Last week I did the most random book signing at the Jaguar plant in Birmingham – I thought it was going to be easy to get a few of the 2500 men who work there to part with £7.99 for a stocking filler for their wives – wrong!
Whether it’s a sign of the times or just pain meanness, who knows?
I winced when I heard the sentence ‘she don’t ‘av time to read luv, she’s got to get me dinner on the table and deal with the kids, you know? Gotta go now, need a fag.’ (Imagine thick Brummie accent there). This guy was quite happy to invest the best part of eight quid in the tobacco industry but the whole gesture of giving his ‘missus’ a copy of The Cava Queen, with the accompanying gesture of taking time for herself out to read it, was absolutely lost on him.
I sold 14 books…
But, on a positive note, an unexpected email came through from the marketing department of Freixenet, who had been told by somebody’s husband who worked at the marketing department at Jaguar, that I had featured a mini-bottle of their cava on my poster. I steeled myself for a ticking off, but far from it – they wanted to help me promote the book on their site.
Considering the rather obvious title, the locality of the novel and the fact they are mentioned as a brand on page 2, I have always considered them a match made in heaven and wanted to come under their radar for a while now.
The important factor for me was that it was my instinct that drove me to call Jaguar, trek up there on a cold nasty day and take a chance. I kept repeating to myself myself all day that there was a reason I was there, something would reveal itself, and sure enough the Freixenet email came through on the drive home.
Life has a funny way of delivering twists and turns that keep us on our toes, but by keeping in touch with our instinctive selves, manoeuvring our way through changing times and challenging situations becomes a little easier.
I wish all you Costa Cava Queens a wonderful Christmas, and look forward to maybe meeting you all in the new year at some point. If I can organise a book club event with Costa Women, maybe we could get a little sponsorship from a certain cava company? Who knows?
Festive Felicitations and Bountiful Bubbles to you all.
Amanda x