Coming soon, to a City of Literature near you

I'm honoured to be part of this year's Emerging Writers' Festival (note the apostrophe) as a "Living Library" on 4 June. That means you can book a fifteen minute one-on-one session to pick my brains on how to create characters.
Or you can quiz Paddy O'Reilly on structure and narrative (which I do over lunch on a regular basis).
Or:

• Criticism & reviewing: Geordie Williamson, literary critic
• Poetry & performance: Julian Fleetwood, poet & playwright
• Editing: Jo Case, editor
• Drafting & planning: Alan Bissett, novellist & screenwriter
• Creative collaborations: Warwick Holt, joke writer & freelancer
• Writing online: Simon Groth, If:Book director & digital writer
• Translation: Leah Gerber, academic specialising in literary translation
• Freelancing: Kevin Patrick, freelance writer.

What a line-up, and what a smart idea. You treat us like books you can borrow for fifteen minutes. Ask us anything. But please remember to return all books to the trolley.

And in my day job at the State Library, we're gearing up for the Reading Matters conference, with guests this year including Cassandra Clare, Lucy Christopher, Ursula Dubosarsky, Rebecca Stead, and Markus Zusak. Can't wait.