Can we get that microphone working?!

Mikes can be tricky instruments!
In promoting my two books, The Housemaid's Daughter and The Girl from Simon's Bay, I've lived through a number of microphone malfunctions. On this particular occasion, at a bookstore in South Africa, the mike behaved itself perfectly. We were meeting in a coffee shop next to the bookstore - a trendy setting with some gorgeous pictures on the wall. The wine also helped to make a memorable evening, as you can see from the second photo. But whereas a glass of wine can loosen up the guests so that they don't notice any hiccups (from themselves or the mike), it's a different matter for the speaker. Wrestling with a mike that cuts out or hisses with feedback can really put you off your pitch especially if it's a big gathering.

I remember one particular talk to a fairly large group when it was clear that the mike was not going to co-operate and so I abandoned it and positioned myself in the middle of the room and did my talk in the round. I tried to speak to each quadrant of the room in turn, and sometimes repeated myself to the group who might have been the most cut off. It worked but it was certainly a challenge. Probably the most frustrating part can come at question time at the end of a talk. I love taking questions because there are always readers who have interesting opinions or particular input to the setting or context of the book. But, oh dear! Passing the mike about so that the questioner can be heard very often doesn't work. Folk don't want to wait for the mike to arrive and so they ask their question in advance. Others can't hear and shout "What? What?"
The only solution is to be the ringmaster and do the mike-passing myself!