Camping in Battersea Park

One of the trickiest venues for an auction is the tent in Battersea Park - not least because the venue holds 1,500. But the real problem last night when I conducted an auction for Josh Lewsey in aid of the Prince's Trust, the Professional Rugby Players Association, and the Army Benevolent Fund is that they placed a massive raised dance floor right in the middle. This meant that if I had a bid on one side of the room, I had to go 20 paces before I could discover if I had another bid on the other side. However, it was made easier by the generosity of Josh Lewsey's friends and supporters, and we ended up raising £91,500.

There is a small group of people who attend many of the auctions I do - I've mentioned them in the past - and who are always willing to bid. One of them is Nigel Wray, chairman of Saracens, who is among the most generous men I know. Last night he purchased the shirt Josh Lewsey wore in the semi-final of the World Cup (England v France) when Josh scored in the first moments of the game, ensuring our victory and a place in the final. Among Josh's guests were the captain of England, Phil Vickery, Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley, Andy Gomarsall, and Paul Sackey. The highlight of the evening was to be a dirty dancing competition; I can't tell you who won, because by then I was at home and in bed, and for all I know they're still going strong now.

Horses at War

If you are going to go to the theatre over Christmas, forget the plethora of musicals that dominate the West End, and go and see War Horse at the National Theatre. I consider it to be one of the finest productions that the National has ever mounted, and the cheering at the end left me in no doubt that everyone in the theatre felt the same way as me. The story is set in the first World War but it's not about the soldiers, the officers or even Britain at the time, it's about the horses that were sent to war, and two in particular. When the curtain came down, the applause was not just for the two main actors - both unknown to me, both quite outstanding - but for the six men and two women who had worked the horses; they are best described as puppeteers, but I can tell you that because of their superb skills, you become convinced they are real horses on the battlefields.

There are some amazing productions on in London at the moment which are clearly important in British theatre - Patrick Stewart's Macbeth at the Gielgud, sold out, Ewan McGregor in Othello at the Donmar, sold out, Ian McKellen's Lear at the New London Theatre, sold out. I will have the privilege of seeing Lear and Othello on Monday and Wednesday next week and will report on both, but I have to say that they are going to have to be wholly exceptional to stop me making War Horse my play of the year.

Not the paparazzi

Last night I did an auction at the Reuters Building in Canary Wharf for PhotoVoice. Should you ever be visiting Canary Wharf, I advise you to take a guide dog, a compass and a friend, and even when I found the building, I had to park 15 minutes away - frankly, take the train or a cab. The auction was of 30 photographs by famous photographers and photo-journalists in aid of a charity that provides photographic training for disadvantaged young people, particularly in developing countries, thereby giving them the skills to transform their lives.

The group who organised the evening were young and enthusiastic, and had come up with 30 first class photos, including ones by Robert Doisneau, Nick Danziger, Bryan Adams and John Swannell. The audience was sprinkled with young people from the city clearly thinking of starting a photographic collection, as well as real pros on the look out for a bargain, and that combination allowed us to raise just over £40,000 for the charity. If one or two of the sales were completed afterwards, plus the silent auction, I think they should end up with £70-80,000, making it a thoroughly worthwhile evening. It's wonderful to see a whole new generation of young people wanting to give their time and energy supporting things they believe in and I admire them immensely. I wish the press would sometimes write about what people like this group are doing and not just concentrate on those who only harm society. Still, I don't suppose that would sell newspapers.

Absolutely fabulous

Last night I attended the opening of The Illustrators exhibition at the Chris Beetles Gallery in Ryder Street. The opening was performed by the one and only Joanna Lumley, a close friend of Chris's for many years, as they both have a passion for illustrators. Well she, like everyone else, was able to indulge themselves with the 700 pictures on show, ranging from E H Shepard and Arthur Rackham at several thousand pounds, to Mac and Matt at a few hundred pounds. If you like illustrators or cartoonists, there are still a few left at very sensible prices. Look for the cat who's having its eyes tested with a mouse chart, and the amazing Peter Brookes of Gordon Brown. The older ones will enjoy Giles and Vicky, while the younger ones have Quentin Blake and Michael Foreman to amuse them. Quentin Blake, and another great collector, Tim Rice, were among those present at what I thought was the best illustrators evening I've attended in many years. Chris is of course a close friend and my redoubtable assistant as an auctioneer, so it gave me great pleasure to witness such a triumph.

Making dreams come true

On Saturday night it was my favourite auction of the year. The Make-A-Wish charity grants wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses - maybe they want to be a policeman or a princess for the day, meet their favourite characters at Disney World, or spend the day with the Red Arrows.

Once again, the Dorchester was packed out; the auction raised £214,000, and the whole evening raised more than half a million pounds for this wonderful charity. Leslie Rose and Graeme Sands deserve great praise for their outstanding organisation, year in year out, and many charities would be wise to attend next year's Ball to see for themselves how it should be done. My hammer broke on the opening bid - there has to be a first time - and a very generous man in the front row bid a thousand pounds for it, despite the fact that I told him I had dozens made for me each year, and they cost £14.00 each - but then that's the type of evening it is.

You can put the pen down now...

A Prisoner of Birth has been sent to the line editor - she who picks up tiny mistakes. For example, on page 111 the judge asks one of the witnesses how many years he's lived in a particular house and he says 7, but 400 pages later, a date proves he only lived there only 6 - so she asks me which I want to change, 7 to 6, or the date. It takes a particularly strange and wonderful mind to spot these things. I signed off on the manuscript at 11.32 on Friday morning, and as the book has been sent back to Macmillan and on to the US, I am in no position to change one word, so it's finally out of my hands. Publication date is March 4th for the USA and March 7th for the UK. I notice that amazon are already taking pre-orders.

Millais at the Tate

I went to the Parliamentary viewing of the Millais exhibition at the Tate Britain on Thursday last week. What a magnificent display of the great man's work. One should begin with the crayon and pencil drawing that he did at the age of nine, to realise why he justifiably became known as precocious; he paints landscape, portraits, and domestic scenes, and manages to master them all. Despite the portrait of Disraeli, my two favourite paintings are in the last gallery, one of which is a Scottish countryside scene. I recommend you see the show before it closes on 13 January.

A night at the theatre

Last night my theatre club went to see Glengarry Glen Ross at the Apollo Theatre. Those of us who recall the performance of Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino, could only expect to be disappointed. We were wrong. Jonathan Pryce was quite outstanding, and his opening scene of 15 minutes, devastatingly set the pace for the whole play. I won't single out anyone else, as the cast was strong throughout, which is demanded for this particular piece. David Mamet's play is of course dated, in that people don't need to use the F-word in every sentence nowadays to show that they're a pretty rough lot. Nevertheless, putting that on one side, it's a damn good story, well told. Recommended, but not for Grannys or the children - keep sending them to the Sound of Music.

Things shouldn't always go in threes

Took a cab yesterday from St James's to the Soho Hotel for a private screening - set up by the Donmar - of Sleuth. I was just about to make a phone call to my office when the cab driver began to tell me about his father's experiences as a POW in Japan. The story, although interesting, went on and on, lasting right up until he pulled up at the front door to the hotel, and I confess I was inwardly cursing. I jumped out ready to pay the fare, when the driver said, "This one's on me, Jeff, love the books" - two lessons learned.

I was fortunate enough to see the original Schaffer production of Sleuth with Anthony Quayle and Keith Baxter, and much enjoyed it. Later I saw the film with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine which I didn't enjoy quite as much, but nevertheless, found it very entertaining. The third attempt, with Caine taking Olivier's role and Jude Law as the handsome young lover of Caine's wife, didn't work for me at all. I spent some time trying to analyse why. It's possible that nothing ever seems quite as good the second time, let alone the third, although I think The Godfather part II was better than The Godfather part I. However, on balance, I think it was that the chemistry between the two men didn't have me on the edge of my seat, which certainly was achieved in the original stage play.

Home from the Big Apple

I've just returned from New York New York where I met with my publishers to discuss the launch of A Prisoner of Birth. They arranged two lunches - one for the press, and the other for booksellers, both of which proved very worthwhile. The first was attended by everyone from the review editor from New York Times, to Entertainment Weekly, The Larry King Show and Time Magazine. The second centred round Barnes & Noble, which I was surprised to discover control 20% of the book market in America. I was delighted to find that most of those present had read the Advanced Readers Edition - which is not always the case. I have never known such a build-up for one of my books, and indeed the first afternoon was spent rejecting the 41 covers - yes, 41 - that the art department had come up with. Macmillan have already decided on the cover (I'll show you this soon), but the Americans are going down a different route, something a little more modern, and have rejected all the obvious 'best selling' gold lettered covers. Several newspapers have already been in touch about serialisation rights and the Americans will be sending me on the longest tour since Kane and Abel (17 cities in 21 days).

On the social side, I was able to catch up with political friends over dinner at the Knickerbocker Club. New Yorkers seem fascinated by the fact that it could be two of their own, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, who end up as the Democratic candidates for the upcoming Presidential elections, while they are now almost universally saying that George W Bush is among the worst presidents in their history. The city is looking better than ever under Mayor Bloomberg, and remembering the financial problems America is facing at the present time, I suspect he'd make a better president than any of the current candidates. I was also planning to go to the theatre, but Broadway is in darkness because of a strike by stage hands, so went to a film instead - No Country for Old Men - the Cohen Brothers' new film which is number one in the US at the moment, but I walked out half way through because it was so violent. I did find time to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see their new Greek and Roman rooms on the ground floor which are fantastic. I wonder if the Met is now the best museum in the world? I also went to a morning sale of modern paintings at Christies - squares, circles and squiggles, being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I kept my wallet in my pocket. Give me a Turner any day. However, I was made very aware of the current purchasing power of the pound and the dollar, as almost everything in New York is half the price of London - no wonder so many people are off to Fifth Avenue to buy their Christmas presents rather than Oxford Street.

On a final note, one reads a lot of criticism of British Airways in the press, but I had an excellent flight there and back, and found their staff as obliging and charming as ever. We live in an age when the norm is to undermine, be rude and belittle, so I am bound to say thank you BA, for a very pleasant trip.

Edits, corrections and amendments...

For the past week I've been reading - very slowly - the proofs of A Prisoner of Birth, and this morning at 7.47 am, I turned the last page. Just in time, as I fly to New York today for a pre-launch of the book - that will be explained when I return on Friday.

The process of correcting proofs takes about 50 hours, 6 minutes a page, and although the final changes may only be small, they can often make a big difference. But the book has finally been taken away from me, and all I can do is wait to hear your verdict when it's published in March. Yes, every author believes that their latest book is their best, though perhaps years later they are able to make a more rational assessment. However, I am in no doubt that A Prisoner of Birth is the best piece of work I have ever done.

A musical evening in Birmingham

Travelled up to Birmingham on Saturday to conduct the auction for the Get A Head Charitable Trust which fights neck and head cancer and other diseases. Their patron, Lord Jones of Birmingham - you may remember him as Sir Digby Jones, formerly Director-General of the CBI - made a moving and eleoquent speech about the charity's work, which greatly helped me, in my task as auctioneer, in raising £120,000.

The star of the evening was Brian Conley, who played Al Johnson at the Victoria Theatre for three years, and is now tipped to be the lead in Music Man at Chichester next season. Brian is one of those gifted performers who isn't quite sure whether he's a stand-up comedian or a singer, but is blessed with a great gift of timing that allows him to take advantage of both. The evening ended with a single bugler from the Coldstream Guards playing the Last Post as we were rightly reminded of those who have sacrificed their lives in two World Wars and other conflicts.

Even Homer nods

I went to see The Giant at the Hampstead Theatre last night. As it was written by Antony Sher and directed by Gregory Doran, and the subject was Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, I assumed I was in for an evening of bliss. Perhaps I was just tired from hours of editing the page proofs of A Prisoner of Birth, but I fear I nodded off during the first act, and decided to go home and have a good night's sleep.

And another auction...

Raced back from Warwickshire on Tuesday afternoon where I was giving a speech, to Lord's Cricket Ground in Marylebone to do an auction. The Long Room as a venue never fails to excite a would-be opening England batsman like myself. The room only holds 120 people but has a special atmosphere of its own. The cricketer being honoured that night was the English Test and One Day International, Vikram Solanki. The guest speakers were Carol Thatcher, Graham Hick (he of 132 centuries) and Mark Ramprakash (he of 97 centuries), whose testimonial is next year, so don't be surprised when he gets his 100th century before his big event at Grosvenor House. The evening raised just over £22,000, which was shared between Birmingham Children's Hospital and Mr Solanki. A fun evening.

I'm off to Birmingham tomorrow to do an auction for the Get A Head charity which raises money to fight head and neck cancer. I will report back to you on Monday.

Greeks bearing gifts...

The auction on Saturday for Life Action Trust and The Oinoussai Benevolent Fund was held in the Royal Opera House - another first for me. The Greeks have many qualities - passion, loyalty, love of their country, but keeping to a timetable is not what they're famous for. The event started half an hour late, and I wasn't on my feet until after 11.00pm. But back to another of their qualities - their generosity. We raised £100,000.

Two pieces of luck for me - George Tsavliris was in the audience, so I was able to get rid of the worst item for £5,000 (read A Greek Tragedy from Cat O'Nine Tales), but a new bonus was Sir Stelios, who not only put up a prize which went for £12,000, he then paid £24,000 to buy it back -bringing it up to £36,000 - and I then decided to fine him an additional £4,000 for daring to come on stage with me. He is indeed a generous man.

The evening ended with the celebrated singer, Anna Vissi, who entertained her countrymen with Greek songs, and although I couldn't understand a word, there was no doubting the quality of her voice. I left just after midnight. I have reason to believe the Greeks are still there.

The gentleman on table 6...

I did the auction last night at Claridge's on behalf of St David's Care in the Community. The crowd of 300 were a jolly lot, and joined in with great enthusiasm. I had anticipated the auction raising somewhere between £30-40,000 as they managed £20,000 last year, but we ended up raising £90,000, partly because of table 6, a group of young people from RBS who kept the whole room going with bids and counter-bids. I was also helped by a very moving speech by the charity's chief executive, which always makes extracting the money easier.

This week's theatre trip

I went to see The Country Wife at the Haymarket starring the marvellous David Haig and Patrica Hodge. Vulgar restoration comedy is such fun, and Toby Stephens made a virtue of over-acting, while the rest of the cast played to his evil tricks. Much enjoyed and recommended. 4/5*