Authors for Dinner

Now I remember why we do author dinners. It was worth getting soaked as I cut the spinach from the allotment, still just tender enough despite the snows, and why I ran, head down against the driving rain to Bill's for the best mixed leaves in town - only to find that they'd run out. I must have looked as crestfallen as I was drenched because someone was despatched to the kitchen to get me my leaves. Heaven is a kitchen on a Saurday afternoon, and with the organic beef from Colbrans slow cooking in red wine and roots all day and infusing the house with the smell of Sussex, I almost forgot about the guests.

It's been a few months since the last author dinner, but the words spilled along with the wine, and jaws dropped as beautiful thoughts and imaginary characters became as real as the guests who created them. Vanessa Gebbie was as practical as she was inspiring, mixing top tips with the alchemy of imagination, practice and confidence, and the smiles broadened as the evening eased into night.

Look out for Michael Gould's 'Filfy O'Durr' (http://www.filfyodurr.co.uk/), and thanks Vanessa for kicking off the winter season with a wonderful feast of ideas for our little community of writers.