frankbarnard.com

This is turning into something of a Me-Me-Me episode but the Sunday Times of Malta ran a thoughtful piece about my visit there, interesting (I hope) to anyone visiting the island who may be curious about the Maltese attitude to Brits, which is still favourable despite my fears that they might be getting thoroughly fed-up with hearing about past history.

Now I have a vague idea of what being a celebrity entails, thanks to a incredibly busy visit to Malta promoting the island’s special edition of Band Of Eagles. I was invited there by Miller Distributors, the leading distributors of newspapers, magazines and books, along with much else ranging from press services to consumer electronics. In the space of two days I signed copies of Band Of Eagles Over Malta at no fewer than six Agenda bookshops, all owned by Miller, as well as meeting the press at a reception at the Phoenicia Hotel and being interviewed by journalists from Times of Malta, Malta Independent and Sunday Circle, required reading for anyone interested in what’s going on generally. Interest in the novel had also been boosted by the Times of Malta serialising it in three parts the previous week, another coup for Miller.
The Malta Independent (click to see large version)

The Malta Independent (click to see large version)

At the reception Miller director Caroline Wirth uttered those dreaded words: ‘Now a brief introduction before Frank Barnard gives his speech.’ Which I hadn’t been expecting but got through nonetheless, and probably better for it not having had time to get the jitters. Other memorable moments included responding to questions from a reporter from One News, the main TV news channel, in the Agenda outlet adjoining the Auchan supermarket, watched by curious shoppers. In what might be termed ‘a whistlestop tour’, I signed books for many interesting people, among them a Austrian commercial pilot flying an executive jet for a Russian billionaire, a high-ranking US naval officer based at the American Embassy, a senior official with the Maltese Foreign Office about to be posted to the state of Victoria, Australia and numbers of people with memories of the war; for example a Brit whose uncle died in a Hurricane at Takali and a now-elderly Maltese gentleman who as a ten-year-old recalled seeing many dogfights between Spitfires and Messerschmitt 109s.

One coincidence is worth recounting: an English couple told me they were from Frinton-on-Sea. It was one of those shot-in-the-dark moments. ‘You don’t happen to know (and I gave the name of an old PR colleage of mine who lived there) do you?’ They not only knew him but were good friends…
Frank Barnard at the Phoenicia Hotel in Malta

At some point in my impromptu speech at the Phoenicia Hotel reception, watched by Miller's Caroline Wirth

A busy trip, then, but hugely enjoyable. Alan Bennett once said: ‘There’s writing and being a writer.’ This was the fun bit, being a writer, no longer shut away in that small room in a fantasy world, fun also of course but in a different way.

My sincere thanks to Caroline Wirth and, particuarly, to the indefatigable Mike Vella de Fremeaux, Manager-Trade Books, who created the programme with great efficiency and guided me through the packed schedule with easy assurance.