Woking Waterstone's Book Signing

Even with the much appreciated help of my assistant Charlotte, we only sold three copies of Hard Time in the first hour.

“It’s going to be a long day,” Charlotte said.

“I’m praying for heavy rain, so they’ll come to the mall,” I said. “A lot of students from SJB have been sending me messages on Facebook saying they are going to show up, but students are so fickle, you never know.”

Earlier in the week, I spoke at Saint John the Baptist School (SJB) in Woking. Hundreds of students packed into a room with no seats. They ended up being one of the most responsive audiences yet, laughing riotously when I told them about Frankie sticking a love letter under my cell door, proposing we have a gay prison marriage. I departed with a big smile on my face.

Around lunch time, SJB students started to arrive. Followed by more students. Then even more students. Students with parents. SJB students with students from other schools. Students in gangs of four and five. And none of them left. They filled up half of the store. More and more students. So many that the customers had a hard time getting to the tills. Customers watched fascinated as Charlotte shot photos and videos. Some onlookers, infected by the buzz, bought the book. I was signing books solidly for an hour.


Video: talking to students.

Two students, including Kassia (centre) and Anna, dressed up in jail outfits and handed flyers out in the mall.

At least five different parents showed up to thank me for the influence the talk had had on their children.

“My son has being going on about your talk all week,” said a parent. “He never speaks to me right after school. I ask him how his day has been and he just grunts alright. The day of your talk, we couldn’t shut him up. He went on and on and on, and he’s still talking about it.”

Video: Feedback from eloquent SJB student on my talk.

With Daniel from my BodyCombat class.

After the incident with the mechanical cockroach and the security guards at the Watford mall, I was concerned that Kassia and Anna would get told off for handing flyers out by the security guards in the Woking mall. When these two security guards burst into Waterstone's wielding walkie-talkies that were crackling like crazy, I braced to be reprimanded. I was surprised and delighted that they had arrived on the scene to buy the Hard Time.
 

With Hannah (of the palindromic name).

A big thank you to the SJB parents and students who showed up at the signing, especially the students handing flyers out. The store had sold out of books by 2.30pm, almost 50 copies, and we got to leave early.

Click here for the previous signing blog.

The next four book signings are in August: Southport, Chester, Manchester and Guildford. Click here for full details.

Shaun Attwood