I was quite looking forward to meeting this Devon-born woman who ran away from home aged 16 and became involved with Hong Kong triads after being addicted to heroin. She was only trying to score amphetamines, so let that be a lesson.

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Over on the Guardian Blogs Linda Grant and Melissa Benn have both been... I nearly said 'ruminating', but that's too gentle and contemplative a word: both pieces have a distinctly acerbic tone, and I'm not surprised. Anyway, they're both talking about the obsession readers and journalists have with the autobiographical origins of a writer's fiction.

At my most charitable, I can understand - even regard it as flattering - that people are interested in where our fiction comes from, and of course that may include (must include, at one level) our own lives. Indeed, I would rather people turned up to listen to me and others on a festival panel than didn't

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Have spent all morning frantically attempting to arrange the Student Induction meetings over the summer without screaming and diving through a window. I’m going to start a campaign to ensure that all my key people go on holiday at the same time so I can shoehorn them into meetings together at other times without reaching for the whisky. It’s the only way forward. Neither has it been made any easier by the fact that halfway through the long and complex process, the computer decided to update itself and my calendar has now vanished. Entirely. Missing. Kaput. So my tiny post-it notes in delicate shades of orange and pink are now the only things lying between me and complete insanity. My theory is that my calendar is so peed off that it’s packed its bags and is currently at Heathrow Terminal 5 attempting to flee the country. Ha! It won’t be able to go far then.

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I had lunch with Tilly a couple of weeks ago; haven't seen her in over a year. She looks amazing - must be all the sex; she's back with her old flame and the weight just falls off. ME makes her life hell at times but it seems to be sitting quietly behind her right shoulder at the moment; she still needs a walking stick though.

Her younger son is getting married in August, before the older one ships out for Iraq.

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Hello everyone!

I apologize for being out of touch but I’ve been extremely busy these past few weeks. Not to mention I took a mini get-away to one of my favorite places—Solvang, California—to celebrate my birthday. While I was there I left a couple more “Laura and the Leprechauns” books for the Bookcrossing site because I thought it would be a neat place for a book to begin its journey. The books were literally gone within minutes! It was great! I also picked up a princess dress at one of the children’s stores for my little cousin Laura for when I go and visit her in Bavaria in two weeks. I’m not exactly sure what particular scenes I’ll have her posing for, but I thought it a good idea to have a nice fairytale dress—and what little girl doesn’t like to dress up like up like a princess?!

I also registered a few copies of the German version of “Laura und die Leprechauns” on bookcrossing.com, but there aren’t as many copies of those, as I primarily made them for Laura and her friends and they are a paperback version of the English version, and I have to apply all the glitter by hand—quite time consuming but worth it. I will have to wait until I am in Bavaria to release those books. I am getting very excited for my trip to Germany and can hardly wait to take tons of pictures of the beautiful countryside.

As for my other book in progress, right now I am getting periodic updates from my editor on my young adult novel that I started so long ago. Things seem to be moving along well which is encouraging and nerve-wracking all at once. I spent five years working on that first novel so it is something very close to me. We’ll see how it turns out edited down from 1100 pages to some 300-400 pages. Should prove interesting. Well, that’s all the news that is currently going on in my life at the moment. Thank you for your continued support. I couldn’t do it without you! Take care and all my best!

Sincerely,

Amber
www.chrysalispress.com

Back to the grindstone today, though surprisingly I haven’t felt so bad about it. Weird, that. Mind you, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the time over Easter not being at work. It’s been great – retirement holds no fear, I can tell you. Bring it on!

I’ve also had quite an easy start to the day in that my computer’s been off-line for an hour and a half. Heck, I’m not complaining. We finally solved the problem by reattaching the network cable into the correct hole. Aha!...

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Those of you reading this who are writers will probably be amazed at what I have to say. In some ways I am amazed I got this far without one. What don't I have?

A door.
....

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Good Lord, snow. What a lot of it. Horrible, horrible, horrible, I really hate snow. With a deep and deadly loathing. When I opened the curtain today, it was like another universe, I can tell you. Thankfully, this being Surrey, it has now all gone, and let's hope it doesn't come back. Otherwise, I shall be forced to lie on the sofa with the smelling salts in order to calm my shattered nerves, a la Lydia Languish, and the thought of having to go out anywhere will simply be Too Much. With Capitals ...

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If you throw away my words after I’m dead I’ll disappear completely. I want to leave something; need to be more useful than a flash of selective memory in the minds of family and friends. I’d love it if some future relative unearthed my scribblings and were entertained and hopefully stimulated enough to make changes in their lives, because of me; I hope to be more than an image in a scrapbook (of my making).

The other night, I watched the dead body programme; a new Horizon for the future of our parts,

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Nobody ever said that writing novels was easy. It takes too long, for a start, and it's bad for your health. It's lonely, and badly paid, and while a slight kink in the psyche is probably what made you a writer in the first place, you also have to be slightly nuts to persevere to the point where you can earn your living by writing-related work. But having spent the beginning of the week in the company of professional landscape photographers, courtesy of the Peak District Photography Centre, I'm beginning to think I'll have to stop moaning.

It's all in a dawn's work for Karen, Fran, Mike or Alex to get up at four, climb a fell in the dark (did you remember your head-torch, as well as making the right decision about which bits of kit were worth lugging up several hundred feet with you?) and sit there for an hour to catch sunrise on a distant peak.


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