Publication Week
Felice in the BBC studio with Jon and Sally
The Day Has Come!
It was the big day – Monday 3rd of July – UK publication day. The evening before, I’d driven up to Manchester to be in place for a 9.05am interview with BBC Breakfast at Salford Quays. Who knew that so much BBC material is recorded at their studio in Manchester?
I was asked to arrive at 8am for hair and makeup and was whisked off to sit under an enormous mirror. I’ve never seem so many makeup brushes. There must have been over a hundred. Apparently a different brush is used for each person, so that’s the reason. The makeup artist slathered on foundation, blusher, eyeliner, eyeshadow, lip gloss – far more than I’d ever dream of wearing in real life. But of course this isn’t real life, it is TV where the lights wash out your face if the correct makeup isn’t applied.
The studio was in an ultra-modern building, all glass and steel. Lots of desks with computers, but few people sitting at them. Staff were milling around, trying their best to make me feel relaxed. I’d had no breakfast, but had a cup of tea to sip while I waited to go on. Then someone ‘mic-ed me up’. It was a bit like a pre-op at hospital. In fact, it felt pretty similar to arriving at St Thomas’ hospital in London 28 years ago (almost to the day) before my daughter’s birth. All three of my children were born at St Thomas’, with the best views in London from its big windows overlooking the Thames. Now here I was in a building with big windows overlooking the Manchester Canal.
At the BBC, just after the interview
Afterwards I went back to my hotel next door, had breakfast and then went online for a 10.15am interview with BBC Radio Somerset. That was a really good experience, not at all nerve-wracking, and the interviewer had read the entire book – I was very impressed. Then I drove home, but there was to be no rest.
The next day we drove to Winchester for my first actual book launch – at P&G Wells in what is arguably the oldest bookshop in Britain (no. 11 College Street). It’s a beautiful building, both inside and out, and they told me that Jane Austen had stepped on that very floor when she lived next door in College Street in 1817. This evening, more than 200 years later, there was torrential rain and I was a bit worried that no one would come. I was wrong! All my old Winchester and Southampton friends turned up, plus others I didn’t know. I signed around 28 books, so the shop was happy. My short talk went really well and people even laughed in all the right places!
Impressive display in the beautiful P&G Wells bookshop. Photo: © F. Hardy
Late to bed but early to rise for the train to Wimbledon where I was to be co-star at an event in The Tennis Gallery. It was a book signing shared with the former Wimbledon referee and player, Andrew Jarrett. He obviously sold many more books than I did and people were queuing to talk to him…but I hung onto his coat-tails and plenty of people went on to buy my books as well as his. What a week it’s been! I’ve even jumped to No.1 on Amazon in Tennis Biographies, Racket Sports and Historical Biographies from 1901 - the last of these I was, briefly, above Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela!
Felice and Andrew Garrett swap books
