sean – thanks for stopping by! It was meant in a nice way, honest
It seems many of you staggered home that night LOL I'm glad I didn't I hate hangovers! It was lovely to meet you, hope to read your book soon – thanks for signing it, makes me laugh everytime I read it 
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