Book Launch for Entangled by Cat Clarke - 20th January 2011

I first heard about Entangled when I met Cat at the London YA blogger meet up last May so it felt like I had to wait a long time before I finally got to read it.  When I finally did get my hands on a copy I absolutely loved it (you can read my review here) so I was over the moon to be invited to the launch party arranged by Quercus to celebrate the Entangled release.

I went up to London early on the day to meet up with Liz (My Favorite Books) and Becky (The Bookette) and was lucky enough to be invited to lunch with them and Nina from Orion.  We went to a lovely Italian restaurant (please don't ask me to tell you where it was as I'm sure I'd never find it again) and while we were all filling up on delicious food Nina was telling us about all of the exciting books they have coming this year.  I can tell you now Orion have a lot of exciting looking books coming out but the ones that I'm particularly excited about are My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher, The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence, An Act of Love by Alan Gibbons and Soul Beach by Kate Harrison.  We also got given an ARC of The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish which sounds like a terrifying ghost story that I'm going to need to read in the daylight!  Those are definitely some to watch out for in the next few months and if you'd like more information you can check out the Orion website.  I'd like to say a massive thank you to Nina for a lovely lunch and all the exciting book news.

After lunch Becky had to head home as unfortunately she couldn't make it to Cat's launch party but it was nice to get to see her for a bit.  Liz and I found a Starbucks near Charing Cross and had fun nattering about books while we waited for Carly (Writing from the Tub) to arrive.  I have to confess I'd been a bit nervous about the journey to Hampstead Heath for the launch as it looked like a nightmare journey on the underground but luckily Nina had given us some decent instructions so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as we were expecting.

Entangled Cupcakes!

The launch was hosted by Daunt Books and we made it with plenty of time actually being some of the first to arrive.  Niamh greeted us and we spent some time admiring the cupcake tower and taking pictures of the books.  Caroline (Portrait of a Woman) arrived not long after we did and have fun posting a couple of live tweets about the event for those who hadn't been able to make it.

Caroline & Carly live tweeting

Carly with the cupcakes

It didn't take long before the room had really started filling up, I don't think we could have fitted in many more people and it was lovely to see such a great turn out to support Cat.  It was great to see author Kaz Mahoney and bloggers Lauren (I Was a Teenage Book Geek), Andy (Pewter Wolf) and Sya (Mountains of Instead).  I hadn't met Sya before and she'd travelled all the way down from Scotland for the launch, it was great to meet you Sya!

Andy, Sya, Lauren & Carly

Caroline & Kaz

Me & Caroline

Cat arrived to a massive, well deserved applause and I think she was quite overwhelmed by the number of people there.  She gave a lovely speech about becoming a published author and then spent time mingling with the crowd and of course signing books for everyone.  It was lovely to see you again Cat (and a nice surprise to see you without a hat on lol!)

Cat giving her speech

Cat getting ready to sign my book

My signed copy

Alongside Cat & Kaz there were a few other authors present, we spotted Michelle Harrison but I was a bit too nervous to go and say hello and I didn't realise until afterwards that Tamsyn Murry was also there.  Perhaps next time I'll pluck up the courage to talk to them!  There was also a special surprise guest who'd come all the way from Sweden - the cover model.  She looked just as pretty in real life but unfortunately I didn't manage to get a picture of her.

It was a great event & I'd like to say thanks to Quercus for inviting me and thanks to Daunt Books for hosting it.  Massive congratulations to Cat on the publication of her debut novel - if you haven't already got your copy of Entangled what are you waiting for?  If you'd like to check out the rest of the pictures I took you can find them all online in this album.

Who was there?

Cat Clarke - Website - Blog - Event Report

Niamh from Quercus - Website - Event Report

Liz - My Favorite Books

Carly - Writing from the Tub

Caroline - Portrait of a Woman

Lauren - I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Andy - Pewter Wolf - Event Report

Sya - Mountains of Instead

Kaz Mahoney - Website - Blog