24 Hours In Tassie

I’ve just had a fast and flying trip to beautiful Hobart as part of my Trip of a Lifetime book tour. It always feels special to be back in Tasmania – Hobart is where I wrote my first short stories and also my first book, A Taste for It, while living there from 1996-1999. I posted the manuscript for A Taste for It from the North Hobart Post Office, entering it in a Write a Bestseller competition in Ireland, which was the starting point of my writing/published life. (I came runner-up.)

Yesterday I made quick photo-visits to the post office and also my old house in North Hobart, followed by visits to all the Hobart bookshops, the ABC for two interviews and then on to an event that felt more like a great big party, hosted by my old and dear friends, Janet and Christopher, of the Hobart Bookshop.

My warmest thanks to everyone who came along, including my Tasmanian writer friends Rachael Treasure and Katherine Scholes. (Special thanks to Bianca Considine who travelled for two and a half hours with her gorgeous five-week-old son Alfie). Thanks too to Jacq, Amy and all at Dymocks Hobart; Clive, Jo and Adam at Fullers Bookshop (with thanks for their brilliant window display too), and to Kate at the State Cinema bookshop. And a very big thanks to my dear friend, Penguin Random House state manager Debbie McGowan, for looking after me & my books, and my publicist Chloe, so beautifully all day.

PS I was sorry not to get up to Launceston this trip, but did sign plenty of copies of The Trip of a Lifetime (in the back of Debbie’s car!) – they’ll be available in bookshops there soon.