George and Anything Goes

Well, here's an old friend.

George the Jazz Man (at the back) used to supply the occasional disc to us. Recordings of his band Anything Goes. We still have a few. He's promised to drop in some time which is a shame - we probably owe him money.

Here he is with his band, belting it out at our village fete. As he says - 'A band to suit every possible occasion. Jazz, Blues, Swing, Dance. Any place - Any time.'

Check them out on www.AnythingGoes.biz

Wonder if they have a recording of Just In Time from the Broadway hit?

Justin Thyme Window

Shop shut at 6.30 but I wanted to get Justin Thyme out and about on this holiday weekend. A hasty window was the result. Thanks to the jewellers across the road( Howards of Moreton-in-Marsh) and Wild at Heart a few doors away for the wonderful props. They were so good that a group of visitors, a friendly bunch, (Mum and Dad from New Zealand) stopped to take photographs. Naturally, they went away having ordered a copy of Justin Thyme! Our total sales figure is now 282. Nutty Nina now wants us to aim high and go for 350!

The visitors also spotted some dice which I'd removed from our last window display so I sold five of those too. The toyshop will be pleased!

Notice the time on the large clock. It was set like that when Nina fetched it from Wild at Heart. The hands pointing exactly as those on the cover of the book. Wierd eh? Even weirder, the date was set at 15, just as on the book jacket. I changed it to 11 as that is the date of the signing.

Rebecca Tope signing.

We had a terrific signing when Rebecca Tope came to sign both her new hardback A Grave in the Cotswolds and the recently published paperback Fear in the Cotswolds. In the event, customers wanted books from her whole range and we were reduced to very small numbers in stock by the end of the afternoon.

We were delighted too, to meet her friend and fellow author Jan Margrave who brought along her soon to be released The Nine Lives of Kit Marlowe.

Thanks for coming both of you. Sorry that we were so busy we only had time for one cuppa.

Joining the Thyme Clan

Nina seems to be enjoying herself while I try to join the clan. No, not the Clu clux clan. The Thyme Family Clan.

Unfortunately it did not produce quite the effect that we wanted!

Justin Thyme arrives!

They've arrived! Delivered in the rain so we had to rush them out of their plastic wraps, one dozen at a time, and make sure they were all dry. However, we did make time for a quick snap of my evident pride and pleasure stood beside some of them.

Here's the rest, transferred upstairs and waiting for signatures and labels in two weeks time. That's when the work really starts! Boy, are we going to be busy and that include Panama Oxridge who will have over 300 copies to sign. ( Advance sales from across the UK and beyond stand at 272 !!!)

Katie and Des Fforde visit

Nina and I were delighted to greet surprise visiting authors, Katie Fforde and her husband Des. I was hugely embarrassed that my intention to order her latest had not been followed through and we didn't have a single one of her titles in the shop.

Katie's new hardback, A Perfect Proposal, is doing very well and we really will have it on our shelves in the next day or two - promise.

Des has put together a collection of seafaring stories containing pieces by Forrester, Monsarrat, Captain Marryat etc and profits will go to The Prostate Cancer Charity. If you want to know more about A Seaman's Book of Sea Stories go to http://www.accentpress.co.uk and click 'New Titles' We'll have the book in soon.

Des is an ex seaman and still looks the part.

Nice meeting you both. Perhaps we could organise a family signing with the pair of you and Jasper?

Lincolnshire Curly-coats

It would seem that our pig picture has upset two groups of people. We've had complaints from the farming community here that the Cumberland wooly-pigs which we showed here recently were, in fact, Lincolnshire curly-coats in disguise! I admit it. I was completely fooled.

Unfortunately, upsetting the second group of people was much more serious. A petition has been got up by a small but vociferous group of little old ladies who objected to the sight of the second pig, the one with her rear end pointing in the viewers direction (see earlier page). The had no fewer than three signatures after their own so we have decide to remove her altogether from the new photo.