Last Wednesday I had one of the best days of my life – the official launch of Arthur and Me at Waterstones’ Aberystwyth. There was cake, squash and lots of books and I got to meet the fabulous Wendy Meddour, who is a fellow Dragonfly. Wendy was at the same school as me and has written a ton of books, including the fabulous ‘How the Library (not the Prince) saved Rapunzel’, which is a love letter to the fabulousness of books and libraries, and ‘The Hen in the Wardrobe’ which recently made the Guardian’s list of ‘Top 50 inclusive children’s books’. It was a real honour to share my launch day with her and her daughter, Mina May, who is one of the youngest professional illustrators in the world and supremely talented. Wendy is also utterly lovely. One of the best things about writing is meeting up with so many established writers who are happy to encourage and advise those of us who are new to this.
There was reading and I took Kenny, my very own Chicken of Doom along to meet everyone who had come to hear us read, and then we did a lot of signing. The things I learned from launch day are :
a) My handwriting is truly terrible.
b) I actually quite enjoy reading my work aloud, even though I was terrified to begin with.
c) Talking to children who love books is one of the best things to do EVER.
d) Always check the spelling of names – they can surprise you.
So Arthur is now out there in the wild. If you spot him, say hello.
Sarah Todd Taylor 