The launch was a great success – I couldn’t fault it if I wanted to. It was great to see so many of my friends there, including some I’d not seen in years. My folks stole the show, naturally, as they should. Marsha Hunt was spectacularly right for the occasion, funny and warm and perceptive, and she managed to break the tension in a very formal space. Declan Lynch and I both read from our books and got some laughs. No awkward moments, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, a really good crowd, Waterstones busy selling books in the corner, good wine and delicious food. A class act. Then drinks in the pub with my friends, then dinner with the Hot Press gang at a really nice restaurant called town on Kildare St. Then home on the Luas.
I could do more nights like that. Everyone in good spirits – yes, indeed, dare I say it, the word was bonhomie.