I didn’t go, but I was there.

And not just in spirit.

Turns out my mug graced the inaugural issue of The Indie Author quarterly put out by the Alliance of Independent Authors, which debuted at this year’s London Book Fair.

I took the selfie last year from a balcony overlooking the madness that was the 2017 London Book Fair. Pale, bleary-eyed and in the throes of a monstrous flu (which would later, incidentally, be nicknamed – not by me – the ‘Aussie Flu’ as it mercilessly punished those unlucky enough to contract it during the European winter), I snapped my milestone moment – me at one of the biggest book fairs in the world.

It was quite a rush!

So when my fellow ALLies asked me if I had any pictures they could use, I gave them a few happy snaps of stands, book towers and fellow writers, not dreaming for a moment I’d be making my own cameo on the cover. If only I could have made it in the flesh!

I would have loved to have rubbed shoulders with the ALLi tribe at their flashy new stand, admired the books of friends, and seen my mate Anita Chapman pitch her novel  to agents at the nerve-wracking The Write Stuff session at Author HQ.

But as I didn’t, I have been enjoying the experiences of friends and fellow authors through social media.

Perhaps I’ll make it next year!