under another sun

Blunderbuss communications Got to grips with my Guernsey projects this morning discharging a blunderbuss of email in all directions - the Chief Librarian of the Prilaux Library, to Catriona, the This is Guernsey website, The official Denys Corbet website and so on. Plus Richard of course, and copying Matt as I'd like to take This Concert to Guernsey. A cold rainy day and I walked to The Brunswick at Hove to try to buy two tickets for The Dr Space Toad Experience show this weekend. Dr Spacetoad is Paul, an old friend from my days performing in the Troubadour Cafe. I have recently got in touch with Paul again who now lives in Paris. Annoyingly I turned up at The Brunswick slightly dripping and wearing an unflattering beany hat. The pleasant guys there told me that you can only buy an advance ticket over the Internet. I must have been looking particularly slack jawed as his colleague asked me kindly if I had access to the Internet, and talked me through the web page as if I were som...

A waxing moon Wrote a short self-contained Skelton Yawngrave story this morning and sent this off to Mindy to record. It has Skelton going to the Natural History Museum and the staff thinking he was an escaped exhibit. In the afternoon did some cosmetic housecleaning and worked more on my Guernsey Anthology site, which is just beginning to take shape, and will soon be ready to unleash. Otherwise feeling tetchy. It is a significant birthday this month, and so naturally I have not been able to let this happen without a drift into brooding about failure and underachievement. At times like this meditation helps, so I meditated and then continued working with the waxing moon in my window until Lorraine came. Talking to Lorraine made things seem better, and halfway through a pint of beer in the Cricketers, the world seemed positively fine, and I recalled that I was fairly big and clever. Thence to the Agra where we were warmly welcome by Ash the owner. There was a good new chef too. Chattin...

Hard work, little progress Spent all morning completing a short Skelton Yawngrave story for the radio pilot, only to discover that Mindy and I had got our wires crossed, and I'd written a story with a cliffhanger, and this was supposed to be a self-contained story for the pilot. The story I did write, however, is actually a prototype for the opening of the next novel, so not wasted time at all. Received a standard rejection ("not right for our list") from an agent this evening. I have already sent it to another agent and publisher, so not too troubled by this, although naturally would have preferred some interest. Otherwise worked on the Guernsey Anthology which is progressing at snail's pace, and went to the gym for some more mild mannered exercise. Got stir crazy in the evening and had a long chat with Lorraine, which helped and went to the Batty for a quick beer, which also helped.

The road less goaded Much better day today. Unable to walk, however, but at least the diabolical skewering has passed. But climbing my few stairs currently takes 30 seconds. I was able, however, to catch up on the work I was supposed to have done yesterday. Writing about osteoporosis as well as arthritis. It is a lucky and wonderful thing that I make a living as a hack writer. At least I can do it while unable to walk. Had time to work on the Guernsey anthology website, and make a few tweaks to Skelton Yawngrave , which I shall be releasing into the wild soon. Waves of excitement and trepidation when I think of this. Decided to go to Chicago as well as Canada with the Tobster and Romy when I'm on holiday. Have only been there on business before. Hoping I will be able to walk when I get there. Had a nice chat with Mike my old art director, who was working in London. Will meet up with him soon. Lorraine came around this evening with a sparkling mineral water and her showy walking a...

Doing it on purrpose Blearily waking to a sinister item on Radio 4 about how cats exploit humans by purring based on some research led by Dr Karen McComb at the nearby University of Sussex. Calliope was at that very moment purring impatiently in my face. Apparently when there is just one person and one cat living together the emotional blackmail is more intense. Manacled to my desk reading about rheumatoid arthritis and related ailments, my task is to humanise this into thirty something newsletter pages on the subject. I suppose moving from writing about the Skelton Yawngrave to writing about RA is not a big step. Spoke to Mum this evening who has now read Skelton and she liked it, which was pleasing. Lorraine has arranged for an actual tame child to read it next week. Heard from Catriona in Guernsey this morning, who has sent out a note of introduction to some Guernsey worthies. The BBC there says it will do an interview with me next time I wash up on the Gem of the Sea, which will b...

Virtual roses I have bought anthologyofguernsey.com and today I started assembling it. Was invited to an event in Guernsey next week, as another of my poems has been chosen to go on the bus. I can't really attend. However there will be a poster of my poem, which I wouldn't mind having. Lovely note from Joan with some virtual congratulatory roses, and not just any roses they were Lilian Austen Roses. She's sent some useful feedback on Skelton. Romy said she has just started it, and it is making her laugh. Meanwhile Lorraine has given me back her copy, which has been "marked". She is positive about it too. Needless to say, I am relieved that people are liking it. You can lose perspective after so long, and start to imagine pelting down the Twitten with an axe. Gym again today. Lorraine came by this evening, and I cooked a chicken and then I made her watch Battlestar Galactica. Luckily Lorraine is one of those rare ladies with a genuine enthusiasm for Science Fiction...

Knitting a Ferrari Up early and off to Gatwick . Fairly trouble free journey. The Auringy two-engined prop lane bouncing slowly through great castles of cumulus clouds. Felt very happy to be back on the island, an immediate cheerful feeling. Auringy much better than Flybe . Went for a short walk to Icart point, pausing to eat a ham and mustard sandwich and slurp a cup of tea. The owner of the cafe an unusual gentleman, who once told me he had mercury poisoning. "Success," he said, sliding my ham sandwich over the counter towards me, "is knitting your own Ferrari". I mooched happily around the cliffs for a bit, which were bee-loud and bursting with flowers. Slightly cloudy, so that parts of the cliffs were suddenly brilliantly spotlit. Returned to the hotel and prepared to meet the Guernsey Arts Commission to the new performing arts centre. I was early, which gave me plenty of time to hang about drinking an execrable cup of tea from a vending machine. Met Catrion...

Head banging Received confirmation today of my meeting in Guernsey about the anthology. Now to get the presentation in shape. Very excited about all this. Otherwise, up to briefly babysit a poorly Klaudia this morning, while Anton took Oskar to nursery. Later to the gym where I had quite a good and sweaty workout. I feel lots fitter but am still fat. Persisting is the only thing I guess. A walk this evening down by the sea taking a few snaps. Stopped in the Cricketers and had a pint, and scribbled a mindmap and felt much better, having spent hours banging my head against a brick wall of two pages that after protracted hours of work were considerably worse than when I started. Some days you just have to admit defeat. Instead I watched the second season of The Inbetweeners DVDs which Anton lent me this morning. Love it. Below some seafront photos in twilight.

Moan-free zone Up early to get to work. I was feeling most excited about the Guernsey Anthology business, which made it difficult to concentrate. So took myself off to the gym early, to sweat on the Hulk legs machine, which helped a lot. Back to work, and I am now on the last lap of the third draft of Skelton Yawngrave in the second kind of darkness novel - the last ten thousand words - and this is the bit that needs most work and a few threads to be pulled together. Once this is done I will go through it all again to hoover up broken bits of grammar, spelling and any rubbish bits I have missed. Then, thank God, it will be ready to show people for some feedback before the absolute bloody final rewrite. Then I start to market it, followed quickly by international publication, glory, fame etc. Lorraine said she might be able to run bits of it past some actual real life children too. Only a smidge of the Alsace stuff to look at to interrupt my flow today, which was good. One of the chall...