Geri Halliwell-Horner and friends took over the Tower of London last night for the launch of her new children’s book Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen.
Halliwell-Horner, who was one fifth of the Spice Girls, told us the book took her nine years to write and is “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She took advice on the book from authors including Jacqueline Wilson, creator of Tracey Beaker, who was at last night’s bash. “It was like giving Humpty Dumpty to Beethoven,” Halliwell-Horner joked, “she gave me guidance that I was so grateful for.”
She also had help from the Booker-shortlisted author William Boyd, who wrote Any Human Heart. “He read one of my first drafts and told me to rewrite the whole thing in the third person and the past tense,” Geri said, “because I’d done it in the first person and the present tense.”
“At different times in your life, you’ve felt perhaps when you were younger, you felt lost and alone, maybe bullied. That’s when I discovered the power of reading. Characters in books became my best friend and gave me courage,” she said in a speech to the gather guests, among whom were fellow Spice Girl Emma Bunton and model Penny Lancaster, who was on crutches.
Her husband Christian Horner was also at the Tower last night showing support. “My husband read it and he said to me ‘ooh it’s much better than I thought it would be’”, Geri told us.
