Grimm in Hawes - 7 October 2023

Well, what an amazing couple of days! Great food, great company and great fun all wrapped in the stunning scenery of the Yorkshire Dales. The weather obviously hadn't got the memo, though! Anyone travelling up to Wensleydale on the Friday had to battle torrential rain and high winds, which resulted in numerous roads in the area being closed due to flooding. Happily, though, everyone finally made it to Hawes in time for the 2 pm kickoff on Saturday (with the exception of Will, who despite car troubles still managed to make it to the book signing on Sunday). 

It all started with a short meet-and-greet session, where participants were met by my beardy, smiley face and given a goodie bag of Grimm-themed memorabilia. Then I took to the stage to be interviewed by my good friend Marty (who I've known since we were two fresh-faced young'uns just starting out at university). This was followed by a Q&A session where I was grilled by members of the audience on topics as varied as writing in general, the Yorkshire Dales and Grimm-related questions (such as why Sowerby and Grimm never became an item!).

After a quick break for some liquid refreshments, we opened up the floor to local producers, with Cockett's providing a vast array of free samples - including mountains of cake, cheese, sausages and pork pies! Louise and Dave were also on hand to take orders that readers could pick up from the shop the next day. Next to them were Miles from the Wensleydale Brewery and Rob from the Yorkshire Dales Brewery, providing more free samples and special packs for participants to buy.

Aubrey Parsons was up next on the schedule, doing a live reading from the exclusive short story I wrote for the event 'When Harry Met Jim', and answering questions from the floor. Not having read the story before, Aubrey did a cracking job bringing the tale to life and even made me forget it was something that I had written.

Then it was time for food. And Mandy and her team at the Fountain didn't disappoint, providing a selection of meat- and veggie main courses, topped off with a monumental dessert board! I mean, just look at it!

While everyone was busy digesting The Fountain's amazing cuisine, Aubrey took to the stage again, this time to serenade us with his amazing singing voice - I think we were all shocked at just how broad and impressive his vocal talents are. Giving him a well-earned break, we then rounded the evening off with a fiendishly tricky pub quiz on the Grimm series in particular and Yorkshire in general. After an all too brief night's rest, we recovened at 10 am for a book signing with coffee (and yes, more cake). Again, I was blown away with how many people came back for a natter and to get a book signed.

It was a fantastic day and I am so pleased with how it all went. The Fountain, Cockett's, the breweries, Marty and Aubrey all put in so much effort and it really showed on the day. So thank you to everyone who helped make it possible - and most importantly, thank you to you, the readers, after all without you, none of this would have been possible! 


Oh, and before you ask, yes, it seems we're already planning for next year's event. Cheers!

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