Out with the old and in with the new

Lord H and I were woken twice last night by some idjit attempting to ring us. In the end, we unplugged the phone, which I think we'll do again tonight. I really hate these automated calls from some machine dialling the wrong number. We get so many of the damn things. Sigh.

Anyway, today we've spent a large part of the morning getting up - it seems to take longer and longer these days - and a large part of the afternoon getting lost and mired in mud on Little Bookham Common. I was fine for the first couple of hours of this, but the third hour was an hour too far, m'dears. Especially as I'd forgotten to pack my fruit so was utterly utterly starving. Mind you, we did see four great spotted woodpeckers, a heron in flight and the usual suspects of robins and long-tailed tits. So all was not lost. Not only that, but we were asked our opinion of a bird by some passersby who obviously had us down as experts. Ho ho. I think we fooled them too. Must be the binoculars, the bird book and the serious expressions. They very sweetly wished us a happy new year on departure, so that certainly lightened the day.

Back home, I've been uploading web data to the new website domain, so I'm all prepared when it goes live, hopefully in the next few days. Watch this space - again! I still think it's fab, and Lord H has done a stellar job on the photography of those pictures which aren't book covers. Such talent in one so young, you know ...

And I've just finished Sebastian Faulks' Engleby. I really liked it - the best thing since Birdsong in my opinion. And at least he hasn't got any sex scenes in it, thank God. Everyone knows the great Faulks is just crap at writing sex scenes. They're all hugely embarrassing and laughable. Good to see his editor finally has this aspect of his writing under control. And Engleby himself is a wonderful character - I loved him totally. The only thing is that he runs out of storyline three-quarters through the novel so we're left drumming our fingers and hanging around for the closing credits. So, in that instance, it could certainly have done with some trimming, but otherwise great stuff indeed. I foresee the film version soon, no doubt.

Finally, it's New Year. So I hope you all have a fabulous New Year and a truly wonderful 2008. I'd also like to say thank you for reading this blog throughout the year and for commenting too - all very much appreciated. I've been thinking about how this year has been, and what I'd choose for my personal 2007 highlights. So here they are, both good and bad, in no particular order:

1. Getting A Dangerous Man published - to a lot of very good reviews and very poor sales.
2. Publishing A Stranger's Table - only one or two good reviews in this case, and again very poor sales.
3. Slowly coming out of the bout of depression with which I started the year.
4. Leaving church and deciding not to commit to another.
5. Cutting the ties with a few friends I've had for twenty years, where the friendship is no longer valid.
6. Developing and beginning to deepen a few newer friendships.
7. Getting the contract for Maloney's Law.
8. Preparing for the publication of Thorn in the Flesh.

And I have made - unusually for me! - two New Year resolutions for 2008, which are:

1. To get to bed at a reasonable time, on the grounds that if I'm less tired, I tend to be less depressed and anxious also.
2. To meditate regularly as best I can - as, when I do, I always find it helps.

Finally, I wish you once again a happy and truly wonderful New Year.

Anne Brooke
Anne's fading website
Goldenford Publishers