There was a knot of novelists at the door of Eden Restaurant in Temple Bar. All came to attend the launch of Under the Duvet, the latest book from Marian Keyes. The writer arrived in a purple suit with her husband Tony Baines, also in a purple suit - both perfectly co-ordinated in the colour of passion.
Best-selling authors piled in. Sheila O'Flanagan arrived at the same time as Patricia Scanlan. Cathy Kelly was there too, and Kate Thompson.
Novelist Rose Doyle, whose book Friends Indeed is currently in the shops, has just finished a historical novel and sent it off to her editor. This latest story, she explains, is set in the Belgian Congo at the turn of the century, when Roger Casement exposed the genocide that was happening there.
Writer Morag Prunty came along without her baby boy, Leo Kerrigan, who at five weeks was at home with his father, Niall Kerrigan. Prunty's book, Dancing with Mules, is due out in the US next week under the new title, Wild Cats and Colleens. Her next book, Disco Daddy, is due out next spring.
Actor and writer Pauline McLynn launched the book. She is busy writing the third book in her series about Leo Street, aiming to have 100,000 words written by the end of the month.
Other than writing, she had a small part as an Irish nurse recently, playing opposite Judi Dench, as Iris Murdoch, in the soon-to-be-released film, Iris. McLynn is in the film for a short scene at the end, she says, literally "for a cough and a spit".
The Keyes family was there in strength too, to cheer on the eldest child. Parents Mary and Ted Keyes were there and their other children - Tadhg, an artist, and his twin Rita-Ann, an actuary, and Caitr∅ona, a nurse, just in from New York. Marian's brother Niall, who works in Prague, was unable to make it for the launch.
Meanwhile, another artistic event, which was happening simultaneously, drew art lovers to the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre on Foster Place. A collection of paintings by Simon Meyler was opened by Senator David Norris. The work will remain on view between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. until Friday.