Books, calendars and editing

Busy morning today – rushed around doing lots of glorious copy-typing (I really do love it – you can take the girl out of the typing pool, but you can’t take the typing pool out of the girl …) and hardly noticed when the Magical Monday Time of 12noon appeared. Astonishing! I also discovered that the boss’s wife has much better handwriting than the boss, and so documents she’s commented on are far easier to read. I did suggest that he might like to think of dictating his thoughts to the wife (a la Milton dictating to his daughter) so I could understand them in the future, but I’m not sure that suggestion will be taken up. Thank goodness I’m the right side of review time, eh!

Meanwhile, Ruth is having strange dreams about gutting fish on a fish farm. Does this say something about our student care approach? The mind indeed boggles … Anyway, lunchtime found me at the usual weekly reflexology session – what would I do without them? It makes everything worthwhile, you know. And I’m also starting to look at a venue for the Thorn in the Flesh book launch, which I’m hoping will take place in February/March 2008. I’m quite keen on the Godalming Museum, as the book is set in Godalming, and it’s friendlier than the Godalming Borough Hall though not as large. We’ll see. I may yet end up back at the Guildford Institute. At the same time, I’m working out what my Thorn dedication and acknowledgements should be. I always like to have them. Lord knows I need all the help I can get – novel-writing is a funny old business.

Oh and I’ve found the ideal Christmas present for Mother – the Men doing the Housework (with very little on …) calendar here. Mmm, maybe I’ll get one for me too. Mind you, I’ll have to get her and my stepfather the Farmers and Lady Farmers naked calendars as well – they always look through to see if they spot someone they know … And what could be better than supporting the British Farmer - they're a needy beast (I should know - I'm a British farmer's daughter and stepdaughter!) so buy early, buy often! And talking of Christmas, if you're looking for a book, my advice is to get yourself to the website of the best small publisher in the south and pick whatever takes your fancy. There's loads of choice - it's cheaper than going through Amazon, there's something for everyone and heck it'll put a smile on my face at Christmas!

Tonight, I shall be editing more of Jackie’s novel and also – possibly – watching the Stephen Poliakoff drama on TV. And I hope to get back to some of my own novel writing later in the week – ho ho. If only I had any ideas. I’m really not sure where I’m going with The Bones of Summer, if anywhere, but I’d better think of something. And soon!

And whilst I’m on the subject of fish, here’s a poem:

Fisherwoman

Fish spin
on the knife
in your brain.

Their mirror eyes
stare back
as gills, guts,

blood slide
oozingly
to the floor.

You don't know
where they come from
or why they seem

so familiar
but their smell,
their history

clings to you
as they vanish
into the sea.


And alas I fear I've lost all contact with my agent. I can't even get him to reply to comments I put on his blog, poor chap. Even now he's probably fleeing the country, attempting to escape from my no-hope career. Ah well.

Today’s nice things:

1. Copy-typing
2. Reflexology
3. Poetry.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website
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