A Week in the Life...

Exciting things have happened since last I wrote. No, not Coca Cola buying Costa - although I'm intrigued to see whether it'll have an adverse effect on my high street office and the work I do there - but other exciting, marvellous things. In the past week...

A teaser...

My Newsletter Came Out
Now, steady yourselves. If your inbox did not receive my end-of-month missive, it's because you're not a subscriber to this blog. If you were, you'll have caught up on all my official August engagements and be braced for the sequel at the end of September. If you missed out, subscribe in the box at the top of the desktop version of this blog. You'll receive a weekly blog link, plus monthly newsletter. FOR FREE. I know!

Ahhh. I was very relaxed
 here. I'm not now because
I've just spent half a day
making this gif.

I Went on Holiday
Yes! In the week between That's Number Wang! and this, I've been on my hols. In fact, last week's blog was posted from the glamour of a North Wales Travel Lodge, where I'd begun my getaway with an overnight trip to my parents' gaff. The three days that followed were in deepest, darkest Wales. Well, Aberystwyth. Not that deep or dark, to be honest. Lots of sea air, crashing waves, and time away from my laptop. By day four, I was mentally refreshed. My self-imposed digital ban* had done it's job and I was ready to get back to it. I've now returned to the thrust of my routine - dealing with a backlog of emails, catching up with all sorts of episodes on the planner, and managing a face full of spots after not eating a vegetable for four days. That mental image is my gift to you. 

So many errors. So SO many.

My Editing Team Got Busy
When I say editing team, let's be clear. That's two parents, assorted siblings, and some in-laws. They've all read the final draft. As each of them got to the end of it, they sent me an email full of my errors. I corrected them, addressed any queries, and saved my new final draft. But then another family member would email corrections and I'd repeat the process. As everyone read at different speeds, I had a steady stream of emails full of changes, over the past week. My final draft has been final many times. My parents are now on their third read and the changes still keep coming in. One day I will draw a line and tell everyone to down tools and accept that the end has come. But not yet.

My Brother Found His Diary
My book is the dairy of a ten year old - Leeza McAuliffe. When I arrived at my parent's place on Sunday, my brother had rooted in their loft and found a box of his old things, one of which was his diary from when he was ten. He then proceeded to read out selected extracts over the course of the day. A few observations. Firstly, it was hilarious. From dead budgies, to a daily record of meals eaten, to his lengthy descriptions of my love life** - it was highly entertaining. Secondly, I'm glad I didn't read it before I wrote Leeza's diary as I'd have plagiarised it, willy nilly. Thirdly, I may have given my fictional ten year old, Leeza, a more mature outlook and clearer sense of narrative than my brother had, BUT she isn't a million miles away from the style he adopted. It was reassuring that I'd not completely ballsed up how to write as a child. Reassuring and hysterical. 

It hasn't looked that
sleek or neat since.
Purely down to the fact
I've had a that'll do 
attitude whilst being away.

I Got My Hair Cut
Look, I'm running out of things to add to this list. I have had my hair cut. It's significantly shorter than it was, and it's exciting to wash and feel the shampoo run out quicker each morning. But yeah, I'm scrambling for ideas now. But still. Short hair. Yay.

So there we go. This week was significantly busier than others. Mainly because while I switched off for a few days, my family-editors didn't, and now I'm busy working through all their changes. In terms of the next few weeks, it's all systems go. The cover is being developed, the blurb, acknowledgements and author bio are all on my To Do list, and I'm planning to read the whole thing aloud with a ruler*** as soon as the family-editors' emails die down. But for now, I'm going to go back to Costa - my high street office - and check the Coca Cola Christmas van isn't blocking the fire exit. 

Have a lovely week, folks.

*Obviously this digital ban did not cover Whatsapp, Messenger, Netflix or Google. I'm not an animal.

**I'm seven years older than him. It was all kicking off for me back then. I did not return the favour and share my own diary from that time. Definitely NSFW.

***Line by line, with a ruler to make me go slowly, making sure I notice every bloody letter, space, and bit of punctuation that's there. Or not there.