My Guilty Indulgence...

Work has stopped. E-mails are going unanswered and I am ignoring the phone, the growing pile of washing up and the fact that I should be doing a dozen other things. Why? I started Ian Rankin's 'The Complaints' yesterday and I can't put it down! I'm devouring whole chunks of the book and resenting anything that pulls me away from the story! What is it about Ian Rankin's writing that sucks you in so completely that you just have to keep reading page after page?? I'm like a kid with an Enid Blyton! And yet at the same time, I don't want to finish it because then I'll have to wait for him to write another one before I can have this much fun again!

I envy him his seemingly effortless style (which I'm sure takes a lot of effort!) and his confident handling of material - he is a genius! (Haven't found any tressle tables in this one, but there's still half a book to go.)

Just spoils all other crime novels though...nothing else comes close!

Proof I'm totally stupid

As yesterday was Hallowe'en, I thought a view of the gravestones in the Burial enclosure in Inchbuie would be appropriate. This isn't my picture - I've never been on the island - but it's one I used to help me write the last few chapters of Scotch Pine.

It's the end of my week off and I can't say I've achieved a huge amount really. I've done some initial rewriting, sketched out the overall plan of this year's G&P Christmas story and built an office chair! My old desk chair was seriously in need of replacing: the back 'went' some time ago and my back has been going ever since. It was doing nothing for my posture or comfort. So today - which has been arguably the wettest day of the year so far - I went in search of seating. And I found a very nice, very comfy black chair which suited me perfectly. I bought it, brought it home and then started to put it together, only to discover that it only had one screw with it - and 1o were listed on the instructions.

To say I was furious would be an understatement. I'd checked the box was sealed before I bought it, and the fittings were in a sealed bag inside another sealed bag- there was no way they could've dropped out. In anger, (and resisting the call of a wicked bar of Aero which is living in my fridge and tormenting me beyond all reasonable bounds) I called the store I'd bought it from. My ire quickly dissipated, however, and turned to deep embarrassment when 'Chris' who answered the phone sighed heavily and informed me in a world-weary tone that the screws were already fitted to the chair in the right places - they just needed unscrewing and then re-fixing once the parts were in place...

As he was telling me this, my eyes fell on a line of writing above the diagrams on the instruction leaflet which informed me of the self-same thing. However, at least I'd only phoned up with my complaint: according to 'Chris' most people storm back into the shop carrying the half-built chair with them!

I'm sitting on the completed chair as I type. Very comfy it is too. Now, about that Aero...

Holidays...

are wonderful things! About to start my writing day at the very civilised hour of 11.15 - this is much more my time of the day than my usual rising time! I know the week is going to fly past - they always do - but this morning it has been really nice to take things slowly. Hoping this week to sketch out the basis of the christmas story for this year because I don't want to leave it all thill the last minute. It is hard, though, turning your thoughts towards Christmas in October - I find that once I start thinking 'Christmas' it takes over and I'm too much of an Autumn lover to want to hurry it away! Resisting the temptation to head Scotland-wards as well this week: we're planning a possible trip in May next year to ride on the 'Jacobite' steam train and maybe revisit Killin -I might actually get onto the island this time!

Getting On A Bit...

It was my birthday on Friday, which inevitably meant cake. It was excellent cake - or actually cakes - lovely cupcakes with strawberry icing and sparkly sprinkles - and they were completely delicious. And then there was the wonderful Lemon Meringue Pie my sister-in-law made me. And the delectable cakes which had come back from Spain in my brother's suitcase... I'm not expecting good things out of this week's weigh in!

Grouse and Partridge re-writes are going slowly. Very slowly. In between confidence crises and other demands on my time, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely by even imagining there'd be an audience. I know when I start thinking like this, I need a holiday!!

Seasons of Mists...

This is the entrance to the MacNab Burial Ground on Inchbuie, taken when we were there in 2007. I've only just got round to transferring photos and files to my lovely new laptop and so the next few posts will probably have Scotland pix to accompany them!

I love October, probably because I'm an Autumn baby. And so far, October's been rather good, with a trip to Birmingham to see the wonderful ballet 'Cyrano' and some really lovely sunshine.

I'm working hard at weekends to re-edit - and in places completely rewrite - SCOTCH MIST. When I re-read it this summer with my critical hat on, I could see some very big mistakes which needed addressing. It's been quite fun to do and I'm hoping the work so far is an improvement on the original. I'm still scared at the prospect of sending it to anyone, but I've realised if I don't no one's going to come and knock on the door to demand it! The 'usual suspects' have been egging me on to do something about it for months now, and if no one actually wants it, I won't be any worse off than I am now, will I???

Had a disappointment with the last batch of books from Lulu.com. Usually they are of a very high standard and are beautifully finished, but the last parcel I got looked as if it had been rushed through: there were three books which I felt were sub-standard and they'd got the order wrong (right on the invoice, but the invoice didn't match!) However, I cannot fault their customer service who offered a refund or a reprint and were very apologetic. I'm sure it was a blip and nothing more...

I'm still getting requests for copies which is very gratifying: so far I've sold 187 copies between the three titles which I find quite amazing!

Still largely cake-free, I'm afraid, but I did manage to sneak a slice of Druckers' delicious Apple Cake in Birmingham. It's cake of the week by default, but it would have won the award on its own merits anyway!

I'm back!

Hello. Did you miss me? Or is that a silly question... ?I'm not quite sure what has happened to the time since my last post, except that it has brought me a new lap top, super fast and all shiny, with all the letters clearly on the keys and no bits that fall off whenever I put it away! Just getting my head round all the bits and pieces at the moment - it seems to have a mind of its own.

Grouse and Partridge have had a good summer. They've been away to lots of exotic places in people's luggage and have even had their photos taken being read in odd places. Their readers have been very kind in their comments as well, which is lovely because I was quite scared about the response this one would get. I haven't been able to read it myself yet - I don't feel distant enough from it and I'm frightened I'll just sit and spot the mistakes!

The highlights of my summer were a wonderful week in Suffolk, where I was struck with inspiration for something I want to start writing in the new year and where I tasted possibly the best crab salad known to humanity in Aldeburgh, and my dash up to Edinburgh where I caught up with a school friend I hadn't seen for ages and MET IAN RANKIN! More of that later...

I'm on a health kick at the moment, trying to lose some of the pounds I piled on while writing Scotch Pine. I'm having mixed results so far, but the upshot of it is that proper cake is firmly off the menu for the time being. However, it wasn't off the menu for the summer, so for the next few weeks my cake recommendations will be retrospective ones! Best I can manage at the moment is Weighwatchers Carrot Cake slices - at a point a slice, they're gorgeous and not too naughty! (If a bit on the small side...!)

The Leaning Tower of Paper

In case you've ever wondered, this is what the accumulated rough drafts of three novels looks like - 22 inches in height and - shortly after I took this photo - all over my study floor, when the table decided to tip over. It looks a bit like a giant angel cake because I use different colours of paper for each complete draft. That way I don't mix up different versions of the same book. This is all three books - the final drafts are kept safe elsewhere - and all this needs recycling somehow... As you might have gathered from this, I've spent much of the first two weeks of my holiday trying to find the house beneath the clutter and junk which accumulated during the time I was writing SCOTCH PINE. Finally, I feel as if I've got my house back but I'm ready to stop being domesticated and be creative instead!

It has been a busy few weeks for other reasons too. I spent a very interesting day at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival 'Creative Thursday' for writers and came away with at least one good idea for Grouse and Partridge as well as the determination to try and see if I can get an agent interested in the first book. It needs some re-writing, but I think I could face having a try at untangling it for a new audience. I'm also determind to stay a little longer next year and indulge in some of the excellent author events they arrange.

And this week I spent three days in London, indulging in theatre (including the wonderful production of La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre, starring Philip Quast and Roger Allam who are two of my very favourite actors anyway! I can't recommend it too highly - it was inspirational!) shopping for art and craft materials and visiting the John William Waterhouse exhibition at the Royal Academy. I also drooled over the Crime Fiction Department of Hatchards bookshop in Piccadilly - it's wonderful! - and saw a fantastic photography exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery off Oxford Street. More on this in the next post, I think!

Best cake? Found in the Royal Academy Restaurant, without doubt. They called it 'Orange and Almond Cake' but to my mind it was more of a marmalade orgy on a plate, dripping with syrupy orange pieces. Huge portions, went down well with a large (strong!) Americano...