When I woke up this morning I didn’t   know what a flipbook was. If I’d had to guess I’d have said it was one those cartoony picture books you riffle through quickly to get the sensation that the images are moving. Wrong.

I know what one is now. I may not actually own one but you could say I’m the cause of one, and on the assumption you don’t know what the Sam Hill I’m talking about, I’ll show you mine.

This is my Humble Companion flipbook. Go ahead, take a look. And make sure you have the sound turned on so you can hear the pages turn. How cool is that? I’d say that for a woman who has never used a microwave or watched a 3-D film it’s pretty damned cool.

When I worked in a book shop, in the Seventies, publication date was as non-negotiable as election day. We’d get the new Iris Murdoch in and practically have Securicor guarding the stockroom, lest anyone break in and get a sneaky preview. But  previews are now part of a publisher’s dance of the seven veils, a flipbook being veil number 5 or 6, and pub day being the moment when the final one is ripped off and you’re left in nothing but your tassels.  

Of course it’s only the on-line equivalent of reading the first ten pages in Waterstone’s before you decide whether to part with your money. And this way the real books don’t get as grubby. So, only fourteen sleeps till publication and I’m down to my big knickers and a feather boa. Sequence is everything, they say. Actually, in my opinion, sequins are everything.

And speaking of sequins, don’t forget to check my Events Page for your party invitation. Put it in the diary, dudes.