In conversation with Louis Nowra

I wanted to share with you just some of the pictures taken on Tuesday evening, 4 July, at Gleebooks, which is a large, independent bookstore in Sydney, nor far from the University of Sydney.

It was one of those "in conversation" events where authors get interviewed - in front of a live audience! - about their work. In this case, I was invited to speak about Child of the Revolution: Growing up in Castro's Cuba, with Louis Nowra, the famous Australian author and playwright. My first such experience, too.

Was I nervous? You bet. But I can report that despite my initial reservations, the evening was sold out. Standing room only! And while quite a few friends and family did turn up (many, many thank yous!), there were plenty of people there whom I didn't know. I was very happy to see them, I can assure you, especially on what turned out to be a cold and windy Sydney winter's night.

Louis Nowra was fantastic. I have been a fan of his for years but we had never met before, although we did exchange some emails prior to Tuesday night. He had obviously read the book and came well prepared. On top of his game, as they say in the world of sports. My new best friend Louis was what you'd expect from an author of his calibre: witty, quick with the comebacks, and very, very generous with his remarks about and praise for the book. I was stoked.

I will post more about the night in the next day or so - and more about the great publicity treadmill that accompanies the publication of a book nowadays. It's been a steep learning curve but very enjoyable.

These pictures, by the way, were taken by my friend Billy Grossmann. Thank you, Mr G.