Get Writing 2011

I thought I'd tell you about the Get Writing conference which was held yesterday at the de Havilland Campus of the University of Hertfordshire. Great for me because the novel I was pitching was called Gipsy Moth (built by this aircraft company!).
I was very nervous. Firstly because I didn't know anybody there and secondly because I was going to pitch my novel. However, I needn't have worried because everybody was very friendly from enthusiastic new writers like Lucie Wheeler and the lovely Fran from Germany who made sure that I didn't leave my handbag behind in the lecture theatre (!), to the writing professionals like Jean Fullerton, Sue Moorcroft and Sarah Duncan.
Waiting for the pitch was the worst bit. I think it would have been better to hold the pitches in the morning instead of the afternoon, so everyone could relax over lunch. As it was, I didn't dare have my glass of Merlot, in case it would impair my performance (!) and had to wait until I got home.
Walking up the two flights of concrete stairs to the scary room 208 was, well, scary. However, Simon Taylor wasn't, and the five minutes passed very quickly and I was soon walking back down the stairs relieved it was all over.
The title of the conference was Get Writing, and think that the organisers, the Verulam Writers' Circle, did everything to make sure that we did.