Confessions of an Author

Crops and Cows 1 Hello and how was your week? Mine was a mix of disasters and interesting things. It began nicely, with a walk to our local pub. Husband was working from home, but decided he could take a few hours off, so we walked for 45 minutes through the woods to our nearest pub, for lunch. It was warm, the trees had laid a path of autumn leaves, the dog was happy. All was going well until we arrived and realised we hadn’t actually brought any money with us. Embarrassing. The sweetcorn crop next to the house was harvested. We saw them cutting it, and trailer loads of cut green stuff being carted away. But we never actually saw any of the corn cobs. We watched the tractor for ages, and decided it must be somehow removing the cobs before chipping the stalks. It was bit of a mystery. Monday was also the day of the red sun – did you see it? If you live in England, you’ll have had a weird yellowy sky that was dusk at about 3pm, and the sun was red and hazy. Apparently it...

# A Case of Need by Michael Crichton - very interesting. The novel is very pro-abortion, which I found difficult, but it's usually good to read viewpoints that differ to your own, because it helps you understand what others are thinking. Whilst I found Crichton's very biased approach slightly annoying (he didn't address the alternative views at all, other than to ridicule the extremist stance) the story was interesting enough for me to want to read to the end. # The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - well, this was surprising! I sort of remember the story from the 1970's, when my parents banned us from watching it, and my sister and I used to sneak episodes when they were out! But I have never read it. McCullough writes in a very descriptive style, and she uses all the adverbs that Stephen King advises writers to avoid, but she certainly writes a good story. I was uneasy with the ages of the main characters - as a priest in his twenties becomes besotted with a girl...

Another Proud Mummy Moment 1 So, this week we had another graduation ceremony – Son 2 collected his BSc in Natural Sciences – proud Mummy moment. He had had a busy week leading up to the graduation, so I had to help a bit. (You think, when you have little kids, that one day they won’t need you anymore. I’m not sure quite when that day comes, but my children are all in their twenties, and I still seem to be helping.) His busy week had included a trip to Wimbledon. He left home very early, and travelled to London, to be queuing outside Wimbledon by 8am. Due to nice weather and lots of Brits qualifying, it was already full. He came home again. I’m sure though he was pleased to go, simply to collect his “How to Queue” booklet. Mind you, tennis has to be one of the most boring games to watch (am not a great lover of sports). It is only slightly better than watching cricket – where all the players look like they have escaped from a flour mill and are standing around trying ...

King David and The Good Wife 1 Often, as I read the Bible, I come to a passage which makes no sense. Something happens, there is a reaction to it, and you are left wondering why. In the olden days (of not so long ago) people would have heavy tomes sitting on bowed bookshelves, and would pull down a version of their favourite commentary to investigate. Today we have Google. However, the problem with Google, is that usually, you have no idea who has written something. Sometimes it’s difficult to know if someone is giving their own opinion, which is no more valid than your own, or if they are Biblical scholars and know what they’re talking about. And they write with so much authority! Take a passage I read recently (as part of my task of reading through the whole Bible – which is taking me months). I read an account of King David, before he died, telling his minions to take a census of Israel and Judah, because he wanted to know how many people he ruled. (End of 2 Samu...

Palma del Rio, Spain Family Holiday 2008. A learning experience…… Saturday 2nd August  (Please note the month. It matters…) Flew to Malaga. Waited over an hour for Hertz hire car to be ready. Drove to Palma del Rio. The instructions, map and actual road numbers all completely different. Felt somewhat stressed. Spent about an hour in Palma del Rio trying to find villa. In the end we phoned the owner and forced Rebecca to use her GCSE Spanish and get us directions. (She actually did rather well.) Met Pepe. Villa very pretty, lots of dark wood and comfortable furniture. Rather smelly (of poo.) Extremely hot. (This villa can still be booked through: holidaylettings.co.uk I notice that it now has air conditioning. If your husband ever tells you that ceiling fans are just as good as air conditioning, do not believe him. Went to Supermarket in Palma del Rio. Hard to find stuff without speaking spanish. Bought food and cleaning materials. Family swam, I cleaned villa. S...