Happy Easter!
April 13th, 2009 by adminTime flies, doesn’t it? I can’t believe it’s Easter already, and a quarter of 2009 is in the past! On the other hand I’m feeling slightly smug (which is a very dangerous way to feel, in this business) as I’m only a gnat’s whisker away from completing the first draft of Book 4 in the series. Don’t be fooled, as I am trying to fool myself - a first draft, for me, is a very distant cousin to what the finished product will be. It’s like an artist’s outline sketch of a finished painting - the basics are there, but there’s a lot of work to put in before it’s something you’d hang on your living room wall…
Meanwhile, I’ve had my proof copy of Book 3, The Doctor of Thessaly, which is out at the beginning of July. It’s lovely to see an almost-finished, professional-looking product - but it is definitely ‘no going back’ time now, no changes, no revisions, and I always find something I wish I’d written differently. But I hope you’ll enjoy the story anyway, regardless of imperfections - its theme is Envy, which I think is one of the darkest, nastiest sins.
I was disappointed not to attend Torquay’s new crime festival in the end. My son has had suspected glandular fever, and has been very unwell indeed, though he’s on the mend now. But I shall definitely be in Bristol in May - wouldn’t miss it for the world!
I celebrated my 50th birthday last week, and really made it count, as it’s the last birthday I plan on celebrating (I think I’ll start counting backwards now). One of the highlights was lunch at a new restaurant in Bradford - Zouk’s Tearoom - absolutely brilliant and well worth the trip. If you get the chance to go, don’t miss the mango cheesecake. And we’ve been spending some time with family this holiday, which always includes plenty of physical activity, thanks to my brother-in-law. For today, he’s conceived the idea of a nine-mile hike over Mam Tor, which - if you don’t know it - is one of the Peak District’s most scenic spots. Getting to the top involves a lung-burstingly steep gradient, but the views make it all worthwhile. Well, almost…