My new book The Handbag and Wellies Yoga Club was launched on August 6th. It’s the story of my journey from a singleton’s life of late night ready meals for one in a tiny London flat to a wedding breakfast in the garden of a Norfolk farmhouse. It’s about the search for the things that really matter to us as women – love, friendship and the quest for a family of one’s own – and what happens when life doesn’t go according to plan.

Here is the Norwich department store Jarrold’s window display – I couldn’t resist taking a picture!

I don’t think any writer ever gets over the thrill of seeing their work in a bookshop. I came over all giddy – like a child at Christmas.

The red stickers are for a competition to win a private yoga class with yoga goddess Claire Missingham. You can find details on my website.

Jarrold’s Carole Slaughter and Mike Butler invited me to hold my launch party in their beautiful pantry (bigger than it sounds!) More than a hundred people came including guest of honour Father Antony Sutch who bought three copies!

Father Antony not only featured the new book in his parish newsletter but actually plugged it from the pulpit – I was going to put him forward for an award for the newest and most innovative use of publicity until I realised that this was the oldest form of publicity available in the world today... it’s just that its normally reserved for God’s own personal use! This form of publicity certainly hasn’t done sales of the Bible any harm!

Next stop was a slot on Radio Norfolk and two hours in a sound proofed booth in which I spoke to ten radio stations in the space of ninety minutes! If it’s 9.40 it must be Radio Cambridge!

I will be on Radio Suffolk on the 8th September around 3pm. I will be sitting on their big white sofa chatting to the lovely Lesley for an hour. I have Lee Mason the manager of Becces Bookthrift to thank for that introduction. He booked the Waveney Centre with its views out over the River Waveney for the Beccles launch – it was the hottest day of the year and everyone stood outside in the beautiful garden soaking up the evening sun before I launched into my talk.

After Beccles I went to London to launch the book at Clifton Interiors. Here I am with Rosie Winston the owner of Clifton, Sarah Bennie - the undisputed Queen of Publicity and Caroline Craig, her amazing assistant.

Rosie Winston allowed us to crowd her space with writers, singers, artists and a lot of Pinot Grigio. She has always worked so hard promoting my books I sometimes wonder if she should have been a PR guru – she might’ve been better at being Lynne Franks than Lynne Franks. I can see her now, her bejewelled Birkenstocks tucked beneath a glass desk piled with the latest issue of PR Week, on the phone to an ageing rock star about a Save the Planet concert, effortlessly persuading him to waive all his fees & bring his mates George Michael and Elton John.

Sarah Bennie is one of the loveliest people I know – in fact I have it on the authority of an old school friend that she was voted ‘loveliest person’ at school – and she remains so to this day. She is also generous, kind and endlessly enthusiastic. Caroline and Katie Johnson worked tirelessly to create a very Web 2.0 launch – complete with Twitters, Facebook and blog reviewers – alongside more traditional scoops in the Daily Mail and the Sun (- as you might’ve guessed I was on page forty not page three).

Then it was on to meet the lovely ladies of the New Leaf group at Reepham library. Reepham (pronounced Reefham) is a pretty village in mid Norfolk, the library is tiny and only open at selected times but its run with great enthusiasm by Brigitte Morton. She is the lady on the far right of the picture. She organised the event and gave me another long reading list – all available at Norfolk libraries - to help me with my next book.

The woman in the middle (wearing the blue jacket) is Janet Ellis. She had just heard that morning that she had been accepted onto the University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing course and when she sent me her poems I could see why – she has enormous talent. I look forward to telling you that she has a publishing deal in the not too distant future.

The last stop was a day trip to Lancaster – a round trip of 600 miles. I had been invited by Penny Bullock who is a self confessed geek! Her greatest love is science fiction and she gave me a reading list to get me started – she recommended I am Legend as a good place for a sci fi novice to start. So, if you see a book set in a futuristic yoga community you have her to blame! She was a fantastic host, making me endless cups of tea and serving up homemade vegan chocolate cupcakes – yum!

The majority of the publicity is done now – so its time to concentrate on what comes next. I am working on a few ideas. One is fiction and I have two non fiction ideas. They are all at that rather delicate stage at the moment so I don’t want to say too much – just think of them as seedlings, I am watering them and looking closely to see if they will grow! Billa the cat will continue to be my muse. Here she is asleep on my desk!

Om shanti and all that!

Lucy x