Student Experience Group

Goodness, how agonising it is to go back on a Friday, of all days, just for one day this week. Almost unbearable. Still, at least I managed to catch up on emails - and get almost all the minutes of the Student Experience Group written up by the end of the day. Which leaves that much less to do on Monday when I go back. These two day weekends just aren't long enough.

Barbara Large of the Annual Writers' Conference (http://www.writersconference.co.uk) is willing to mention "Pink Champagne and Apple Juice" at the plenary address of the conference in June, which is great PR, and hugely kind of her. Am really pleased - as is Jennifer of Goldenford (http://www.goldenford.co.uk). Barbara even says she'll buy a copy, which is great. Hope she likes it! A couple of people at UniS have mentioned "Pink Champers", and said they'll buy a copy too. So good news there in the writing (aka "real" - one can only hope ...) career zone.

And I've got the next chapter of "Thorn in the Flesh" back from my editor - so will get on with improving that over the weekend. How I wish I could get some good news on "Maloney's Law" though, which is still doing the rounds. I keep prompting my agent (http://www.sff.net/people/john-jarrold/about.html) subtly for some kind of advice on this, but he just doesn't take the bait. Damn it. Next time I write to him, I think I'll just screw my courage to the sticking point (?place? - can't be arsed to look that quote up ...) and ask outright. Am beginning to think he'll dump me soon, which will be irritating. But, hell, I've been there before - so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. It's so damn hard trying to be - and pretending to others to be - positive, when underneath I feel anything but. Ho hum.

Just finished reading Hilary Mantel's "Beyond Black". Bloody brilliant. Everyone should read it. And I will most definitely be buying and reading more of her stuff. Why can't everyone write like her?

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com