As is usual with me, for the past few weeks I've been running round in disorganised dizzy circles, and swearing that when I've got a spare minute I'll blog; write; answer emails; write; cut the grass; write; clear out the dining room; write; clear out the study; write; paint the living room (as in decorate - not a nice watercolour...); clear out the sheds; write.... And here we are, at the end of the third week in July (where the heck did June go? And May...?) and I haven't done very much at all.
I have written though. Midnight Feast. Not all of it - this is me we're talking about - but at the moment I'm more or less on schedule with this one and, not wanting to sound slightly grown-up or smug, it's a really nice feeling not to be panicking at the last minute. And after chapter two it took off all on its own, so I scrapped my notes/synopsis/outline and let it go its own way. Now it's definitely Cold Comfort Farm meets Masterchef, and possibly way way OTT, but I like it...
So, the Reeding at Redding (sorry - should have said all this before) went really well. Ann and Liz at the library were wonderful; we had a flatteringly nice crowd, they all asked questions I could answer and they laughed in the right places (with not at - always a bonus) - and I was taken out for a brilliant meal afterwards (a huge plus for me as I'm a pig). And I sold and signed loads of books and met some great people. The local press turned up and took photos (which I've now seen and of course now wish a) I'd stuck more rigidly to Weight Watchers and b) had my hair done...). There was a funny-peculiar moment when I'd spent ages discussing with one lady in the audience whether the River Kennet could actually run through Hazy Hassocks (as it does in my books), or whether it could flash-flood (as it does in Happy Birthday), and everyone joined in and there was quite a debate raging, then I remembered that I'd made it up and it really didn't matter about the geography because it's all fiction. I think...
And I've been on holiday - well, sort of. The Toyboy Trucker and I (after last year's disastrous financial blip) cancelled both this year's glitzy hols - and took off for a last-minute cheapo week to rediscover the bucket and spade holidays of our yoof. We toured the south coast from Sussex, through Hampshire, to Dorset, stopping off in beach huts, chalets and caravans. The weather was lovely, and so was the accommodation, but most of the places had changed (okay, we should have known they'd change but we sort of thought they wouldn't have) beyond recognition. So sad - I guess it's true that you should never go back. However, our best day of the whole week was spent at Bognor (are you laughing???). We just threw ourselves into everything wonderful about the British seaside holiday - we played in the amusement arcades (amazing how fiercely you can want a cascade of 2p pieces!!!), got very competitive at crazy golf, paddled eating ice-creams, sat on the beach with egg sandwiches and bottles of warmish lemonade, bought a lot of tat, and got sunburned. Fabulous!
Elle and The Doctor were left in charge of the cats while we were away and everyone survived. Oh, there is one rather sad bit here - it seems the official pics of me in the m-o-t-b frock may never see the light of day. (Yessss!). It's now three months since Elle and The Doctor's wedding and they still haven't got their wedding album. The photographer did his stuff, but the company he used to print and collate and produce the albums has gone into liquidation. Eeeek. Well, that's not eeek from me (the longer the m-o-t-b pics stay a secret the better as far as I'm concerned) - but it's a huge EEEK from Elle and The Doctor. The images are all safe - but are still only on disc and until a new printing/producing company is found that's where they'll stay. Phew...
Oh, and I have been doing something else as well - last week was taken up with it and it was very exciting - but it really needs a blog post of its very own, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have sorted out some photos and things and will be able to do it justice.
Now on with the gardening and writing and clearing out and answering emails and...
10 comments:
Glad you had a bit of a break - and, no, you can't every go back, can you?
VERY glad Midnight Feast is on schedule.
Gutted about no MOTB pics!
Thanks Jan - yep, going back Big Mistake! Also happy about MF - even more so about m-o-t-b pics - tee-hee....
Lovely newsy post Chris - and it sounds like you had a great Reeding day, and a great holiday, AND the book is going great - all lovely, lovely!
I must just tell you that we had similar problems with the wedding album after the second Daughter Wedding last year - the guy didn't actually go out of business, but was dragging his heels for ever with their album and pics - and in the end, Daughter & Son-I-L demanded that he just sell them the disc instead so that they had the whole lot and could get as many prints as they (and we) wanted, ourselves, and make our own albums. This was also what First Daughter Married did. More expensive initial outlay, but much more cost effective in the long-run. Hope they manage to get theirs sorted out, one way or another.
And I'm dying to know what the new exciting thing is!!
The Write Woman - thank you! I think this is what Elle and The Doctor will have to do - reclaim the disc and make up their own album. And the "other thing" is now posted...
Glad the reading went so well and that you both had such a fab holiday. I'm sure you needed it after all the rushing around you've had recently.
Was looking forward to seeing the photos of you as m-o-t-b...
Debs - thanks. But it didn't seem like a *proper* holiday - so we've booked one of those for Aug now... I'm sure there will be m-o-t-b pics one day!!!!
Glad you had a good break. 'Specially liked the sound of Bognor. Why is it that you can't say that name without laughing?
Gonna be a writer - dunno why we all giggle over Bognor. I did and do. Which is probably why we didn't expect to have a great time - but really, really did.
There's a lot to be said for the south coast - I am so biased though, living in Bournemouth! We had a few days in Brighton last week, dong the same kind of thing. Glad you had a good time. I adored Bognor as a child but haven't been for many years.
womag - oh, we did Bournemouth too - would have loved to have met up! - because we stayed at Highcliffe - my second home during childhood. Bournemouth was lovely - but so different to the way I remembered it because then it was just the beach and the chines and well, not much else really - and now it's a proper resort. So glad you had a lovely time in Brighton etc - as long as the weather's okay there's nowt to beat an English seaside hol...
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