Support For Bookshops
One of the things I have missed most this year is bookshops. Because I've been shielding as far as I can, I haven't been into shops at all. Weekend pop-ins to our local bookshops, Heffers, Waterstones and Toppings is a regular family ritual and since getting published it's added a whole new level of excitement for me. Meeting and chatting with lovely booksellers, seeing my books displayed on tables and getting reviewed by them and signing copies has been such a thrill. And of course while I'm there it'd be rude not to try a few of their bookish delights!
I am dreaming of doing that again soon. But in the meantime I'm desperately aware that continued lockdowns mean bookshops are struggling. I want them to be there when all this is over. Because let's face it, bookshop browsing is the best.
Over the last couple of years, I've got to know more local bookshops through Twitter. They're not local to me so I can't just pop in. But I try to order through their on line services as a thank you not just for stocking my books, but because following their excited voices on Twitter is how I get most of my own book recommendations and find out what to read next. I'd be a bit lost without them.