Meeting my hero: Alexander McCall Smith

The literary legend

Sometimes one has to write a blog post immediately: everything else can be put on hold (even watching the new episode of Fresh Meat which is about to start!) And despite being exhausted and hungry, I can’t concentrate on anything else other than sharing how excited and buzzing I am! This evening I very unexpectedly met my hero; the author Alexander McCall Smith.

A week ago I found out he was giving a reading at Foyles bookstore but that it was ‘sold out.’ Not one to give up, I turned up anyway. When I arrived and my name wasn’t on the list I was looked at suspiciously (I think they knew I was lying when I said my name was Momtaz and I had booked!), but was then told there was a couple of spare seats at the back.

I took my place, and seconds later he entered the room, wearing the biggest and warmest smile a gentleman could ever have. He laughed from the moment he arrived to the moment he left. And so began a most fascinating hour where he was interviewed about the characters in his books, all of whom he gave insights and tales about; from Precious Ramotswe, the star of 12 No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Books, Bertie, the six year old Italian boy from the 44 Scotland Street series and amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie from The Sunday Philosophy club, revealing a few secrets on what’s in store for them (but I’m keeping zipped about those!)

He threw in anecdotes from trips abroad including people he’d met in Bali and Australia, tales of olive oil and sausage dogs as well as his early career in children’s fiction and previous career as a medical lawyer.

But what I will remember most, is that he had the most incredible presence. The only way I can describe it, is like the man who appears in Mary Poppins, who floats to the ceiling every time he laughs. He was the kind of grandpa everyone wants; so full of wit and stories and interested in people.

He is one of the greatest writers of our times, yet so down to earth and likeable. What I admired most was hearing him talk about how much he liked his characters. He takes so much pride in the lives he has created, and as a reader it makes his work feel so much more special knowing that.

After the interview he took questions from the floor, but I was too stunned to think of any. Then we were told he would sign books! And to top it off, it wasn’t the usual ‘only one thing can be signed, it must the latest book, no photos and the author is strictly here for 30 minutes’; it was like him, very welcoming. We could browse his books before buying them and take our time as ‘he was here for a while’…such a nice thing to hear!

The Perfect Hamburger sprung to mind. It was my favourite book when I was a child. It's  about a boy who discovers a very old, strange jar of spice. He adds it to a burger recipe and discovers he has cooked the tastiest hamburger in the world ever; trouble is, how can he recreate it? The spice jar doesn’t say what it was! When I was at school, I read this book continuously and kept getting it out from the library. Sadly I never owned it so I raced downstairs to get it but alas, it wasn’t in stock. I did however find ‘Precious and the monkeys’, which is the first in a set of  children’s books about Precious Ramotse growing up. (A bit like the No.1 Girls Detective Agency.)

The queue moved swiftly even though he spoke to every single person. When it was my turn, I explained about my love for The Perfect Hamburger and he seemed very touched, explaining he doesn’t normally get that as a comment.

To be in the presence of someone you have utter respect for and it turns out they have utter respect for you too is an amazing experience. I don’t know this man, or much about him. I’ve just grown up reading his books. They’ve fuelled my imagination and I think in some way, shaped the person I am. 

Today was a most inspiring day and I won’t forget it in a long time : )

Waking Up In The Land of Glitter

I'm the kind of person who always has a 'To Do' list the same size as my height. I even have a separate 'To Do When I'm Ill' list to the extent that I wish I was ill just so I could do some of those things - they tend to be the fun stuff that I wish I could do every day but feel guilty doing them as I should be working instead. Well this weekend I actually fell ill and so rather than doing my usual 

( I had three articles to write) I decided to turn off my computer and head to bed with a good book - No 1 on my list of things to do when I'm ill!

Reading 'Waking Up in Land of Glitter' made being ill so worthwhile - it is a truly inspirational book and has given me a whole new motivation and energy for life. Sometime I am so caught up in deadlines and paying bills  that I forget to stand back and do things like appreciate my friends and indulge in what I love doing most which is making stuff and this book reminded me of those things.

It is written by my all time craft heroine The Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo. She is an absolute legend of the craft world and everything I aspire to be. She's a writer and artist and like me a sexy Saggitarian, the author of several fantastic craft books, hosts crafty TV, sells her own range of crafty projects, runs crafty holidays, has two children and 5 pets and has managed to squeeze in writing craft themed fiction, which is what this is. 

A book about three women who all have different relationships with crafts and it follows their friendship, love and family lives. It's a truly complete novel, all tied up with no loose ends - a vivid insight into characters who just seem so real. The attention to craft detail is so endearing, the craft references are in every page of the book and it's so exciting and enticing to read.

I have wondered many times if I could ever write crafty fiction - it's always appealed, I've written some drafts but nothing I would ever want to share with anyone. But looking at Kathy's writing blog which she runs alongside her fabulous crafty blog I feel so inspired. She has just finished her second crafty novel which she sat down and wrote in a mere few weeks just through sheer determination and discipline. You always hear people say things like 'anythings possible', 'if you work hard you'll really achieve your dreams' etc and it sounds so cliched but so what, it's better to be inspired by such positivity then not try and be who you want to be.

I feel proud to have this book on my shelf, and I aim to bring myself back to it every time I have any self doubt. I have goals and ambitions and  when they seem a million miles away I'm going to think of Kathy's dedication for the book 'to all the creative individuals out there who have a vision to do something great. Whether it's on a public or private scale, I hope that the characters in this book will inspire you to reach your goals....remember no idea is too big or too crazy.'

Thanks Kathy x

"Mastercrafts The Book"

The postman woke me up in the early hours with two very exciting pieces of post, the book 'Mastercrafts' to accompany the new BBC Series that I am soon to be on and a picture drawn by my 4 year old niece depicting all my favourite things (Note the cupcakes and pretty dress!)

Published by the brilliant David & Charles (brilliant because they publish lots of wonderful

crafty titles) the book is celebration of the six crafts that feature in the series - stonework, thatching, woodwork, glass, metalwork and weaving. A beautiful 256 page hard back book, its a bit like an encyclopedia of the crafts in question.

The book is written by Tom Quinn, a writer and historian who knows a lot about the countryside. However this is where I started to get a bit frustrated. The book is about re-discovering British Craftmanship of which I am a passionate advocate, and despite how informative and interesting the content, the cover is atrocious. I honestly think it's one of the worst craft book covers I've ever seen (and having been the editor of a crafts magazine I have seen a lot of craft books). It panders to every stereotype you could possibly think of to do with country crafts making it extremely unappealing, if it doesn't sell well, I wouldn't be surprised if the cover is to blame. Hence this is why I have covered it up with my niece's drawing.

But of course, never judge a book by it's cover, give it a chance.......

Each chapter begins with the history of the craft exploring the origination of raw materials, how the craft has developed, going into alot of detail which makes it the ideal book for college libraries to help with research - there is information here that is impossible to find in other places.

The book also includes some photos of the trainees who took part in the TV series and interviews with the 'mastercraft' tutors. Can you spot me? Sadly from the aforementioned 256 there are just two photos of me in it (and three photos of my hands!). The day the book photographer came I was working on my own outside for 12 hours, the two shots that are in the book were 'test shots' taken in doors. But the most disappointing aspect of the whole book is the fact NONE of the trainees have their names mentioned.

In the way the that I can't understand why they chose the hideous cover, I can't understand why they haven't mentioned our names, even a simple 'thank you' in the back would have been nice. They have thanked the production company, the tutors, and Monty the presenter but not the 18 people who gave up their lives for 6 weeks to take part in the show. It's not like they didn't know our names, we all signed release forms. It's just plain mean.

And on that note my final verdict of this book is that it's an excellent resource for people who want to know more about the specific crafts in question and may be considering taking it up themselves and students who are studying crafts but with it's uninspiring cover I don't think it will appeal to today's new breed of modern hip crafter which is a real shame : (