A RATHER EXCITING WEEK!

A Rather Exciting Week!

The Peoples Book Prize 2014 is over. It used to be known as the Beryl Bainbridge Award and is designed to help showcase undiscovered authors and give them a platform as well as recognition.

Crooked Cat, my publisher, entered Leap of Faith in the Children's catagory and I suspected it might be lost with the other 199 books nominated in the same catagory. To my amazement it made the last 36, and then last week I heard it had made the final 12 and I was invited to go the the award black tie dinner in a Guild Hall in London.

In all, Crooked had 6 finalists covering all the different catagories and it was great to actually meet authors I only known through emails and Facebook before. The food was excellent, the wine flowed and with interviews on camera and photoshoots completed the award ceremony got underway. 

One by one the finalists were asked to rise and receive the applause of the diners.... after all we were all winners, no matter what the result. Then the envelope was opened and the winner announced.

I didn't win the glittering prizes, but after the emails and messages of congratulations I received from colleagues, friends, family, bookshop owners, other authors and book readers, I felt like a major winner. My thanks therefore to everyone who helped me get where I did by supporting me in word and deed.

Today I went up to London again. This time for the annual lunch with my publisher and fellow authors. Once again we had a great time and I realise at the end of this week how lucky I am to have such a great publisher as Crooked Cat, as well as such a great literary agent as Caleb Mason.

Tonight I'm going out for a drink with some friends and I'll raise my glass to all of you!
Cheers!

You can buy Leap of Faith on Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leap-Faith-Richard-Hardie/dp/1909841269/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401476254&sr=8-1

or at most good bookshop

Blog on, Dudes!