When I arrived at the hotel to check in, I had the surreal experience of seeing Philip Ardagh’s beard at the reception desk. (I think the man himself may have been there too, but that beard is impressive.)

As I walked through lobby, I saw Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. And that’s sort of when it hit me. I was in a hotel with other authors. Like, properly big, properly awesome authors I’ve admired and read and they were in the hotel with me, just living their awesome-author lives.

I’ll let you into a secret. Even though I’ve been published since February, it still doesn’t feel real. I feel exactly the same as the person who made the trip up to Edinburgh in 2011 to see Neil Gaiman, so standing there in the hotel, I felt awed to say the least.

I had a few hours to kill before my event, so I wandered over to the Authors’ Yurt, which is exactly as brilliant as it sounds, filled with exceptionally talented people, and endless amounts of coffee, cake, and tasty treats. The lovely folks on the door gave me a goody bag and my official name tag, and a couple of free tickets to give to my family.

As the event ticked nearer, I got the chance to meet Charlie Fletcher, who I’d be on stage with, and Susan Elsley, who was chairing the event. Then we all got mic’d up, and headed over to the theatre.