Really pleased to get a lovely comment from Sarah Watts (Optimist on the Writewords site) about Maloney’s Law (see full post for links) today. Sarah says: “Anne - I am as ever in awe. Your books are all so different and so very well written. Let's just say you surprised me again.” Thanks so much, Sarah – that’s great to hear. And I’m also glad you enjoyed the Egypt scenes – for those of you who get to read the book, the scene with the boy, the bread rolls and the Americans did actually happen when Lord H and I were in Cairo. Scary for sure … Ooh, and two more lovely people have ordered Maloney from Amazon, so thank you, Jane H & Vicky – much appreciated, both! Paul is even now making sure he looks his best for you ...


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Okay, I’m taking back the word fatty and wrapping myself in it, wholesale, till I don’t resemble it anymore. Someone asked me recently what shape I was; bell, pear, apple, stick, cylinder, triangle or square – I have to admit to apple, or perhaps orange is a much more concise description, in texture. We’re dealing in honesty here people, so let’s be having it; I’m a 5’2” albino (Glaswegian) orange, and the legs get sturdier by the minute.



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I've always wondered how I'd fare living in a small town. I've wondered, calculated I'd feel exposed and scrutinised, and chosen to squish myself in with about 4 million others, in a place where I could blend in and go about my barmy little ways in peace.

What I wasn't prepared for was moving into a street that thinks it's a small town...

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He went to cleanse the seas
of bombed and battered wrecks

to dredge iron debris from man-made
canals, stoked fierce fires in the belly

of his ship and breathed the black air
deep into his lungs. He thought of life



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Jolly hot again today, Carruthers – what is the government up to? Really, I blame Gordon Brown. Well, he’s responsible for every other disaster, so no reason why he shouldn’t have this one too. However, there are rumours that it might be cooler tomorrow, and maybe rain too, so there’s hope. It might even be turning cloudier right now – or is that wishful thinking?

Anyway, joy and rejoicing in the office as Ruth is back from her campervan holiday, so we’ve spent a long time catching up. Apparently she has visited the whole of the UK, apart from East Anglia and Cornwall. Two of my favourite areas really. And the van survived the experience relatively intact, hurrah!...


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A few months ago I applied for the wildcard fellowship for a month's paid retreat at the gorgeous-looking La Muse Writers and Artists Retreat in southern France. La Muse offers one unaffiliated fellowship a year, during November. I had my fingers crossed and crossed again, the place looks amazing and is set up for writers to be able to focus on their projects without too many other distractions (apart from French food, French wine and every other French delight!). I put together what I thought was an interesting application: how many other ex-British former science journalists living in Israel and working on a series of linked stories about a young Irish girl in the 1950s and a flash fiction collection would there be??....

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Lordy, but it's bloody hot today. And I am personally so damn hot that I may well explode at any moment. Be prepared for fires in Godalming for sure. That'll be me. Hmm, as you can tell, I am officially Not Good in the Heat. Actually, I'm not good in any extreme weather, but heat is my least favourite. I think. This is the real setback of living in a top floor flat which is to all intents and purposes nothing but roofspace. It's sweltering in summer and freezing in winter. No matter what we do. Currently, we are keeping the portable fan on all night, just in order to be cool enough to sleep. Sadly this doesn't work during the day as Lord H and I are usually in different rooms. Hmm, perhaps it's time for another fan? Now that would be radical ...


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Managed to watch our video of the John Barrowman programme, "The Making of Me", last night. Which was all to do with trying to find out exactly how gay JB is. Great fun on the whole! And we are now all looking at our finger lengths and working out how many older brothers we have between us in order to see how gay we are. Or did I miss the point somewhat? Anyway, as Lord H and I have a job-lot of five older brothers, plus one younger brother (hello, Lord B-I-L!), then we are probably gayer than the great JB by far. Though Lord H is able to navigate without having to turn the map upside-down, you'll be pleased to hear. That said, we are distinctly not talking about my bent middle finger - per hand. Lord alone knows what that says about me ...


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Okey-doke, this is my version of Charlotte the Duck's original post, based on the mockduck model. I've adapted it slightly to cover a greater period of time because I'm something of a slow learner.

Things I've learnt over a lot of years

Char says: Acceptance is the key to peace of mind.
I say: Acceptance is probably the key to peace of mind but not always very easy to achieve.

Char says: The only thing you can change is yourself.
I say: You can change other people, but usually only with the help of drugs and/or other mind-altering substances.

Char says: Love isn't all you need.
I say: No, money is helpful too. Big wads of it, ideally.

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