The Manchester Deansgate Waterstones is always a fantastic place to read, and many years ago I was half of a double-bill with the great Robert Stone. His novel Damascus Gate was published in the UK at about the same time, in 1998, as my novel Damascus. His book is set in Jerusalem and mine has nothing to do with the Middle East. He was a revered American novelist and I … I was not. It seems fairly certain that someone in the shop had mixed up one Damascus with another, and we ended up in the same shop in Manchester on the same midweek night. Everyone was very polite and pretended it wasn’t a mistake, including Robert Stone, who drank the Deansgate whiskey and grumbled wise sayings into his beard as befitted a great American novelist. We probably ended up with an unusually interesting discussion, thanks to the graciousness of everyone involved.
Anyway, I’m back on the 20th June, and this time no mix-up. The shop says:
“Waterstones Deansgate are thrilled to welcome Richard Beard and Cathy Rentzenbrink to Manchester to celebrate the publications of their new non-fiction books, The Day That Went Missing and A Manual For Heartache. Join Richard and Cathy in conversation, before they answer questions from the audience and sign copies of their books.”
More info and tickets here.