Let's PARTY!

I went to a party last night! Wahaaayy, I hear you cry. Atta girl, go BOOGIE!

It was an Online Party, actually. Yep, online! Does that sound sad? Well, believe me, it was an absolute blast.

I'm a member of WriteWords - the online writers' website - in the Chicklit group. Last week, we decided to have a Christmas party, but due to the fact that we live in far-flung places such as the South of France, Luxembourg, north America, Canada, Eire and the UK, we could hardly physically hold a party. So we agreed to get online at 9pm (GMT+1) last night, start a party thread, imbibe as much wine as we wanted (no driving) and hold a Secret Santa present-giving.

We were all women, natch, with ages from early thirties to mid-forties. We brought along Brad Pitt, George Clooney (the barman) and Bruce Springsteen who were available for light relief... Then we spent two and a half hours being very very silly, getting pretty tipsy (for real) and getting to know the members of the group. That was good for me, because I'm a newbie and I now feel like an old hand member!

The Secret Santa was interesting. We were emailed the name of another member and had to buy a virtual present, in secret. Then the name was pulled out of the 'hat', the present described and the recipient had to guess who had sent it. I loved my gift. It was a return ticket first class to New york, a trip around Manhattan in a helicopter with 'John Bosworth' (hero of my book) Xmas ice skating in Rockefella plaza and two luxurious nights at the Plaza. Yes PLEASE!!!

It was one of those wonderful, girlie get-togethers; we had everyone in the same silly frame of mind and were out to have a good time. It might sound totally weird and geeky to party with virtual mates, but it worked, and I'm hoping we can do it again for real next year if we hold our 'Writing Retreat' (piss-up) down here.

Oh, and the writing side of it is brilliant too! You just have to be brave enough to upload your chapters and not faint at the prospect of criticism. Character-forming stuff...