London and general exciting-ness

It's our final night in London, after two days of heat and rain and walking and meetings! I still can't quite believe that it has all happened. I met my editor at Random House yesterday afternoon. I arrived painfully early, and so spent a few minutes walking round and round the block until it was a respectable time. I dispelled any chance of appearing suave by staring at the building in awe, and then struggling with the complicated doors for a few minutes while the receptionist looked on in amusement. My editor met me in the lobby and took me for coffee in the Random House canteen, and we chatted about the book and how the pre-publication schedule is going to pan out over the next eighteen months. The cover design is one of the first things on the list! So exciting. When we had finished our coffee, she took me upstairs to meet the other members of the editorial team. It was fantastic - they were all so passionate and enthusiastic about the book.

When we had finished looking around the offices and meeting people, she took me to the impressive wall of bookshelves that spanned the entire room.
"Would you like some books?"
"Some ... you mean, some of these books?"
"Yes. Go on, take as many as you want."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Kid. Candy store. I didn't want to take too many, as:
a) I secretly believed that I was hallucinating and that a security guard would appear at my side as soon as I started rummaging
b) We're travelling, and I have to be careful with suitcase weight
... but I came away with a large stack anyway. I looked longingly at the new hardback A.S.Byatt.
"Go on, take it."
"I'd love to, but it's so heavy ..."
"Ah, fair enough." She scribbled herself a note. "I'll post it to you in New Zealand."
Honestly, I feel like I'm living in the book equivalent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the moment. This is what I have been working towards for my entire life, and I still can't quite believe it's real. Although it feels considerably more real after meeting everyone in person!

I wanted to celebrate, so spent this morning dragging poor LOML around Oxford and Regent Streets. I tried on a dress in French Connection that I've been lusting over for ages, but even at half-price it was still too expensive for me. I bought a hat, though!

I met with my agent this afternoon, as well as the lovely ladies who are handling my foreign rights and my film and television rights. It was so good to meet my agent - she has worked so hard to find a good home for the book, and with such a great result.

Tonight, LOML and I met the lovely Fleur, who is even more beautiful in person. I felt quite shy at first, but she was so nice that it wore off quickly. We had a lovely dinner, looked at photos of each other's cats and chatted. Towards the end of the evening it started to bucket down with rain, and we all got soaked (as you can see).

Look how pretty she is! She's so pretty. I'm still starstruck.

Thanks for all your comments and good wishes, as always! Sorry I can't reply to all of them at the moment; computer time is limited. I'll catch up eventually. Speaking of which, computer time is up and I feel like I haven't even begun to go into all the great things that have happened over the last two days. Expect more!