I’m heading to Bucharest next week for the launch of Sanctus at the Gaudeamus book fair.
This will be my ninth and last trip of the year and I’m really looking forward to it, for many reasons.
Firstly, I’ve never been to Romania even though it’s been on my visit wish list for years. Secondly, my Romanian publisher Allfa (who also publish Robert Harris) has done an absolutely amazing job of whipping up a storm of expectation so great that it’s even got me wanting to know what all the fuss is about.
The result of this is that for the past few weeks I’ve had almost daily posts on my facebook page showing all the various exciting publicity things from Romania, including this clearly very intelligent and discerning cat…
…and also this quite brilliant Do Not Disturb sign which pretty much says ‘go away, I’m reading Sanctus’. (I HAVE to get one of these so I can stick it on my office door and change the word ‘reading’ to ‘writing’.)
There’s even a competition where you can win dinner with me, which my wife said she might enter seeing as I’ve been away so much this year.
Stan, my five year old son, is convinced that I’m going to Transylvania and is both excited and fearful for me, instructing me that if I see a vampire I have to punch it in the willy (This is his standard defence against pretty much everything – including sharks).
This morning’s inbox delight was a link to a massive video screen in the heart of Bucharest (see bleow). The man in the shades is Andrei Gheorghe, who is very popular in Romania as the host of The Weakest Link and his own various chat shows. Apparently he’s a big fan of Sanctus, which naturally means I am now a big fan of his too and hope I’ll get to meet him when I’m there and shake his hand.
I’ll be there between 23rd and 27th November doing various signings and appearances (and obviously having dinner with someone at some point).
Pop along if you’re around. We can watch out for vampires together.
