The Gifting, web adventures, and just how big is my nose!...

A little bit of good news today when my agent emailed me to say that he thought the second draft of The Gifting was a lot better than the first, hurrah! He’s promised to be in touch with me later in the week, after the wild traumas of the London Book Fair, so I shall gird myself for more edits to come. No doubt.

This morning, I’ve spent vast swathes of time sorting through the meetings for the coming year, and they’re all slowly slotting into place, like some kind of giant and very alien jigsaw. Still one or two pieces that are floating in the ether though … And I’m back to typing the boss’s changes to various sets of minutes and publicity, so the schedules are filling up, ho ho. Ooh, and I’ve signed an educational online petition and had a confirming email from 10 Downing Street – how very exciting! At last I am mixing with the Great and the Good – if only virtually …

Still, in spite of all the excitement, I had time for a leisurely coffee with Sally at lunchtime and caught up with what’s going on in our lives, not to mention planning the Health Centre Fayre on Wednesday. It’s all done by smoke and mirrors. Honest.

This afternoon, I have attempted to update the name of our Student Advice website and ended up ditching the entire thing. There were a few minutes of utter, throat-constricting panic before the Blessed Aileen (May Her Name Be Praised) of IT resurrected it for me. Such a relief. Thank you a thousand times, Aileen. So I can now cancel my one-way ticket to Borneo. Apparently, this is a University First and no-one in Aileen’s years of service has ever attempted to do it before. Glad I still have the capacity for surprise then. And, hey, at least they can always rely on me to attempt the impossible with only a gung-ho smile and a cheese sandwich for company.

Oh, and dammit but we’re back to semester hours, so no 5pm finish tonight. Ah, that last half-hour is a desert of time indeed. Groan.

Tonight I’ll put on my flak jacket and go and see Gladys. I’m hoping we’ll both survive the experience. Once I’m safely back home, I’m planning to pluck out a few more lines from my dwindling Pot of Inspiration to add to The Bones of Summer. Possibly. And I absolutely must watch the last episode of “The Fixer”. They’d better do a new series – and soon!

And, last but not least, and rather scarily, I appear to have made it to Page 44 of the Winchester Writers’ Conference PDF guide, which you can find here. Thanks for the tip-off, Denise. Heck, but just how big is that nose of mine! I blame my grandfather for it all. And yes, Goldenford will be there this year so do come and visit us. Even better, buy a novel! I’ll be there on the Friday only, so book early to avoid disappointment …

Today’s nice things:

1. John liking The Gifting more
2. Coffee with Sally
3. TV.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers