Dough-Based News and the Privilege of Knackered...

You want a waffly preamble to lead us into the weekly update? Naahhh. There's loads to chat about, so let's hit the ground running. Ready?.. Steady?.. Splat!

Writing News

The third draft continues. This past week, I've been focusing on the opening chapter. It's a tricky thing. The book is supposed to be a seamless continuation from the first Leeza McAuliffe story. Some people won't have read that. I can't assume prior knowledge but nor can I overly explain who's who. Occasionally it's simple. When Leeza refers to something Dad says, readers will understand it's her own dad speaking. The family relationship is right there in his name. When Leeza describes something Harvest does, it's harder to know who that is, by her name alone. I could write, 'Harvest, my little sister, sat up and clapped,' but no. That's spoon-feeding. It's telling, not showing. (It's also an unrealistic thing to be written in a personal diary. Who tells their diary who their sister is?) Instead, I should write something like, 'Harvest sat in her baby chair while Dad fed her mush.' That way I've shown there's a baby at the dinner table. The reader is likely to assume it's a younger sibling. And if not, there's plenty of time for corroborating evidence later. As the book opens, readers should be given enough clues to keep them engaged, but not fed too much info to bore their pants off. It's been an interesting focus to my writing week.

Culture

I've had a bit more Liverpool tourism with my Aussie cousin. We hit the Cavern Club on Friday and had the best time. It's been approximately twenty-eight years since I spent an extended amount of time in the place, and it was great. We saw two sets (Gary Murphy and Barney Taylor) before wandering out into the evening for food. Good times. Also, I've become borderline obsessed with Amanda and Alan's Italian Job on BBC iPlayer. It's given me a vicarious trip to Sicily from my sofa.

You've got to feel sorry for non-
North  West residents. Imagine
 not having this little beauty  
on their doorsteps.
#Waterfields

Food and Drink

A Bond family gathering for my sister's birthday resulted in purchasing all the pizza in Widnes. Two accidental vegan Margheritas were also ordered, so they got blinged up with some mozzarella and cheddar, later in the week. Genuine apologies to actual vegans but it was better than binning them. In other dough-based news, I had a rare Waterfields lunch, including their exemplary caramel doughnut. Hashtag Living The Dream.

Out and About

It was my fortnightly writing group meet-up, so that saw an evening jaunt into town. I did my weekly brunch with pals, as well as my weekly writing sesh at Costa. There was a night at my brother's, and a family meal at the Italian near me. It's been an honest-to-God social whirl.

This is me being happy-tired!

My birthday month is but a hop, skip, and a jump away. Hello March; in you pop. As I look down the beautiful barrel of forty-five, I'm reminded that as knackering and hectic as the past weeks have been, it's so bloody marvellous to experience them at all. Some people say getting older is a privilege. It is. And so is feeling worn out from doing loads of cool stuff. 

Have a lovely week, folks.