The sick writer and a good review

Lordy, what a night. I was as sick as the proverbial and unable to get any sleep at all. I hate my sinuses and I hate catarrh. Both are hellish. I also hate the rubbish that we have to put up with on all-night TV. Why doesn't someone start a Sick Viewing Channel (as it were) where those of us lying on the living room floor and moaning a lot can watch nice warm fuzzy stuff rather than kick-ass action drama and pain?? I'm sure there's a market out there. Mind you, I did enjoy chanting along with the BBC Improve Your French programme at 4am. That was a riot. Voici la boulangerie. Avez-vous une tarte framboise? Though the mention of food did turn my stomach (which really has been turned plenty over the last day or so and could probably produce its own particular exercise video without much practice) and I had to think of something else. I was better off with the colours section: rouge; noir; jaune.

So. No work today, no religion and really not much thought. Probably more than likely due to the fact that my last meal was ... um ... yesterday's breakfast. I do have the odd one-minute hunger bout, but I've learnt over the years that there's absolutely no point in giving in to it until this attack is well and truly over. Funny how you do just know when that is, but you do. And it's not yet, dammit.

I took the precaution yesterday of sending work home though, as I could tell I was gearing up for this, so I've managed to send out the two sets of meeting papers for 20 April when I'm back at work (next week is the annual university administrators' conference and then we shut for Easter). I'm also attempting to sort out an urgent meeting when I don't have access to diaries so I don't think I can do anything about that till tomorrow. Even then, it's something of a muddle, so Lord only knows what will happen there. Sigh.

However, the lovely news which is really cheering me up is that Nancy on the Goodreads site gave A Dangerous Man a longer review which you can read here and I also include it below:

"Young hustler and aspiring artist Michael Jones enters a very intense relationship with rich and gorgeous Jack Hutchinson who commissions his artwork. Michael is an extremely talented, but deeply troubled young man who wants nothing more than to succeed as an artist. Although both men profess to love each other, Michael’s violent past, low self-esteem and destructive emotions clash with Jack’s middle-class values and cool reserve. A Dangerous Man is full of believable and engaging characters, great descriptions of an artist's work and passion, and a vivid portrayal of London and its different social classes. I don't want to say more, lest I reveal too much about this very well written, tense, and disturbing novel."

Gosh, thanks, Nancy - I'm hugely grateful for that. Tense and disturbing, eh? Well, that's me, I suppose ...

Keeping on the subject of books, and in between bouts of TV, I've been utterly gripped by Harlan Coben's Tell No One. A fabulous book and I couldn't put it down (partly because moving was difficult yesterday, but all the same ...) I loved the main character and it's full of twists and turns and high-octane excitement. I loved the whole thing really. I highly recommend it.

For the rest of the day, I've been watching all shapes and colours of TV, and I eventually managed to have a bath at 3pm so look less like someone who's been through a war zone without the aid of a hairbrush. Lord H will be pleased about that when he returns - as his last glimpse of the wife this morning before he went to work must have been something of a shock. Oh, and I've sent out another submission of The Gifting just to keep hope alive, eh. Ho ho.

I was supposed to be seeing Jane W in London tonight, but that's cancelled - on both sides as she's not well either. Hope we're both better soon, Jane!... So I'm hoping for a quiet night, though I'm still not sure about the food potential or whether I'll be able to lie down on the bed for sleep or not. I managed to grab an hour's nap today however from about 2-3pm, so that's keeping me going. We'll see.

Today's nice things (well, I'll try my best!):

1. A review for A Dangerous Man
2. A good book
3. Sending out a submission - well, it's a positive step, of sorts.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - in a sanatorium all of her own