Today we made a movie. :-) It will be probably a 5 minute movie.  And what delights me so much is that some of you will be in it. 

I had an email from a wonderful kind stranger, a Mr Kevin Jon Davis who I'd met once when Kevin came to hear me give a 'How to Get Published' talk and was amused, it seems, by the particular quality of my absurdity.  On hearing about this 'Author in Residence in Window' activity he decided it was too fun an activity to go unfilmed.  So along he came today with cameras, lights and his son Liam and together they filmed me all day and also, much to my delight, managed to persuade many passers by and book buyers to appear too. 

So today people were first startled and then filmed.  Often they were filmed being startled.  Cameras, a bit like windows with people in, are things that attract some people and drive others away.  Some rush up, wanting to be filmed.  Others cross, like frightened chickens, to the other side. Kevin captured come great reactions and Liam, very conscientiously, got signatures on general release forms even for the most tiny reaction.  My favourite was two boys aged about 8 and 10 who had lists of questions for the author. 

 'Do you write all the books yourself or do you write one and then photocopy it?' 

'No - I write one, put it in a big manchine and that does all the rest.' 

'If you see a sword in real life do you write about it in your books?'  

'Yes, if I did see a sword in real life, (floating in mid air for example?) I would deifnitely write about it in one of my books, yes.' 

'Are you rich?' 

'No. But I have a window and a plastic dog.'

They seemed satisfied with all my answers.   

Adults are a more wary of being filmed - sometimes assuming the worst.  Many are generous and were happy to be part of what will become our 5 minute epic.  The difference between people always astounds me.  Some are SO warm. They don't know me but they come up, chat, buy books, then are happy to be interviewed on camera giving footage that will end up on You Tube and could be seen anywhere by anyone. Some positively light up at a camera and are ready to entertain.  One customer today was from New York.  She didn't know me, has never read my books, but was so delighted at the sight of an author in a window she left us all refreshed and revitalised by her enthusiasm.  'An author in a window?? That is SO the coolest thing I've EVER seen!  Yes, I'll buy a book.  Yes, I'll be interviewed. Yes, Yes, Yes!'  I'm sure if we'd said, 'Can you stand on your head while you are here?' She'd have said, 'Yes of course.'  I just love Americans.

I was also reminded today about what I love about Battersea.  This is such a diverse area. It's a good thing I've never been asked who I think a typical Battersea resident is as it would be impossible question to answer.  We managed to film all backgrounds today and also to represent that bizarre but all too present element of Battersea, 'Class.'  You can't avoid it.  Families sounding so posh that I find myself inclined to chuckle and others who speak a street jargon that is bewildering for members of our current government but quiite easy to understand when you're a local.  This branch of Waterstones is right in the middle of this Battersea - this melting pot of extremes that made the very street where we were filming today one of the worst hit in London in the recent riots.  It seems a lifetime and another world away.  Today the sun shone and Battersea was a great place to be. The best.

I just love it in my long wide space.  I suppose two of the ways in which sitting in this window is like the content of my books is that I love making people smile - I love making them laugh.  I love it when some lad, trying perhaps to shock me, comes up and makes as if to snog through the glass - I just snog right back on my side.  I love the tentative waves of the elderly. The delighted laughs when I blow bubbles with my bubble blower for the tiny children. I love signing books for presents and making people happy.  I love giving away baloons to little people. I love the smiles of those who have read my books when they find me in the window. I even love the suspicious looks of those who glance and rush away.  Humanity is such a delight - a motley delight.

I am looking forward to showing you the video.  As soon as it is edited - you'll be the first to see it.  But Kevin can't edit it yet.  He and Liam are coming back tomorrow.  Because tomorrow the Lady Mayor of Wandsworth is coming. And wearing her Mayor's chain.  :-)  

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