TM Logan - The Dream Home launch party

A day in London is topped by an intimate gathering in Chinatown to celebrate TM Logan's new novel

I was very fortunate to be invited along with my husband to this very exciting event, the launch of TM Logan's new psychological thriller, The Dream Home. A very cold mid-week February morning saw us leaving home at 7am which, to be fair, is our usual time for getting our children off to their five different schools and colleges in and around a very damp and flooded rural West Country.

It is always handy having an adult daughter who can drive so that the afternoon school run is taken care of. A car full of post-school children meant that a cheeky stop for a Burger King was in order, which rather negated the meals I had left for their arrival home. They were happy, so that's all that matters.

While my husband and I have ventured into London on many occasions, this was one of the rare, or perhaps the first time, we had gone together, just the two of us, it was very odd being in the capital without our youngest (five) who always travels to the 'big smoke' with us and loves it. She enjoys all the bookish things we get up to, however it was a school day, and she wouldn’t be able to accompany us to a cocktail bar... in Chinatown... after dark!

I had a brand-new book to read on my journey up, please see my review on Andrea Mara No One Saw a Thing. I had briefed my husband James well on the etiquette of the journey in that as soon as the train was rolling, then lips are closed, and it is eyes down to get as many pages read in the two hours or so available.

Our train into Waterloo was running to time, and we checked our Oyster balances ready for the underground. With my autism and many other conditions, I need routines, so along with our Waitrose meal deals (bought the night before to save vital minutes in London) we headed to our usual picnic spot at the marvellous Tower of London. Damp and dismal conditions welcomed us as we came out of Tower Hill tube station, the weather app betraying us with its hint of showers which had become in reality a torrential downpour.

A purple Scouting (Be Prepared) umbrella aimed, fired and launched at the push of a button as if it was MI5 gadgetry opened like a billowing parachute. Alas it became a bit too blowy for that malarkey I then spent minutes battling it like Steve Irwin on a crocodile.

We approached the ticket entrance with our rucksacks looking rather like tourists, which was not the look I was after for today, but unfortunately with so much required for my conditions it really can’t be helped along with a Waitrose bag for life carrying our lunch. Did I mention the Waitrose bag already? Waitrose are no way sponsoring this story in case you were wondering but if it secures a free lunch for next time, the Waitrose meal deal is just the ticket.

QR tickets scanned I sailed through security on the other hand James obviously looked far more suspicious than I which is very unusual as no offence to J but he is rather ordinary looking. So, it was J this time for a random bag search with security joking about the reason, saying it’s lunchtime and they’re very hungry (obviously spying the Waitrose haul, wink, wink).

With the jokes by security ticked off, we were in and then the obligatory photo for our son, who is also autistic, with the mysterious hand in the wall. I did shout out to the group of tourists who walked straight past said hand "excuse me, excuse me, you’ve just missed the hand in the wall". Everyone knows that’s a famous hand in the wall and a few people looked and laughed.

In our rush to the picnic spot, we accidentally walked through Yeoman Warders mid-flow to walk through, sending apologies on the wind which blew down the walkway as we weaved our way through the throng of tourists.

With a glance at the ravens’ enclosure, too quick to take in whether the birds were actually in situ, we turned to our usual picnic spot, a bench in the shadows of the White Tower.

I am connected to this historic building as I sponsor a brick (a birthday present) which looks out of the snaking queue for the Crown Jewels. Anyway, today's dampness was such that risking the rain for a glimpse of the brick was quickly off the menu.

Sitting undercover in the arches, looking up at the tower, the table was wiped down with the crumbs of a previous picnic pushed to the stone floor, much to the delight of a gathered group of pigeons who had been looking casual in the hope leftovers would be available.

After phones were pulled from power banks and lunchtime rubbish was deposed of for this break, there were the usual selfies with the backdrop of Tower bridge before a nose around the Tower of London gift shop, with our 10% off Royal Historic Palaces membership card making prices a little less eye watering, even though it’s the tin of mints we usually come away with, to freshen breaths on school runs.

After the lung-busting walk back up the slopes to the side of the Tower, we were at Tower Hill tube station. It was only one stop and change at Embankment before heading on the Bakerloo Line to Charing Cross and the winding staircase exit up into Trafalgar Square. We headed over to the National Gallery and instant entry due to pre-booked tickets, looking at the queue with a knowing smile as they braved the British weather, which was living up to its reputation.

Inside the National Gallery and it is once again warm and leaves you in that coat on or off quandary. It is super busy today, with groups of tourists vying for space was various school trips, so we decided on a scoot round the gift shop first before the hordes decide to have their look. It is a tradition to pick up a hardback sketchbook for our 12-year-old, who is also autistic and loves drawing and was super delighted to find that the paper bags now had Van Gogh’s Sunflowers depicted on them rather than Turner, which was the bag’s picture the last time we came. I like Turner but Sunflowers is my favourite, so I pleaded with the good nature of the shop staff to let me have a couple extra bags, to look at or show off once home.

One of the main paintings we were interested in on this trip was A View of Delft (1652) by Carel Fabritius, which had been of some inspiration to Laura Cummings to write her book, Thunderclap. It was also great to see this fabulous book being stocked in the gift shop.

I am currently studying for an English degree and working on various Renaissance assignments, so it was good to revisit paintings from this era, with Samson and Delilah (1609) by Peter Paul Rubens, as this story from the Bible was the subject of a critical analysis I was about to submit.

From the National Gallery, we gently strolled along to Piccadilly Circus before heading to have a nose in Hatchards, and then onto Fortnum & Mason, where I picked up some great lines for my future books and characters as I took in all the sights and sounds of those wealthy enough to do their weekly shop. An old dear with a trolley full, trying to push it down the grand, plush carpeted steps to the side entrance, looked like it could have been a disastrous end to her shopping trip before a top-hatted doorman rushed to her assistance before hailing a taxi. Inside, there was a family buying their three children anything and everything they desired from the glass confectionery counter, eyes bigger than their bellies was not an issue financially. With the sun setting over the city, the lights of London were flickering into life as we darted into Waterstones for a gander among the books, telling our bank balance that everything will be okay, and this was just a reconnaissance mission rather than a buying one.

It was time for coffee to mentally prepare ourselves for the evening, before raising the brollies again and heading into Chinatown. We had to find the secret door and we took some colourful shots of the lanterns that zigzagged above our head, as we went into tourist mode and snapped enough to feed our socials.

The secret door was actually reasonably easy to find as it came with a massive clue - the author TM Logan was standing outside with an armful of books, so there was no need to engage the PR people on their mobiles to find out where we had to go, There were a couple of other people gathered outside, and shortly afterwards the door opened and a burly bouncer sort with a clipboard emerged only to usher us through and up a steep staircase without any asking whether our names were on the list. I struggled to reach the top of that staircase only to be shown that there was another to climb to reach our destination. Thank goodness free cocktails were waiting, but not before the refreshing elixir of a glass of water was supplied by the organisers, who could see that the climb had somewhat taken it out of me, as I had hauled myself up by both handrails as I arrived as if I’ve conquered Mount Everest.

Once I got my breath back, we were able to introduce ourselves and thank those who had invited us to this launch party in a small candle lit cocktail bar in central London, and then speak to the author himself. There were lots of cocktails being given the shaker treatment to this intimate gathering, with a friendly vibe and despite the bar buzzing it was a relaxed ambience. Plenty of photos were taken, many to illustrate this blog, before TM Logan gave a short speech about his latest novel, The Dream Home.

TM Logan also announced a scavenger hunt around the room, with 10 gorgeously elegant little keys which is very much in keeping with the book. Each key had a tag on with a letter to work out the word, so it was all exciting stuff amid the espresso martinis and mango lassis, that oiled the night.

We were delighted to get quality time with TM Logan himself, and he was happy to sign books and I was thrilled to be given a goodie bag for myself despite technically being a tag-on for the day before being gifted a second goodie bag to help launch my Substack - watch this space for details.

A fantastic evening with no pressure or rushed feeling to leave the venue and we could have stayed beyond the end of the event, but we were getting tired and hungry, so exchanged contact details with a few other guests before heading out to quell the stomach rumbles.

We headed back onto the streets of Chinatown before grabbing a bite to eat in Leicester Square and jumped onto the Northern Line, then back to Waterloo. Our homeward bound train wasn’t quite in the station so time to crack out my copy of TM Logan‘s The Dream Home and make a start.

We needed to be in the front three carriages, which always gives me a bit of anxiety, as the rest of the train is left at Salisbury, but did find the ‘quiet zone’ so after double checking with a dapper looking businessman that we were in the right place to go all the way, journey wise, before checking it wasn’t first class. This brought a smile and the beginnings of a chuckle as he said that “we are all commoners here”, so we purloined a table and settled in for the ride back, book in hand.

I was exhausted by the time I turned the key in the lock of the front door at 2am, having had full days of lectures the two days before the London trip. So, the next day was dominated by tiredness, but I did manage to make it to a coffee shop later on, just before closing to do a bit of assignment work. Thank you very much to TM Logan, Zaffre and Bonnier Books and Eleanor Stammeijer for the invitation and organising such a memorable event.