I dropped in at my local last night, Mostly Books in Abingdon, to hear Tim Pears talk about his latest novel, Blenheim Orchard, which is set in north Oxford.
In the novel, father-of-three Ezra Pepin finds that his relatively well-ordered life begins to unravel when his teenage daughter starts to misbehave.
The problem causes conflict between him and his wife Sheena, and there is a dramatic conclusion which I won't spoil for those who haven't yet read the book.
Quite a lot of sex features in Blenheim Orchard and Mr Pears managed to combine the subject with his talk on how Oxford's green spaces have vanished over the years.
The author revealed that he was pressurised by publishers to sex up Blenheim Orchard even further. First they tried to put a teenage girl on the cover wearing little more than a vest but Mr Pears objected because he felt the image would misrepresent the contents.
Then it was suggested that Mr Pears should reduce the age of Ezra Pepin's daughter, from 16 to 14, to give her impending sex life a greater shock value.
I was intrigued to discover that the writer acquiesced to this editiorial interference, and agreed to lower the girl's age. For my money, the denoument would have remained equally shocking had she been 16.
This kind of bartering over plot lines must go on all the time behind the scenes and it was fascinating to hear Mr Pears lifting the lid on the whole process.
The author is now working on an article on long-distance Olympic runner Lasse Viren for The Observer.
He indicated that there would be no sequel to Blenheim Orchard, which means Ezra Pepin will remain, for all time, exiled from his beloved north Oxford.
Thanks to Mark Thornton, manager of Mostly Books, for inviting Mr Pears, and thanks to Mr Pears for making the trip down the A34.
Have you attended any good author events lately? Do keep me posted.