Scarborough......

....is where me and husband shall be spending Saturday night. Neither of us have ever been before. Have you? Got any suggestions for lovely things to see / do / eat?


I'm nearly(ish) finished "Over you" ~ should manage to get through the last 80 pages tonight, but I shall be sad to finish it :-( . I'll be curling myself up on the sofa with lots of choc and and reading materials and being deservedly lazy, cos I'm giving blood today for the first time and I'm super-nervous!

Bat Husband

Got up early to write this morning, thinking I'd have a good 45 mins to myself before I had to get ready for work. Hubby is not at work today so I assumed he'd be staying in bed, all the better to keep out of my way.

Wrong.

He got up too. Why? Because he was too excited to sleep as today is "a very special day".

Birthday? Wedding Anniversary?

No.

Today is the UK release date for Batman: The Dark Knight. And my husband is obsessed with Batman. Actually, that's not strictly true. He believes that he is Batman, a bit (it would be cruel of me to point out at this juncture that he cannot, in fact, be Batman, as his lack of driving license would debar him from driving the Batmobile).

At least he made me a cup of tea......

b's amusing account of her confusion when she first moved up to Newcastle set me thinking about this:

When I first lived in Sheffield I would regularly see buses with "Intake - city centre" on the front.

I surmised that thiswas some sort of 'shopping shuttle', and that for the purposes of speedy service you could get on this bus to the city centre but you couldn't get off (i.e. 'intake' only) . This is not at all logical, because while the bus is stopped to let peopel on it takes no extra time for people to get off, but whatever.....

It was YEARS before it was brought to my attention that there is an area of Sheffield called "Intake", from whence said bus originated......

And didn't the bride look lovely....

.....Oooh, she really really did. I promptly burst into tears as soon as I saw her, then had to recompose myself super-quickly as I was up first with my reading, which (phew!) I managed to do very very well (if I do say so myself!) and received many a compliment for it. I'm thinking of it as useful experience for when I am a famous author and have to do loads and loads of public appearances....

Also saw loads of friends that I haven't seen for YONKS! (ten years, in some cases), made some lovely new friends, and made a tit of myself on the dancefloor: I'd been drinking since early afternoon, and was convinced that I had some foxy moves. I, in fact, had no moves. Or balance. Or co-ordination......

Aw, ain't weddings brill?


In other news, I managed precisely nil writing over the weekend, as pre-wedding jitters put paid to that on saturday morning, and the DAY LONG hangover made Sunday a total write-off.

I will be good this week, though, promise!

Here comes the bride!

Shoes that look pretty but inflict blisters the like of which (wo)man has never known before? Check!

Paul Durcan poem for my ceremony reading (five copies thereof, in case four get lost en route)? Check!

‘Bird of paradise meets Danny La Rue’ style fascinator that I had specially made but am now having serious doubts about as it may be a bit too “Vegas showgirl”? Check!

Tummy holdy-in pants for when I make my fourth trip to the buffet table? Check!

My best friend in the whole wide world gets married on Saturday, and I’m already an over-emotional nervous wreck. I’m excited, yet a little sad that by Sunday it will all be over and I won’t have it all to look forward to. And I’m terrified ~ I’m up first for the ceremony readings and I’m so scared that I’ll get it wrong or trip over my dress on the way to the lectern or suddenly start speaking in tongues….

The bride-to-be is marvel of tranquillity, which, come to think of it, I was at this stage before my wedding last year. Maybe the bride is always the calm eye of the storm, and it’s everyone else who absorbs the anxiety on her behalf?

I’ll report back after the weekend (i.e. how many times I cried, how long before I whipped my blistery shoes off and chucked them in the Tyne, etc!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Novel is on a bit of a standby at the moment as I’ve been struck, out of the blue, by an extremely powerful short story that descended and has taken me over completely. I’ve been working on it everyday, and it’s more like taking down dictation than anything else ~ for the first time ever I understand what writers mean when they say that a story choose a writer and not the other way around. The voice, the plot, everything is all ‘there’. It’s a very exhilarating experience, and all going to plan there’s a few comps I’ve got in mind for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Acupuncture tomorrow, and frick do I need it?! I’ve been a bitch on wheels today and have bitten off the heads of anyone who crossed my path, and then spent all evening feeling bad about it and getting weepy. I think a giant glass of vino might be needed…..

Culture overload!

Oh my word, how has another week flown past??

Am buzzing with excitement as I've booked my ticket to see Kate Atkinson at the Durham Book Festival, and so I've pre-ordered this. Can't wait to read it.

As well as that I've booked for the ''Writing a Synopsis' workshop with Debbie Taylor (former Mslexia editor), which is apparently for "novelists preferably with a novel close to completion" which is a massive incentive to keep steaming ahead with the WIP so that I'm not sat at the back like the naughty girl who didn't do her homework.

But wait, there's more!
I've also booked for Iain Banks at my local library in September, as well as an evening with Tracy Chevalier in November (a veritable bargain at £3 a pop!)

So many writers flocking northwards ~ long may it continue!

PS: Go Rafa!!!!