Apart from the lure of a decent sized slab of chocolate cake, there are other known and potential benefits. This afternoon I met with a friend from my MA days. Our venue was a fairly recently established tearoom, tastefully decorated in cream colours and with a bright, spacious feel to it. A. and I had months of catching up to do, topics including progress in the final stages of her PhD, editing of my current novel, our respective children, how important it is for writers to energise each other simply by discussing the writing process, our plans for the summer. The cake, washed down with elderflower cordial, lived up to expectations. As did our rendezvous.
When A. was leaving, I stumbled upon someone I'd known years ago. R. and I sat down for a few moments to do an even shorter catch up, covering a significantly longer time. It emerged that not only was the café owner a friend of R's, but that she was running a creative writing workshop at the venue. I was introduced to her - until then, I'd viewed her as simply the welcoming and pleasant waitress/possibly owner of the tearoom. She admitted to having overheard some of the conversation between A. and me, and wanting to ask if we were writers. The upshot was that she has invited me to speak at their July meeting, and in the meantime, to drop off some copies of my novel, which the group will then read and discuss. The coffee and chat were great; this new contact was even greater.
On the way home, the little internal devil reminded me - for the millionth time - that self-promotion isn't a 'nice' thing to do. I told him to b----- off, and he did.
Jane
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