Recently I was asked to do an event at the Hay Kells Festival. I was delighted to accept, as I love doing book events, and the Hay Kells festival is brilliant. However, when they said, ‘we’d like you to do a cookery demo,’ I started to quietly panic. I’ve never done a cookery demo before, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

Then I remembered how I always tell my children they shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. How hypocritical would it be to dole out advice I wasn’t prepared to take myself?
So I gave myself a stern talking-to, as follows:
I’m used to speaking in public.
I cook for my family every single day.
The audience will be mostly children, who will (hopefully) be enthusiastic and forgiving.
And finally, I’ve even written a cookbook!

And so I said ‘Yes.’ I have stepped out of my comfort zone. On July 5th, I will be doing a cookery demo in Kells.
Watch this space!

(This post first appeared on girlsheartbooks.com)