Greetings from the past! I'm writing this last Thursday, four whole days before it's available for your reading pleasure. How've you been?
Usually I'm much more up-to-date. I write this blog over the weekend before posting it on Monday. However this weekend - the one I'm about to have and the one you've just finished - is choc full of plans. I won't be able to write about the week just gone in time for the Monday deadline. That means I'm sitting here on Thursday morning, still living your last week and with no clue how it'll pan out. I don't know, for example, who won the Gorton and Denton by-election, I don't know how Connor Storrie did on SNL, and I have no idea how my Uni mates catch-up went on Saturday night.
Actually, you know what? I know exactly how that went. Thirty years ago I met two guys in my first days in Northampton who became my pals. We're crap at keeping in touch but when we finally get our shit together (every couple of years or so) it's the best. I know now, days before it starts, that I had a blast last weekend.
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| Leeza McAuliffe |
My ego was thoroughly nourished this week. I had tea with my goddaughter who had received a typo-riddled advanced copy of the new book from me for Christmas. To my absolute delight, she was keen to talk about it at length. The actual thrill of it! We chatted about the plot, the characters, and I bounced ideas off her about the next book's direction. All in all, I had the best conversation whilst struggling to hide my overwhelmingly smug pride.
I'm on a reading high right now. Since January started, I've had a book on the go consistently. This is marvellous. When I'm writing my own drafts, I tend to avoid immersing myself in other people's words. When I'm mostly done, I can return to the comfort of curling up with a novel.
Right now, I'm reading Hamnet - which is beautiful but I know where it's going (I should've read it before the film) and I'm reading Rocket to the Past: Rainhill which is properly grippy but I've no idea where it's going. That's a real thrill right there. I'm half way through and I can't wait to box off today's jobs to get back to the story and find out. Also, in keeping with the theme of this post, time travel plays a significant part of the story. Boss. The joy of letting someone else think of the stories, can't be underestimated. Aren't books great?!
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| If I eat a load of shite then early morning walks feel like wading through treacle. Am I entering my salad era? |
Tomorrow night (that's last Friday to you) I'm going out with friends for a birthday meal at Botanico in Woolton. Here's the thing. I've already looked at the menu. Right now, I'm planning to order the halloumi and beetroot salad. It sounds gorge as well as being reasonably healthy. I'm at the point in life where if I eat a load of shite, I find that it makes me feel - you guessed it - a load of shite. Obviously time will tell if I stick to my plan. The four cheese gnocchi, also featured on the menu, might tempt me with its wily ways.
Out and About
By the time you read this, I'll have had a weekend in London. When I was at Uni, it took an age to get from Liverpool to London. These days it's two hours. How fab is that? Two hours away from meeting up with friends, having lovely food and drink, all soundtracked by a shit tonne of laughs. Even though it's not happened yet, I know it was brilliant.
Have a lovely week, folks.
