This week I was slung out of The Hay Festival!

For anyone who isnt aware, Hay-on-Wye is the little Mid Wales town that has become world reknown for second hand books. About twenty years or so ago, a few enthusiasts were chatting over a beer and decided to start The Hay Literary Festival. It is now a huge event with people coming from all over the world to speak or to listen or just to read books in the sunshine (rain).

I thought, where better to gather interest in voting for my novel Cold Enough to Freeze Cows to win The Peoples Book Prize? So, I bribed the children to wear t-shirts that I had printed up for them and we set off in the rain to speak to people.

My plan was for the children to smile sweetly at people to attract their attention. I would then nobble them and ask them to vote for me. To a point it worked. But then the girls started to get bored and then a bit wild, spinning around poles, rolling along the corridors and getting the baby to crawl through the wet grass. My back-up plan was to feed them junk to keep them occupied for another ten minutes.

Being rather a high-brow event, I am still convinced that I wouldnt have got thrown out if I had fed the children oatmeal biscuits or a tub of chopped-up fruit, but my mistake was to give them crisps and horrible chocolatey mini-rolls. It was only a matter of time before Security was called, and I was ejected for unauthorised canvassing...

Therefore, in place of the votes I didnt manage to get from The Hay Festival, I would like to ask whether the good people of Americymru might consider voting for me, please? If so, the website is http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/finalist.php and the book is Cold Enough to Freeze Cows . If anyone does vote, please let me know and your name will be put in my grand prize draw to win a signed copy!

Many thanks! I havent won anything since the 50metre skip in 1978