On We Go...

It's hard not to feel sorry for Liz Truss - a sentence I never thought I'd write if I lived to be a thousand years old. Two days into the top job, the job that only a tiny fraction of the country actively want her to have, and she's front and centre outside Number Ten, solemnly orating about the Queen's death. My mind wandered to the scene inside. Bags still packed, the chaos of a house move all around. 'Where's my good black dress?' Was it in the blue case? For the love of God, will someone shift these boxes?!'

It's been a strange few days for anyone who isn't Liz Truss, too. A quick scan of social media shows there's been a range of responses to the Royal death. Heartbroken grief, surprise sadness, mild indifference, and then anger at the blanket fawning. The UK is a broad church. Royal correspondents have been particularly criticised (cough *Witchell* ) although it's a real skill to pad madly and say nothing much, whilst being on air as often as possible. 

So in the spirit of keeping calm and carrying on, the Weekly Update continues. I'd say it's what she would've wanted, but let's not be silly. None of us have a clue if that's true. Not a clue! We can only do what we think is best. So unlike the football this weekend, I'm keeping calm and carrying on.  Duty calls, and on we go. 

Good advice that I 
won't be following.

Writing News

The first draft of my new novel continues apace. But to practical matters. Like everything else right now, paper, ink, and printing prices have gone up. That means making less money on each book sold. When my previous books were published, it was just over a quid. Now it's 70p. In order to earn a £1 for each future book sale, I'd need to raise the price. I don't want to do that. When people can't pay their bills, I'm going to struggle to flog a non-essential novel, even if it is marvellous. (Spoiler alert: SO marvellous.) Instead, I can use less paper and ink. That means I'm keeping my eye on the length and aiming for fewer than 60,000 words. For an adult novel, this would be too short, but for a middle grade book, it's fine. I've got twelve chapters, so have tried to stick to 5000 words per chapter. It's tricky. I was well over target a few months ago, now I'm back on track with an average of 5286 words per chapter. There's still stuff to cut, but the editing process will do that. So, yeah, that's the Writing News this week. It's not always poetic language and creative juices. Oh no. 

Culture

I had a cinema double bill on Saturday. See How They Run was first, which I thought was 'marvellous fun', and a decent alternative to the sombre TV coverage. Then, ten minutes after the credits rolled, I wandered into another screen and watched Jaws. For the first time! Yeah, I know. Not sure how I'd avoided it all these years, but I had, and now I've not. It was... wait for it... better than I thought it'd be. I mean, you probably had to watch it before CGI and you probably had to forget that Boris Johnson's COVID response was modelled on the mayor from the film. But yeah. It was sharky fun.

 

My version - stilton, spinach,
truffle oil, and honey.

Food and Drink

After eating the nicest pizza in the Wine Club last week, I had a bash at making my own. Stilton, truffle oil, spinach, and honey. It was nowhere near as good as theirs, but it did the job. Meanwhile, I'm sorry to say, the 2022 padron season is over.

The Shakespeare North
Playhouse

Out and About

First there was a mid-week tea at theWine Club. (See pizza news above.) Then I was lucky enough to be invited to the Shakespeare North Playhouse, for the As You Write It performances. (One Show fans may have heard of this. In conjunction with the Playhouse, the BBC ran a nationwide competition for young people to write a play to be performed on stage.) A marvellous time was had by all!

Next Monday, it seems, there's to be a televised funeral. I probably won't post a blog at the same time. I'm sure it'll be best the day later. (It's what she would have wanted. Or is it? Literally no one outside her actual circle has a clue. Stop saying it about random shit!) No, I'll post later in the week. Or maybe treat myself to a week off. Who knows? But whatever happens...

...have a lovely week, folks.