The Inaugural A.B.T-H Meet
Hayes, Middlesex
In June 2000 members of the Usenet Newsgroup alt.books.tom-holt met up in a pub in Hayes, Middlesex (to the west of London) The gathering was graced with the presence of Mr Holt himself, and a fine time was apparently had by all!
There now follows MY version of what happened (which is remarkably similar to others already posted on both a.b.t-h and on various webpages) complete with a selection of pictures taken at the event.
I
wended my way to Hayes Rail station, (which was easier than I had expected!),
and, on passing through the main entrance, started to wiat for a bus to
take me to the venue for the evening's activities. Whilst waiting,
I noticed a careworn cove. looking up and down the road; either he was
waiting for a bus too, or he was practising for some strange sport.
I gave him a passing glance and then proceeded to study the bus timetable
intently (my parents had always told me to beware of careworn coves, and
I nearly always do as my parents tell me). Looking up from the timetable,
I noticed that the cove had a white translucent carrier bag; looking carefully
I could make out some books with the typical Tom Holt covers upon them.
"A-Ha [1]", I thought, "perhaps this cove is heading for the same place
I am." I approached him. "Are you going to the Tom Holt 'do'?"
I enquired. "Yes, I am" came the reply. "Oh good," I
rejoindered. "We can go together." I put out my hand.
"I'm Paul Bines" I offered. "I'm Tom Holt" said he with a smile,
taking my hand and shaking it warmly.
Well,
I had a good excuse; my eyesight IS pretty bad, I hadn't seen Tom in person
since the "My Hero" signing session at Forbidden Planet, London, and he's
changed a little bit since the picture that graces his books was taken!
Anyway,
after a brief chat, whilst we waited for a bus, I had the brainwave of
calling the pub to see if anyone was there; luckily Melody and hubby Stephen
were present and Stephen kindly came out to pick us up.
Including
Tom there were 9 of us present and we all got down to some serious chatting
and question asking. Tom was obviously tired (he confided to me whilst
we were at the station that he had had a very busy day!), but he joined
in with the conversation and answered such questions as were aimed at him
with good grace!
Pretty
soon thoughts turned to the subject of food and, after discovering that
the pub grub option was off (the kitchen had closed), we opted for an Indian.
Alas, both restaurants we tried were full up (I suspect there was a certain
amount of not wanting to deal with such a large group!) and we finally
found a very nice Chinese restaurant (which was practically empty)
Menus were dished out, drinks were ordered and conversation continued to
flow. Someone (I forget who) asked Tom to sign a copy of "Valhalla"
and this Tom did for all who asked thereafter. He even drew a doodle
of 50.0000.000 earwigs in one copy! [2]
Pictures
were taken by those with cameras; even the waitresses helped out here,
taking pictures of the group. (They seemed quite impressed when told
that Tom was a famous author!) My humble snaps follow.
Toasts were proposed and it was generally agreed that the evening was one worth repeating sometime soon.
My journey home was somewhat eventful; I missed the last train home and had to make do with the last train to a nearby station; alas, this was delayed by about an hour due to someone being run down by an engineering engine; I eventually got home at around 3am.
My personal thanks to Melody and Dragon Prince for setting up the thing, to the Chinese restaurnant (especially the two waitresses) who coped with a sudden influx of mad Fantasy types with charm, and especially to Tom for agreeing to attend, making the evening one which I will remember for years! (and also for giving me an anecdote I can dine off for ages!)
{1]
It might have been Abba that I internally exclaimed; I'm a bit vague about
Scandinavian pop groups.
[2[
An a.b.t-h in-joke.
MegaMole, Dragon Prince, Tom Holt and
Vicky; "You thought you were just coming along to an a.b.t-h meet, but
tonight, Tom Holt, This Is Your Life!"
Melody (Earwigs not pictured)
Vicky, Roger and Beetle discuss "Valhalla";
"No, I can't find a 'Jane' anywhere in here!"
MegaMole and Tom Holt; ""That's M-E-G-A..."
Our gracious hostess and photographer!