Here we are in Big Week, and suddenly, the village square is alive in the evening. Boys setting off bangers, people going to and from church, and both bars with tables outside and folks to sit at them. The weather might also have had something to do with it, because we were able to sit out last night until quite late, and we’ve not been able to do that for a while now. Here’s a shot Neil took yesterday or the day before. He used to do this kind of shot on a camera, now it’s on a phone, but a new one with a much better camera and more tech in it than sent the men to the moon, apparently.
I have two pieces of news to start this week, one of which I might have told you. I had an approach from a major publisher (HarperCollins) about ‘Bobby, a Life Worth Living,’ the biography of my godfather. Since then, I have been in touch with an agent they recommended, and they are willing to consider representing the book back to HC if I can produce a ‘fresh and expanded’ version. So, as well as starting the last book in my Victorian mystery series, and preparing the one before for release this week, I shall be starting on the biography. This means trying to find transcripts from 20 years ago, reading some more social background, and identifying existing parts that can be expanded, without losing the voice, which was what attracted HC in the first place. It’s flattering, if nothing else, though also somewhat strange, because I wrote the thing 20 years ago, before I started writing fiction, and my style, I thought, has improved so much since. As with all these things, it may well come to nothing, and even if it does, it won’t be overnight.
So from today, I will have to start being stricter with myself about the afternoons. Mornings? No trouble: get up, make a tea, go to work, but after lunch? Jigsaw, snooze, television. No more. Well, maybe starting tomorrow, because we were taken out for a drink or two last night, and although I only had a couple of ouzos and plenty of water, I’ve woken up feeling like it’s bedtime already, yet it’s only 6.20. Ah, well, perhaps I’ll have a siesta after breakfast.
Here’s a shot from the roof on Saturday morning. As you can see, it was still cloudy and wet then, but the week promises to be fine up until the weekend, when, once again, we may see the return of clouds and high winds.
