Thursday, 30 April 2009

Woes and Triumphs...


Since I last logged in, I've been ILL! Very nasty chest infection picked up, I suspect, before I went away and which has lasted two weeks. I am getting better but I found myself totally incapacitated from last weekend, getting breathless from just putting on my shoes - and this from the woman who walked round Venice for eleven hours for four consecutive days!

I've been off work - I can't remember the last time I was away this long- and only ventured back today. HOWEVER: there has been a pay off. After the reasonable success of the Easter holiday writing and the work I've put in from my sick bed this week (literally!) I am pleased to report that I am one chapter away from finishing the first draft of SCOTCH PINE! Given that this weekend is a bank holiday in the UK, I'm pretty confident that - by this time next week - there'll be an ending!

And it's stopped feeling like toothpaste squeezing. In fact I've enjoyed the last three or four chapters as much as anything I've ever written, maybe because it's taken my mind off my aches, pains and wheezing chest! (Or perhaps the cough medicine has had something to do with it! ) There's still lots of work to do with cutting down the word-count and tightening up the plot - I like to think of it as the book going into traction - but with my 'editor' able to read again, all systems are go! Best cake? Sorry - I've been off food as well! But you can't have everything...

Sunday, 19 April 2009

Venice


I'm just back from four magical days in Venice, with my mum - we've both had 'significant' birthdays this year and this was our way of celebrating them! We've walked and wandered and sauntered and looked and strolled and photographed (this is one of mine!) and generally meandered all over the city, enjoying the sunshine and the cappuchinos and taking in the occasional bit of culture and art as we stumbled across it. It really is an amazing place, and once you get away from San Marco, very quiet and uncrowded. We've had a brilliant time and I didn't want to come back! I'd forgotten how much I loved it last time I visited: you can look at pictures but they don't give you the complete sensory experience of being there, smelling the salt water and hearing it lapping against the stones, feeling the sunshine and hearing the birdsong and the church bells. It is paradise. No wonder so many people over the years have been captivated by it. I've already started saving up for next year: there won't be another G&P NOVEL for a while after this one, but I'm planning some short stories, maybe even taking Partridge and Marmalade to Venice for a short break... That way I can justify it as research!
Sadly, it's back to reality with a bump and back to work tomorrow. I've written quite a bit this holiday, although things haven't flowed easily at all - sometimes it's been a bit like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube which is really just about empty! I'm hoping the spring sunshine and the Venice vibes will have done the job when I resume the task tomorrow evening. I promised my readership(!) a spring publication date and the end of spring approaches... The story is almost complete. There's just a final push to get the last few scenes completed before the big edit begins. Maybe May? Or am I being too optimistic?? Can we pretend June is still spring????
Best cake? That's a tough one - although we didn't sample them all, the shop windows were full of confections which looked as if they might be the best cake in Venice. (and therefore, probably, the world!)However, I think I'd have to go with the croissants with crema (confectioner's custard!) which were served up every morning in our hotel as part of breakfast. Seriously nice!

Wednesday, 8 April 2009

All up in the air...

I'm on holiday at last!! We started off in style with a weekend visit to Manchester and the Lowry at Salford to see our 'team' Birmingham Royal Ballet. Three performances of Sylvia in March hadn't been nearly enough so we did the Saturday matinee and evening and even managed to squeeze in company class. On Sunday we explored Manchester - the first time we've ever been - and I found myself agreeing to a trip on the Manchester Eye, a giant ferris wheel in the centre of the city. I'm not quite as bad as Grouse when it comes to heights, but I don't mind admitting being rather terrified. I was fine as long as the wheel kept turning, but when it stopped and we were just about at the top - and our pod started swaying in the breeze... well, it was an experience! I'm glad I did it - I felt very brave for the rest of the day - and really rather silly that I'd been so scared. And it might make a good setting for a short story one day. Yesterday's outing was a much more frightening proposition - the opticians. I don't mind the eye exam but choosing frames is a nightmare. It's like choosing a new nose or a different pair of ears! The fact that I'm practically blind without my glasses means my long suffering 'editor' had to make the decision for me: I'm useless when it comes to choosing with the webcam pictures either - I can't get past how dreadful I look! On the whole, it's an ordeal I could happily do without. Came home and engrossed myself in writing for a few hours: Hamish Bolph and Drover are all in a spot of serious bother at the moment and I'm considering the prospects for their rescue. Hoping the next few days will move things along a little!
Best cake? Manchester City Art Gallery where a giant piece of delicious cinammon and carrot cake was shared to push down one of the best cappuchinos I've had outside Italy. Speaking of Italy... but not just yet!