John Patrick McHugh and Cal Speet in conversation

We are delighted to welcome John Patrick McHugh and Cal Speet to the shop to discuss their debut novels FUN & GAMES and SPIRALLING.

Doors: 6.30pm, starts: 6.45pm

Tickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy of either the book.

About Fun & Games: Seventeen-year-old John Masterson has no idea what he wants. It's his last summer on the small island where he has grown up and he should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through. Instead, he's working mind-numbing shifts at the local hotel and trying to keep his head down after his mother's nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island.

As John joins the local senior football team, gets caught up in fights and parties, and embarks on a tentative relationship with his slightly older co-worker Amber that he feels both proud and ashamed of, he can almost pretend that this summer will last forever. But soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stay or leave, to stand out or fit in, and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human.

Fun and Games is a darkly comic, beautifully crafted debut novel that is full of feeling both harsh and tender. It takes in social class and its firm borders, manhood and its frailties, family and, of course, love.

About Spiralling: Gabriel is at rock bottom: a scandalous break-up with his wannabe poet ex-boyfriend, followed by a sudden sacking, and he's spiralling. Thank God for his best friends, Tasha and Evie, who are committed to pulling him out of his depression hole and back into the world of work and dating. But suddenly there are new problems: How can he convince DiscreetHung from Grindr to go on a real-life date with him? Could the gorgeous man in the Post Office be The One? And why is Tasha's boyfriend, Scott, trying to get between her and Gabe?

Spiralling is a rollicking novel of friendship and love, and the journey towards finding acceptance and yourself.

About the authors:

John Patrick McHugh is from Galway. His work has appeared inThe Stinging Fly, Winter Papers, Banshee, The Tangerine and Granta and been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He is the author of the short story collection Pure Gold. Fun and Gamesis his debut novel.

Cal Speet has spent the past few years working in environmental sustainability while nurturing his love of writing on the side. After a decade in Manchester city centre, he recently relocated to rural West Yorkshire - a move that traded skyscrapers for wild garlic patches, Canal Street for farmers’ markets, and smoking cigarettes in the Northern Quarter for wandering through quaint woodlands… smoking cigarettes.

If you cannot make the event but would like a dedicated copy of the book, please email events.manchester@blackwell.co.uk or call us on 0161 274 3331.

Our event format is usually a 45 minute discussion between the author and interviewer, followed by a chance for audience members to ask questions. There will be the opportunity to get your book signed/dedicated after the event. Events are a brilliant opportunity to discover new books, meet authors and likeminded readers and learn something new.

Support your local bookshop and help us keep the Manchester literary scene vibrant and exciting. You can follow us on Eventbrite and social media (@BlackwellsMCR) to keep up to date on upcoming events.