under another sun

Still a little sluggish, but hard at work today. Grace 2 , then more or less completed the trailer for the Skelton Yawngrave TV SYTV, and recorded the first chapter of the book for the first episode. A call from Slug, offering me a bit of work next week, which was welcome too. Nice to chat with him. He said he was already stir crazy. A boon for the sparse Kenny coffers however. All in all quite a productive day. Lorraine back at school for the day, and phoning parents in the afternoon. Boris Johnson has coronavirus, as does Prince Phillip and the Health Secretary. In the evening a curry, taken away stealthily by me from Red Chillies. A curry supper and some cans of beer, and a game of Trivial Pursuits with Lorraine and Betty in the evening. A coffee in the back garden this morning, with Calliope coming too.

A very good day. Wrote over two and a half thousand words of the first draft of Grace 2, something of a joyful experience, and I found myself guffawing in my office as I wrote dialogue for my new villain, currently called Ernest B. Seediman. Later Valérie in Paris briefed me on a small but interesting branding job which, with excellent timing given the untroubled dust at the bottom of the Kenny Coffers. I start tomorrow. Discovered this amazing review of my Sin Cycle poems on Robin's blog . She had put it there in Jan, but I only just found it. Also chatting with Dawn who has organised a school visit for me to Downs School next week. So this Friday I am at Bolney, Next week Skelton Yawngrave is at Downs, Balcome and Balfour schools.  Skelton Yawngrave is getting amazing exposure thanks to my lovely wife and to Dawn. I went for a longish walk after lunch up to Hollingbury Hill and beyond between the rainstorms, and listening to and absorbing podcast by  The Good Friends...

Had a vivid dream about clarifying a brief, which was 'what separates people from each other?' I woke up, went downstairs fed the cats, made Lorraine and I some tea, and then wrote a chapter of my new story in bed on my laptop. It was a major breakthrough on Grace 2 some penny had dropped as I slept I think. Collected prescription today in the pouring rain obvs. In the evening Beth, Lorraine and I cabbed off to The Lion and Lobster, to meet Rosie and Innis for a fondue and fizz evening. Essentially we had a cheesy fondue to share with bits of food on prongs to dip in. A cheery evening. It was at six, so we were done by eight. We all walked along the seafront to Innis and Rosie's place, collecting Pippi from Eve's place en route. At Rosie and Innis's home we played Exploding Kittens again, while listening to a Betty playlist which includes a great deal of Lizzo, who she likes very much. Lizzo makes me think of Toby, who was listening to her songs when we were in Si...