Nervous anticipation bubbled in my stomach. Nicely mixed with the bran flakes and strong cup of tea I’d had for breakfast. The day had arrived for Darlington Libraries Library Takeover Day and yours truly had a coveted spot in the Adult Author Tent.
A few cotton wool clouds scuttled across a blue sky. Had summer finally arrived in North East England? Apparently so. Fingers crossed for a great turnout. Who wouldn’t want free school holiday activities to keep their youngsters entertained.
And then the decision on what to wear. Erring on the side of caution I’d adopted a layering tactic. I operate in a very narrow bandwidth where the temperature is just right. I’m usually too cold and occasionally too hot. With the sun peeking out I took the bold step to expose the bottom of my legs to the elements.
My slot was noon till one. I’d packed provisions. Nobody wants to scream over the top of an author’s roaring tummy as it demands to be satisfied.
Books – tick; Merchandise – tick; Packed lunch – tick; Excited author – tick. Time to rock and roll
Heading down the A1 it struck me I’d passed the Darlington signs countless times but had only ever visited the place three times. Once to sit a Postgraduate Diploma Marketing exam over twenty years ago with a hazy memory of tree-lined streets. And the other two times marked the start and end of a ten-month far-flung adventure around New Zealand and Australia. But today I’d get the chance to explore and with an often hopeless sense of direction, I was likely to see much more of Darlington than I intended.
Not wanting to be late I arrived in bags of time. Hooray, the sat-nav had done me proud and I arrived at my destination as cool as a cucumber. In fact, far cooler than I expected with a few rain showers having already kept the windscreen wipers busy. Donning a cardie, scarf and coat I sallied forth with my case of Greek island delights and arrived at the lovely Outdoor Market Square.
I perched on a bench, munched on a banana and people watched. A brilliant storyteller was actively retelling Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo along with a colourfully clothed stilt walker and bubble creating gentleman to keep plenty of kids enthralled. With a bit of time to spare I pottered around the fringes of the square with its historic buildings and then I was up.
Take a seat in the tent
After exchanging a brief hello and goodbye with departing adult author Joan Young, I set out my stall. Next to me was the wonderful children’s author Caroline Hardie whose Little Loco’s Big Day book captures the launch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway almost 200 years ago. We chatted and even had a sing and a boogie as various children’s troupes sang, danced on stage and got the crowd going. They were all fantastic.
The square was quickly filling up (the face-painting queue never went down the whole time I was there) and as the sun made an appearance, I chatted to lots of lovely friendly folk. There was a lady originally from Seaton Sluice (only a few miles from where I grew up) and we happily compared notes on many childhood days spent at iconic St Mary’s island. There was the gentleman who’d holidayed on Lefkada (where my novels are set) and we chatted about the beautiful Greek island as his young son carefully practised his writing and drew pictures on the free Apokeri Bay postcards I was handing out.
I also met a future best-selling author, he told me that although he was too young to write a book yet, his mam jots down all his stories. I think that boy will go far. And of course, all the fantastic Darlington Libraries team who should be so proud of themselves for pulling off a brilliant fun-filled family day.
All too soon my hour slot was up, and I handed over to the highly talented Gillian Jackson, crime and women’s fiction author. Her latest novel is The Dead Husband and her very much alive husband strolled over to the table. Tongue-in-cheek informed Caroline and I that he was penning a novel entitled The Dead Wife.
Time to say goodbye. But not yet. Not yet.
I couldn’t leave Darlington without visiting their wonderful library. It really is a beautiful building and a wonderful setting to enjoy books. It also just happens to stock Apokeri Bay. It’s on a shelf, patiently waiting to transport a Darlington reader to a Greek fishing village full of secrets.
Thank you, Darlington Libraries. It is humbling that you invited me to your fabulous Library Takeover Day. It was so much fun. A grand Darlington Libraries Day Out.
Cherish our libraries, they are a gift
North East libraries are so supportive of local authors and in return I want to shout about the wonderful work they do. I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it – libraries are such an important part in our communities. They offer so much more than lending books. If you haven’t already, I urge you to take a look at what your local libraries have to offer. You may be surprised at how much there is to do, especially for kids over the school holidays.