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One of Our Thursdays is Missing USA/UK Tour Blog Days are in recent-first order - scroll down to travel magically back in time. Page updated 18th Mar 2011 Saturday 19th March - Raleigh Durham, NC
Spring is earlier in NC - blossom on the trees Last stop on the US tour, and the third time I have spoken at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh Durham. In the ten stops over the past 11 days, I have spoken at 12 events to 1900 people, given out 4100 postcards, signed about 7000 books and been on live TV twice. I have had two press interviews, three radio recordings and answered four internet Q&As. I have also travelled 15,783 miles, split about equally between Delta and BA, with a little bit of Frontier and Air Canada thrown in. The main difference between this tour and the previous ones is the lack of any press. In 2002 on my first tour there were hundreds of local newspapers still in business, and the two weeks prior to my tour was full of press interviews so that they could have copy ready on the morning of my appearance. As mentioned earlier, the demise of the local papers has not been taken over by the internet, or at least, not in the same form - after a brief burst of enthusiasm, press interviews have now dwindled to almost nothing. For balance, it would be almost impossible to say whether the new regime works for or against an author. The increase in traffic may have raised awareness beyond which the traditional press industry might have done, and indeed, a more 'egalitarian' approach may have superceded the old style - that instead of papers reveiwing what the publishers want them to review, the internet and blogosphere reviews and features what they choose to review. I don't know. But I do know things have changed. Jasper has his picture taken with Jasper Staying at the stupendous Umstead Hotel in North Carolina, where there is a screen of trees between the roads and the businesses, which might give the casual observer the mistaken idea that there is nothing here at all. Did some stock signing at a few Barnes and Noble and then at Regulator Books before my afternoon gig at Quail Ridge Books, a place I have spoken twice before, and have been greeted with a warm welcome on every one. Lots of questions which I always enjoy as it allows me to try and figure out how it was that I thought of the ideas I thought of (?) as I spent the first ten years of my writing career penning notions and ideas that I just thought were 'fun' without really asking myself why. It was a great end to the tour, and my thanks to Nancy and Rene and all the staff at Quail Ridge. And, or course, a huge thank you to all the people who came out to listen to me talk, read my books and recommended them to freinds, relatives and total strangers. I couldn't do this without you. Tomorrow, Toronto, and a spot at Authors At Harbourfront Friday 18th March - St Louis, Missouri
Detail of sculpture at the Orpheum theatre. My second gig in Missouri, and apparently there is a friendly rivalry between Kansas City and St Louis, and my organisers were firmly of the belief that if Kansas City could offer up 190 people, then St Louis could do better - and they did. I'm rather fond of St Louis for its layout, skyline, odd mixture of architecture and general feel - not to mention a modern Metrolink Rapid Transit system, which while not really expanded since I was last here, is still clean and efficent. I was staying at the Four Seasons, a hotel named after a pizza topping, and this is attached to one of the many casinos in the city. I was asked at reception if I was going to be doing any gambling while I was here, in much the same way as she might have asked if I were going to catch a movie. "Well," I said, "I don't have the time to actually hit the crap tables, but just to show I'm a good sport, why don't you just give the corporation that runs it this $100? It will save a lot of time, and the result is the same." Actually, I didn't. I said 'No thanks'. But to remind me of what I was missing there was a lighted billboard outside the hotel window, which was so bright you could read by it at night 300 yards away and must have drawn enough power to run a small town. The Eads bridge, with scuplture I went for a walk in the afternoon, down past the magnificent Eads Bridge, the startling Expansion Monument Arch and the dignified Olive street, then back around and past the old post office. There are some fine pieces of architecture here, probably as a result of St Louis' boom years being in the first couple of decades after the turn of the 20th century - not long after the St Louis World Fair in 1904, the remains of which we visited the last time we were here. The fondness of good architecture also extended to my venue this evening at the St Louis County Library, a very understated and attractive 60's building which is unsual as the decade is not noted for its fine architecture. Heaps of people there of which I was most grateful to Carrie and her supporters, and also the booksellers from Left Bank Books who came along to shift some tomes. I was also delighted to see long-time supporters Heinz and Leah, who I first remember meeting on my first trip to New Orleans about eight years ago when, due to a fancy-dress themed event, they came dressed as Arthur Dent and Elizabeth Bennet. This time they returned with new arrival Alex, and we wish them every happiness. Tomorrow, Raleigh Durham - final stop on US tour! Thursday 17th March - Kansas City
Winston commemorated. It was here that he coined the 'Iron Curtain' phrase. The news of the bestseller ranking came through yesterday, which placed me at number 15 on the New York Times fiction list. Although a good effort, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mildy disappointed. I made the top ten in the US with the last Thursday book, and hit the number one spot in the UK with TN6 last week. There was talk of blaming eBook sales not being counted in the sales tally - I had 2000 of those - but then neither were anyone else's, so it probably wouldn't have made a difference. But then I had a look at the figures and more importantly the books, and the true nature of our minor triumph became apparent. Here are five randomly chosen one-line precis of the books above me on the list: "The crew of the Oregon undertake rescue operations from Afghanistan to Myanmar" "A detective must solve the case of a dead husband, a battered wife and a missing child." "A motherless girl is cared for by a Dublin community." "A Manhattan assistant district attorney, is called when a womanıs decapitated body is found burning on the steps of a Harlem church." "The New York detective enlists the help of a former colleague to solve a rash of horrifying crimes that are throwing the city into chaos." Okay, now listen to mine: "Literary detective Thursday Next disappears just as a genre war threatens the Bookworld, and a trip up the Metaphoric River reveals an evil plot involving the Men in Plaid." I'd like to thank everyone who reads me for this one small triumph - that absurd books of undefinable genre can hold their own against the prevailing wind of conventionalism. The well-appointed and delightful Kansas City Public Library The talk was in the brand new Kansas City Public Library, a dazzling building run as part of a public/private enterprise, very similar to the Minneapolis library the day before. I asked the excellent and committed library staff if any 'censoring' of bookchoice ebbed across from the private side of the funding, and they assured me it did not - in fact, quite the opposite, and the shelves occasionally bristled with an impish sense of fun regarding State and local politics. My event went very well, with a touch under two hundred willing to forgo an evening of Guinness, Joyce and Wilde to listen to me talk. Lots of questions and little if no St Patrick's day parade issues - except when I was requested to wear a green tie and a pair of lucky shamrock glasses. I think I mustered enough dignity to look as serious as possible as I was wearing them. My thanks to Kaite and Paul and the rest of the staff at KCPL. Tomorrow, St Louis. Wednesday 16th March - Minneapolis
Minneapolis on the way in Live TV again, this time with Pat on KARE TV. In the Green Room was the spritely and very witty Dublin-born singer Carmel Quinn with her accompanist, who looked more like Shakespeare than anyone else I have ever seen. Ms Quinn was here to give a St Patrick's Day concert, and was in the studio to promote it. Dropped in on a few Barnes and Nobles to sign stock, then to see Pat at Once Upon a Crime, one of the many independent booksellers who so enthusiastically supported my books when I started, and continue to do so now. Like local newspapers the independents are now in short supply, and we should support them as much as we can. Signed at Magers and Quinn, too, so both shops will have signed stock. Downtown Minneapolis Amazing reception at the new and very shiny Minneapolis Public Library, and due to the patronage of the library by US Bank and others, they have about fifty speaking events per year. This was a record turnout for me, at three hundred people in the main hall and another fifty watching the video link. It will also be broadcast on NPR in the near future. The only crowd approaching this level was at Seattle's Third Place Books in 2010. My thanks to Rachel for hosting the event, Michael of US Bank for conducting what I think was probably my best introduction ever, and the staff at Magers and Quinn for selling the books. Next stop, Kansas! Tuesday 15th March - Denver, Colorado
Loafing in Caribou Coffee It's about that sort of time in a four-week book schedule that I start getting a little tired, and on the 'City a Day' thing actually trying to remember where I am or even where I was yesterday, and what is going on tomorrow. The first couple of trips I took lots of photographs, but after I got back I had the devil of a job trying to figure out which building goes with which city. Where was that nice Railway Station I saw? The Theatre that was moved? The Skyways? The Fountains? Thankfully I now tend to travel with a digital camera which even if I fail to keyword them quickly, have a precise time and date when I took it. My only press gig in Denver was with Robin of the Denver Post and after doing the piece we chatted about how much the landscape has changed. Ten years ago when I first began, I did two or three interviews a day for the local papers who would then bring out the feature or review on the day of my event (or close by). This has all been taken over by blogs and online news journals, but these are run on shoestrings or frequently nothing at all, and the interview requests have dropped considerably. The blog posts I am directed to by my publishers are generally just the bio and blurb from the press release cobbled together. Does this better serve the consumers? I have a hard time convincing myself that it does. Denver Chamber of Commerce Tonight's event was in the original, excellent and much copied Tattered Cover, where we had an enthusiastic crowd of 150 people. The talk went well with many good questions, as I like to have questions so I can figure out how it was that I wrote what I did. If this seems counter-intuitive, and the notion that I should somehow be able to write a novel without really knowing how I'm doing it, I think what we fail to realise just how important STORY is to Homo Sapiens. We learn by them, we communicate by them, we are entertained by them. When we want to think in the abstract and predict future events, we create delicately fictions in our heads, predicting a possible outcome from a myriad of subtle inputs. When we lie, we create a fictional train of thought in someone else's head. Telling stories is the biggest spanner humans have in their toolbox, and we can use this spanner so well, many of us have no idea that we do. Writers are essentially telling massive lies for cash. And the bigger and more real and brighter the lie, the more we make. Parallels in the banking and politics business, really. Next stop, Minneapolis! Monday 14th March 2011 - Portland, Oregon
The most well-written 'Out of Order' sign I have ever seen After doing a brief stint on KATU's Breakfast spot with the delightful Helen and Dave (Which can be viewed here, I think) Deb took me for a brief scamper around Portand, which is always a pleasure as the Portlandonians (?) know the value of architectural heritage, and like a bridge or two, as do I. We dropped in on the following to sign stock, so if you are in the neighbourhood and want a signed copy, do drop in. Powells had a lot of One of Our Thursdays, numerous paperbacks of Shades of Grey and also some hardbacks of previous books, so collectors please take note. I signed stuff for them up at Hawthorne, too. Annie Bloom's on Capitol Highway now have ten signed copies of One of Our Thursdays, and you can also find signed copies of my current and backlist at Murder By The Book on E Hawthorne Blvd and Broadway Books at 1714 NE Broadway. My thanks to all the independents for their warm welcome. Talk was at Barnes and Noble where I was introduced by Page Jordan who hosted one of my earliest apperancs here at Portland. Enthusiastic response from a crowd who bought a record 73 copies of the book, the largest yet for one-event sales. Decoration on a building in Downtown Portland. Looks like a robot.. After the talk and signing I was delighted to meet with Bill Mudron and Dylan Meconis who have been illustrating for me since 2004 when they were in the signing queue and gave me some fanart they had done. It was so good that I demanded their emails (they hadn't troubled to supply them on the picture they gave me - how modest is that?!?) They did their first illustration for me the very next year for the frontispiece for The Fourth Bear, and have also illustrated First Among Sequels and One of Our Thursdays is missing, as well as a frontispiece for Shades of Grey, the Fforde Ffiesta 2010 logo, and the porridge bowl as featured on the Goliath 'Porridge - you know you want some' ad campaign. I have a huge amount of admiration for these twoo - not just on the quality of their work, but also their capacity to work to brief, and to a deadline! Let's here it for Portlandians Bill and Dylan! Saturday 12th March 2011 - San Francisco
The Bay Bridge from outside my hotel I am starting to take an 'Awesome' tally as the word seems to have gained in popularity since I was here last. The rules for the tally are simple: Any utterance I hear between entering the shop and leaving. I've had a few people get wind of this who then say 'Amazing' or 'Fabulous' to thwart the tally but I mark it down as an 'awesome' anyway, since this was what they meant. Austin was a nine Awesome town, Bay Area is thirteen. Difficult to photograph differently Good to be back in the Bay Area, and I was delighted to see that despite me being late by twenty minutes at 'M is Of Mystery' no-one had left or tried to be me or slow hand clapped or anything. We leapt straight into the talk and a jolly time was had by all. Ed has recently added a coffee shop next to the bookshop, by the by, so well worth a look. Book Cafe in Capitola, Santa Cruz Capitola Book Cafe was the next stop, and Rick Kleffel, who has been interviewing me for years as part of KUSP-FM. This was more of an 'interviewy' sort of event which made for a refreshing change - thank you Rick and Tamera and the staff at the Book Cafe for their hospitality. Next stop - Portland! Friday 11th March 2011 - Austin, Texas
Bookpeople - a reference to 451, I presume? My fourth time in Austin, Texas, and my second talking at Book People. Austin is booming and even in the three years since I was here last, it seems to have changed dramatically. I was staying at the Omni Hotel, which is ridiculously large in a charming 'Space Shuttle Hangar' sort of way. But I had other things on my mind, namely, tea. I've been in the USA six days and have so far only managed to get one decent cup of tea, which is Fforde running on a serious tea deficit. I know it's getting bad because I'm starting to have tea-related hallucinations. While driving in from Austin's airport I saw a law enforcement vehicle with 'Serving Texas since 1882' written on the trunk lid. The typescript was in jaunty italics, and it looked like it said: 'Serving teas since 1882' which is obviously what I wanted to see. Now, I know that many things are done very well in the States, but might I be impertinent in the suggestion that tea-making is not one of them? So in the spirit of international understanding and cultural outreach and cooperation I have gathered together the many tea-related questions that frequently find their way into my postbag. Does the water have to be boiling? Yes - water should always be boiled and fresh. I know this sounds obvious but having pond life in the water makes for a tangy taste we're not keen on, and may upset vegetarians. How my petrolhead readers arrive from Dallas How long should I let the tea draw? This is the single greatest cause of tea disasters. It can be as little as thirty seconds if you are using a bag but more for leaf. As a rough rule of thumb you should have the tea the colour of apple juice. If it has the colour of varnish, bad news. Leaving the bag in makes the tea 'stew' which is not only undrinkable but is also a capital offence in most parts of the UK, and still remains on the list of offences of which you can be extradited. (along with insulting John Cleese and shipping crumpets without an export licence.) Does milk choice make a difference? Use fresh milk. Sounds simple, but longlife milk can have a nasty taste that permeates into the tea itself. If possible, buy a cow and train your footman to milk it. This is a smart move. Not only do you have fresh dairy products all year round, but a friendly companion for those winter evenings in watching telly and playing Scrabble. (The cow, not the footman) What should I drink my tea out of? China. This is kind of important, and along with the fact that no good news ever arrives in a brown envelope, no really good tea was ever drunk from a paper or (horror) plastic cup. Best bone china is preferable for the pleasurable tinkling noise that chimes well with polite conversation about the weather, while outside the crack of leather on willow adds to the general ambience. Mugs are okay, but are for a less formal occasion. I've never been a stickler for silver teaspoons myself, but whatever cutlery you use it does need to be a metal of some sort, (not lead or Plutonium, obviously) and can't be left in the cup. Is it imperative to have a butler to bring in the tea? It helps, obviously, but the recent economic downturn has rendered many British families without their butler and in some extreme cases, their footman, ostler and boot-boy. While we ride out the economic hardships we should train ourselves ahead of time to be able to make tea. It might be good to ask your butler where the tea things are before you reluctantly let him go with the customary shiny penny after thirty years of devoted service. Jasper poses with his biggest fan What should I serve with tea? Conversation, mainly, but cake can work. Tea is a meal best accessorised with nibbly comestibles and these should be baked fresh. In this instance 'fresh' means within the past hour, or in the case of scones, within the past ten minutes. Do I need to warm the pot first? In double blind tests conducted on a sample group of eight million British people, there was no significant correlation between warming the pot and tea-drinking enjoyment. It's not necessary but at least serves to remind if you left the tea in from the last time, and it has gone mouldy (not good). MIF or TIF? (Milk in First or Tea in First) Again, this is a subject of much conjecture and was also the main cause of the English Civil War. So far there is no scientifically verifiable proof that putting the milk or tea in first makes any difference at all. Skilled practitioners often go MIF so the level can be correct in each tea cup, but you have to gauge the milk quantity closely in case there is too much and you get a 'milk out' where you both stare at the weak concoction, and the conversation goes something like this: Host: (peering anxiously at the insipid mix) "I'm terribly sorry, shall I pour another?" Guest: (shuddering with horror) "My dear fellow, this is exactly how I like it." If you do have a 'Milk Out' the correct course would be to unhesitantly pour another - there should always be a spare cup on the tray in case an aunt makes an unexpected appearance Finally, my name in lights Should I leave the teabag in when serving tea? Never - unless it is a fruit or herbal tea and you have inquired ahead of time as to this is what they prefer. Naturally, you will make sure they are not invited again. Leaf or bag? Leaf is better, but good quality bags can be acceptable. The upside of leaf is that you can blend your own teas and have a 'house special'. We like to use a mix of Lapsong Suchong and Assam. The former for the taste, and the latter for the body. Poor quality bags just taste of paper and can have you ostracised from polite society. Is expensive tea better? Invariably. Twinings is a good brand to go for. It's all about where on the leaf the tea is made from, and where and when it was grown and dried. Good quality leaf is truly exceptional, but HAS to be made properly - stewing high quality tea is a bit like buying a Bentley and then lending it to the footman. My thanks to Ericka for Argyle, the sock-hamster Talk was at BookPeople, and we saw perhaps 150 people there, all of whom were most enthusiastic. My thanks to Scott and the staff for making the event so enjoyable. I was also glad to meet the original Miss Havisham who freaked me out (in a good way) the last time I spoke here, and my thanks to Ericka for bringing in Argyle, the sock hamster, who is currently ensconced in a cosy sharing-a-paper-back-but-wholly-platonic relationship with Knitted Pickwick (Dubbed 'Knitwick') from New York. If I had a zebra I'd call it Deborah If I had a spaniel I'd call it Daniel If I had a Turkey I'd call it Albuquerque Next stop: San Francisco Thursday 10th March 2011 - Lexington
I see a lot of this while touring To Lexington via Atlanta, and the more relaxed style of US domestic airlines. The cabin crew member was pretty bored, and no-one paid him even one atom of attention during the safety briefing, so he could quite happily have told us that he hoped we had a rotten flight and if there was any trouble he was going to be out first, and the rest of us could be damned to eternity in all hellfire. Mind you, that's what a steward did the other day when he was sworn at by a passenge. He told the passenger to 'go F--- yourself' and then escaped by way of the emergency passenger slide. Now, I would not advocate this behaviour from anyone, but I can't help thinking that this must have been truly satisfying way to resign. I was disappointed to learn that he has been charged with 'Criminal Mischief'. Presumably this means that mischief itself is not a chargeable offence, but might become so given a small change of circumstance. Prodding a racoon with a stick, for example, might be merely mischief, but prodding a Racoon that was owned and operated by the Federal Government would be criminal. A good thing the law is so clear on these matters. The Joseph-Beth in Lexington Speaking at the Joseph-Beth in Lexington for the first time since 2004. A warm welcome by Brooke, Michael and also from Brian, who wins the not-coveted-at-all 'Ffordian Distinguished Conduct Award' for outstanding services to the Nextian Universe. The back of Brian's as yet highly illusory solid bronze award in beautiful and wholly nonexistent display case reads thus: 'For services above and beyond the call of duty, Brian single handedly sold 225 copies of TN1 in hardback in the white-hot heat of puzzled looks and general consternation from the book-buying public. Disregarding the possibility of failure, Brian shrugged his own humiliation aside and repeatedly pressed forward with his bookselling techniques with little regard for personal safety. It is these sort of acts of retailing heroism that we salute today, and hope that other booksellers will gain inspiration from Brian's unswerving devotion to duty' At the glittering awards ceremony held in Myownhead in front of ten thousand booksellers, Brian accepted the award and proclaimed: "I did this for Booksellers Everywhere". A great event, and I am indebted to everyone at Joseph-Beth for giving me such a warm welcome, and to Kentucky of course, who have an exceedingly healthy attitude towards bacon. Namely, that a side order of bacon improves almost anything, which to me of course is a self-evident truth - axiomatic, in fact. I ordered bacon ... with a side order of bacon. Next stop: Austin. Wednesday 9th March 2011 - Boston
Mr Harvard's shiny foot Trained from NYC to Boston which is a much better way than seeing the States than looking down from 32,000'. Of course, an even better way to see the States would be to just stop and look around, but for the past nine visits I have pretty much seen only the inside of bookshops, airports, taxis and hotel rooms. Lucky for me I have travelled here in my pre-author days. One day I'll stay for longer. Trains are enjoyable here in the US because they are so big, and have free WiFi. The coffee's no better but you can't have everything. The Four Seasons knows how to flatter an author My media escort / butler for Boston was the witty and charming Jim, whose long and eventful career has taken him from sport parachuting to impersonating John McCain. He showed me around his old alma mata of Harvard. Unlike the White House which always looks smaller when you see it, Harvard is actually forty times bigger. Best of all, I can now say I was at Harvard. I was at Oxford too, and Cambridge - and the Sorbonne. Boston was chilly and full of film crews which made me quite nostalgic for the old days when I too could stand in the freezing cold and drink oily coffee while two clowns spent hours trying to figure out the first shot. Ah, bliss. Evan was our excellent host at Brookline Booksmith, and once again we trotted across to the Coolidge Corner Cinema for the talk. Someone in the queue told me I should do stand-up comedy, and I explained that my talks were a dialogue of sorts between me and the people who have read my books and are thus fully familiar with all the frames of reference. Add to that the overwhelming warmth I get when I walk on stage, and the whole thing becomes much, much easier. Believe me, I've given talks where no-one knows who I am, and I mumble away making little or no sense at all. I also had a chance to say hello to bookseller Daniel Butler, who hawk-eyed jasperfforde.com afficionados may recall has published an author interview calendar available at balladier.com. Tomorrow: Lexington! Tuesday 8th March 2011 - NYC
The Weather improves for my visit Signings all day and a warm welcome from Kiz at Partners and Crime (Greenwich Village) who are sadly not this year hosting an event - my two days in NYC have been amalgamated into one. Kiz has many copies of my books, all signed, and if you after early hardcovers, this is a good place to go, along with the The Mystery Bookshop down on Warren. This evening I was speaking in the Flagship Barnes and Noble store in Union Square, 'Flagship' because it has been a B&N since 1932. As a store it is vast, although I suspect that it would have been a lot smaller in those days. After all, there were less books around then. Mind you, history Bookshops in the second century must have been even emptier - pretty much just Herodotus and Pliny. You might have asked: "Have you got the new Pliny?" I am hugely grateful for the enthusiastic response when I arrived, and I was indeed sorry that the talk was called to an end with so many hands raised, and questions unanswered. Walking up Broadway I was given my sixth dodo here at NYC, and the second knitted. They all sit on a high shelf in my office, except for the last one I was given (A sock dodo, no less) which was purloined by D3 to add to the six metric tons of soft toys she has in her room. (D3 is my third daughter. I'm far to old to remember names, so I just give them designations. S1, S2, D1, D2, and so forth. If I really get stuck I can just gauge their identities by height) In any event, my thanks to Katherine for the dodo who is now my 2011 tour mascot. The latest knitted dodo in my collection - 'Knitpick' It was here in B&N that I signed my first and second Nook. This was on the back, obviously, as writing on the front would be a bit daft. But this got me thinking. If you wanted to tell Brooke that someone dressed as Chewbacca in a Chinese chef's costume had taken your Nook that you'd just loaded with Russell Brand's autobiography, you'd say: "Look, Brooke, some schnook of a crook dressed as a cooking Wookie with a wok took My Booky Wook loaded Nook." I'll await my plain english award in the post. Tomorrow: Boston! Sunday 6th March 2011
Pouring with rain in New York Jetted into New York this evening to be greeted by a wall of rain and gusty conditions. JFK was quiet as many flights had been diverted - I think we were lucky to get in at all. Day of rest to avoid a repeat of last year's tour, and then we're off. Friday 4th March 2011
Jack's Audi clicks over to 100,000 miles, the company rep equivalent of the Transit of Venus. Last day on the UK tour, and another day with Jack, whose unwavering support for Celtic Football Club leads me to attempt all sorts of impish jokes, such as insisting on wearing a Rangers hat and scarf. Sadly I couldn't find one, but having worked with Phil (the Midlands rep) recently, we agreed to try and wind up Jack by me suggesting that Phil had been awarded the prestigious E-Class Mercedes as a company car when in fact no such thing had come to pass. Jack said: 'Is he now?' when I promulgated this fiction, and we await developments with interest. Much as though I like Ocean Terminal shopping Mall, it always seem to be - well, how can I put it without being rude? 'Pedestrianly challenged' That is, there never seems to be anyone here, unless you are coming to view the Royal Yacht Brittania, which is a very lovely ship and whose decommissioning, it is said, elicited rare public tears from the Monarch. A 1930 Model A (Not Michelle's) Picture credit: Morepowerigor I've spoken at Aye Write before, and met again with the endlessly energetic Andrew Kelly and Susan Mansfield, who not only gave me a very good write up in the The Scotsman., but also hosted my event, which I think went very well - although we had to be 'shushed' afterwards as we were chatting and laughing in the signing queue while the Graham Garden event was going on. Interestingly, I saw Dame Shirley Williams in the green room, so I only have to see Baron Rodgers and I have collected the original 'Gang of Four'. I tend to collect political celebrities in the same manner as people collect bubble-gum cards or aeroplane registrations. It's an absorbing hobby - I only have to see Mao-Tse-Tung and I've collected the entire set of Embalmed Socialist Leaders. Oh, as regards Aye Write, special mention should go to Michelle who when she isn't being an usher, likes to drag race a 1930 Ford Model A with a 5.7 litre Chev engine to a highly creditable 10.3 second quarter mile. I hope to take my original 1918 Model T racer down to Santa Pod when she's rebuilt. Naturally, we will hope to match Michelle's 10.3 when we do so - only in minutes. So ends the UK leg of the tour, and my thanks to everyone who came along to listen, have books signed or indeed bought the books and thus allowing us to |