Boyne Berries Launched

It's that 7.45 feeling. Everything ready. Magazine printed, looks good. Contributors invited. Write up in local press. 45 chairs waiting. But will anyone turn up?

No need to worry. By 8.20 we were bringing in extra chairs and in the end we must have had almost sixty in the audience. And what a great audience. I said something about it being a most sympathetic audience because everyone there was either a reader or connected to a reader by blood or love.

Paddy Smith, our chairperson, did his usual great job in welcoming everyone and making them feel at home. Our guest speaker, Michael Slavin, spoke about developments in communications illustrating his chat with personal experiences - being able to use a mobile phone to relay reports to RTE from Ballivor Horse Show rather than having to race down the village to the phone box was a milestone!

Then the readings. We had readers from Dublin, Louth and Cavan. Danielle McLaughlin came all the way from Cork to read her well-crafted story In the Shore Field which the audience loved. We were delighted to see Peter Goulding in the audience as well. He may have some comments on his blog later!

Our own writers did very well. Caroline Carey Finn, just back from a recording session at RTE for Sunday Miscellany, read her B is for Book and Jenny Andersson's Finding Heaven with its clever use of song titles went down very well.

Now I have to do the tidy-up work - post contributors' copies, get some into the shops, pay the hotel, update the website, relax.

You can purchase a copy of Boyne Berries 11 on the website. It's available in the Post Office and in Antonia's Bookshop, Trim. and in Michael Slavin's bookshop, Hill of Tara.