Reading, writing and making lists

It was really good to go to the launch party for Ken Follett's latest book, Fall of Giants. Once again, this is a huge book but keeps the reader turning the pages to find out what is going to happen. Ken is very good at this, but then he works hard. Planning a book takes him a good year and his research is always meticulous. He shows no sign of slowing down, either. His book,Pillars of the Earth, has been made into an eight-part series for Channel 4 and starts on 15 October so I must try and sit still long enough to watch it.

There seems so much to do these days - writing, researching, transcribing (I hate transcribing even though I have a machine that speeds things up), pitching ideas, sourcing images. It's never ending and there are so many other things to do. I seem to be making longer and longer lists.

October is turning out to be quite warm. I have just been into Sherborne to see what is going on at the annual Pack Monday Fair. I think most people in the area decided to do the same thing!

The swallows have gone - and so has the summer

The swallows went on Monday. About nine-thirty in the morning there was a terrific racket going on in the garden and I thought they must be terrorising the cat again. All summer gangs of them have been dive-bombing her from every direction so she could only get to the bottom of the garden by working her way underneath the rose bushes and the shrubs. The reason, I discovered, was a nest built in the wood store at the end of the barn. My poor little cat has never caught a bird in her life but clearly the swallows were keen to stop her even thinking about it.

When I heard the noise they were making on Monday I rushed outside and there were masses of them. They soon began to line up on the electricity wires and gradually the noise subsided. It went very quiet: the birds were looking this way and that, as if they were waiting for a signal. There was a strange tension in the air for a minute and then suddenly they were off, swirling up into the sky in a huge mass and circling the house in farewell before turning west and disappearing over the hills. I'm glad I was there to see them go.

It's the end of summer when the swallows leave. Time to start preparing for winter which is depressing for some people but when you think about it, autumn comes first and this can be the best season of all.

Time and frustrating printers

It's about time I added a new post! Some people seem to write regularly but usually when I've finished a day's work, that's it; my mind closes down. Yet it's good to know that so many people read my blogs and moan at me when I haven't added a new one. I think I must be a bit like a newspaper because what has happened in the previous days is old news and I forget. Some people tell me they make notes so that when they come to write a blog they have everything to hand. There seems to be so much else to do. As for Facebook and Twitter... When do people find the time?



This morning I have been struggling with a new printer - and I hate it! I bought it because it was on special offer, and now I know why. I really needed a printer, copier and scanner all in one because normally I use a simple laser printer but this thing is dreadful. It's noisy, slow and only prints out half a page. In desperation I am calling in a lad who lives up the road to see if he can improve things.

Life Goes On

I was sad to learn of the death of Dick Francis. I think I was one of the last people to interview him. He was very frail but helpful and courteous. He will be missed especially for his books but his son Francis will continue his legacy.

Work at the moment is a bit like the London bus system; nothing and then everything happens. It is so important to prioritise and make lists so that the right deadline is hit on time. I had a long chat with Sylvia Kent the other day and she is so positive and proactive that however gloomy I might feel at the beginning, I am refreshed and invigorated by the end. It's good to have friends like this.

I really couldn't do without Aimee Fry, my webmistress, either. Somehow she makes things seem so easy when I have turned to her in desperation after struggling for ages with my computer. Another bonus is that I have had so many compliments about my website and it is all due to Aimee. We talked about what I do and what I wanted on my site and she came up with some really interesting ideas. The only major thing I changed at the end was the coffee cup on the Links page. She put in a thick white cup and I told her I'd never drink from that so she quickly found a china one!

All creative people can get a bit low, especially at this time of the year. The cold and grey days don't help but then there are the snowdrops and aconites appearing. Spring is almost here.

That said, I have to get on. Three new commissions today. The problem is, which shall I start first?