However, I've met some lovely authors that way and have learned a lot from them.
But to set the expectations that readers are going to learn – "learn" being the key word here – about rape culture and polygamy in northern Nigeria by reading a fictional work is to do a great disservice to the authors of these lovely novels, authors who irrespective of their intentions, have worked really hard to tell a good story.
Metaphor, Geary shows nicely, has its place in science (with Einstein's "combinatory play" of ideas), as well as being the natural pursuit of young children, two of whose offerings here – "quiet as a nose" and "sad as a shirt" – struck me as strangely lovely, though the author, a harsh critic of juvenile poets, says they "didn't make much sense".
I was sat next to the lovely Natasha Farrant, author of The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby series (the second book of the series Flora in Love has just been longlisted for the Guardian children's fiction prize, so I can safely say that I was in good company.
The painting probably dates from 1847, when a £55 payment from Dickens to Maclise was recorded, and shows Catherine as the lovely young woman the author first met.
The main mystery presented by "The Water's Lovely" is how an author so relentlessly prolific, with dozens of novels to her credit and another set published under the pen name Barbara Vine, can do such buoyant, impeccable work.
They're lovely though – as the author, Jane Pettigrew points out, "despite containing no eggs, this recipes makes light, well-risen scones": crumbly, feather-light and definitely nudging Rachel and Marcus in the height stakes.
The story and disc end with a sneakily affecting self-esteem anthem, which, like the familiar tale itself, is buoyed by the author's lovely vocals".
I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely and unique Jenny Boyd, author of It's Not Only Rock'n'Roll: Iconic Musicians Reveal The Source of Their Creativity.
Afterwards, we spent a lovely evening with Joan Beck Coulson, author of Always for Judy: Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland, and a very dear lady by the name of Eleanor Lyon.
