Last night, after a tour of historic St James’s with Jane Odiwe and Monica Fairview…

I had the great privilege of meeting my US publisher, Sourcebooks, together with fellow authors for dinner at The Reform Club in Pall Mall.  This is the club famous as being the setting of the bet in Jules Verne’s book, Around the World in 80 Days.  We were in The Strangers Room in the company of Charles Dickens and WM Thackerary – their fine portraits staring down at us from the pannelled walls.

Here I am with authors Freya North and Erica James.

There was a lot of talk about books – how wonderful it is to write them but also how important it is for writers to get away from their fictional worlds once in a while and talk to real live people!

It was a lovely evening that ended all too quickly.  And now it’s back to my own fictional world.  The rewrites for Dreaming of Mr Darcy are almost complete and it will soon be time to start the next novel…