I took copious notes at the AL Kennedy event, but to be honest, I was a little drunk and can’t make any sense of them. I had arrived early at Charlotte Square and smuggled in a bottle of wine, my intention to find a quiet corner to read and relax. I found an abandoned church pew outside the RBS Main Theatre where Alison was scheduled to appear and settled down.

Pews, whether they are inside a church or outside at a book festival are most uncomfortable. I was about to move to a rather lovely wooden table and chair ensemble under some trees – I do like a dramatic setting for my dipsomania – but was pipped at the post by a chap with a camera and a lady in a voluminous denim skirt who sat down to interview AL Kennedy looking very dapper in a blue suit.

I’m slightly squiffy on a pew behind the tree to the left of AL Kennedy.

AL Kennedy/Guardian