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 : )

Book review: Stitch London

(Note the amazing cupcake!)

Confession time. I only knit one thing a year. For 2011 I’ve been working on a red robot for a friends baby that was born in August…suffice to say I have not yet visited it, as I don’t want to go empty handed : ( Feeling guilty is not a strong enough word. So to drown my bad knitter sins I popping along to the launch of this most momentous book that celebrates a city so dear to my heart…Londinium.

Written by a fellow associate of the rainbow hair society and a founding member of Stitch London, the mammoth knitting network (it has a tremendous 10,000 members!) Lauren O’Farrell, it's a book that shows you how to knit things inspired by the Big Smoke, like the residents:

One does love to walk one's corgis

Good day ma’am.

And its most spectacular of landmarks…(even the underrated ones like Tower Bridge.)

If you have never ventured to this fine capital city, you will certainly want to after feasting your eyes on this somewhat addictive read. (I’m referring to the bits inbetween the pattern instructions.)

To prevent one buying this book to add to their ‘craft porn’ collection (another near guilty confession)…the manual comes with FREE yarn and needles so you can get clicking straight away and make your own feathered pigeon.

Though cute as they are, I’m more interested in owning this sewer rat, it’s just soooooooo pesky : )

Lovely Lauren with an adoring fan!

So, that’s all the fluff, but is this book any good and should you buy it?

Well here is what I like about it:

You don’t have to be good at knitting

There’s a passage where Lauren encourages ‘messing’ with her patterns. To grab, shake, twist and change them as you want. One of the reasons I hardly knit is because patterns scare me. I prefer knitting random pieces and stitching them together. For years I thought a pro like Lauren would sneer at me for this but it turns out she’s on my side. I can’t explain (yes I know I’m a writer but allow me this once) how happy this makes me feel : )

It teaches you things…

like London lingo and even me, a born and bread Londoner has learnt a thing or to from this cultural manual like that ‘not really cricket’ translates as ‘not a very nice thing to do’ though thankfully I knew what a battenburg cake is. 

User friendly ratings

Complex projects are referred to as ‘Black Cab Drivers’ because they are the brains of the city and the more simple ones are called ‘Tourists’ since they are newbies.

The photos

These are taken in situ around town which is a nice touch, especially after hearing about the weather traumas they had to put up with during shoots.

Easy reading

The whole book is written in a really pleasant, engaging way, it’s nice to read and craft books aren’t normally bought for reading so in this sense Lauren has moved the genre on and hopefully it will pave the way for more ‘interesting’ future titles. 

And here’s what I don’t like about it:

NOTHING : )

This title is terrific. Do you like knitting? Are you wondering about it? Thinking about it? Want to own something knitted and scared of scouring the ever-growing collection of knitting books at your local bookshop? Well this is a good place to start And if you do use your kit to make your owned winged Cooey then upload the evidence to www.knitthepigeon.com for the world to see.

Just keep it away from Plarchie, Lauren’s squid who is partial to eating humans and most probably considers a pigeon as some kind of vou-le-vant.

Oh and if you are in a bookshop tracking the aforementioned title down, then I urge you to swing by the children’s picture book section too. Whilst in Foyles for the launch I spied this most inspiring of titles with really wonderful illustrations. Perhaps I should just give up on the robot and turn up at my friend’s place with my head no longer hanging in shame with this instead?

Stitch London: 20 kooky ways to knit the city and more by Lauren O’Farrell is out now published by David & Charles, priced £14.99. A percentage of which is donated to Leukaemia & Lymphoma research.