My first ever book signing took place on Saturday, in Borders Books, Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh.

Borders had set up a display at the front of the store with loads of copies of the book. They had blown up one of the letters featured in the book to A3 size because, funnily enough, it was addressed to them!  Yes, some time ago I had written to Borders, Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh requesting freebies!  So it seems appropriate that their store should be the first on my signing tour.

They had promoted the event well with posters advertising my appearance, and throughout the session, they put announcements out that I was in store signing copies of the book.

It was great to meet so many people interested in the book and the concept behind it.  One person in particular amused me - no matter what I said, he simply repeated the words “yes, yes - silly mental crazy”.  I’m not sure why.  It’s possible they were the only English words he knew!

I received a lot of very positive feedback from customers who loved the idea of the book.  Although most requested that the book was signed to them, many asked me to sign it to their friends, describing it as a perfect gift.  Who am I to argue?!  By the end of the session, my table was almost sold out and the staff invited me back to sign again around Christmas time.  I will most definitely be there.

Today is the official release date of Silly Beggar. It brings me enormous pleasure say that it is available *now* from all good book shops!

How exciting to think that this side-splittingly hilarious, beautifully-crafted and, um, humble book will be adorning the shelves of book stores up and down the land.

Over the next few weeks I will see this for myself as I participate in a wide variety of promotions and author events here in Scotland (see sidebar for details).

I hope you can join me, and if so I look forward to seeing you.

I made a guest appearance on the Macaulay and Co show on BBC Radio Scotland this morning.  The good people at the Beeb were excited about the concept of Silly Beggar and invited me in for a chat with legendary funny man Fred Macaulay.  Never having been on radio before, this was a slightly nervewracking experience for me, but I had a lot of fun once my initial inner-terror had died down.  I must confess I did ‘um’ and ‘erm’ throughout the interview. In fairness though, I do speak like that normally.

…after a few beers.

In addition to my own interview, throughout the show, there was a call-in feature where listeners were asked to get in touch to share the best items that they had received as freebies.  There were many incredible examples and it was reassuring to note how many people out there love to get their hands on a good give-away!

The highlights of the interview were when Fred threw me a Macaulay and Co tee shirt (sweet - another freebie successfully blagged), which I thanked them for and then cheekily asked what the eBay value of it was. I was also thrilled when Fred read a brief extract from the book, selecting one my own favourites.

Missed out on the fun?  Fear not!  The BBC iPlayer allows you to ‘listen again’ (for seven days), Go on - treat your ears to the Macaulay and Co show.  The Silly Beggar bit takes place in the last ten minutes of the show.  Enjoy!