A few years ago, having achieved two world champion medals in a single weekend, Anna began to lose her strength and her energy – all of it. She went from world class fitness to barely able to fall out of bed and was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  As far as the experts were concerned, Anna’s career was over; she’d hit the wall.

Maybe that’s the difference between the winners and the rest – walls don’t stop winners; they give them something to climb over.  For the two years when all she had the energy to do was talk, Anna talked. She gave inspirational speeches to various organizations – schools and companies – about the focus and dedication you need to succeed and how this CFS was just another hurdle. And all the time she climbed.  Within five months of getting the all-clear, Anna was holding another World Class medal and she hasn’t stopped since.

Good luck in Beijing, Anna, to you and all your team!

‘Nice to see something British that does what it says on the tin, even 60 years later,’ was one comment.

‘How very basic, very fundamentally decent this car is,’ was another.

Other comments were lost in the deafening roars as McLarens and Lotus-Cosworths zoomed past.  It was thrilling, knife edge stuff and every boy in the place, regardless of vintage was in Heaven.

For me the high point was the Ball.  The Three Drummers played live and K.T Tunstall sang her heart out to a rapturous crowd but the nicest thing of all was to share a table with people whose company made the time fly all too quickly.  It’s fascinating to watch how faces light up when the conversation turned to cars and passion was shared.

As for me, I waited for the question I was dreading – ‘do you share your husband’s interest in cars?’

‘No, I don’t but I have a functional role.’

‘Oh really?  Are you mechanical?’

Then the truth. ‘No, but 1948 Land Rovers were very basic, like it says on the tin so I’m great on corners…’

‘I see,’ the man said looking at me with fresh eyes and noticing for the first time that I have long arms.

‘I’m a left indicator.’

My husband’s car won in its class.  I clapped with both hands.

For this weekend, it’s all real. The delegates and speakers are alike in appreciating that we inhabit these strange worlds but we do not own the stories in them – we are merely custodians.  Standing aside to let the stories out is what the weekend is all about.

The biggest thrill for me is not the other speakers – though many of them are great – it’s the delegates, especially the first timers.  I gave a workshop on Fri 27th and there were a few people there who have yet to get let their stories out but they will – and what stories they are going to be.  Mary – sharpen that pencil and Amanda, wherever you are, write the story about what happened when the door creaked at the Writers’ Weekend…..

It’s like having a glimpse of the future and knowing that some day you’ll be seeing those names on the shelves.

Get to it – guys – over to you now.

And what a garden!  After a glorious hour I realised that that time was passing and so I got back into the roasting car, felt myself basting in the heat and turned on the sat nav. And hit the wrong key. And locked it.  And realised I’d left the map book at home, 90 miles away. And I was due in Biddenden in 40 minutes.

You should NEVER rely on technology when you could bring a map book!

Fortunately, where I needed to be was five minutes away in a straight line and I pulled up outside the Hall in plenty of time.  So off I went for a wander and came across the sort of little shop you don’t expect to find in a quiet Kent village on a sunny Monday afternoon.  Have a look at www.collectablegifts.com.   It’s the website of Janet and Brian from Claris’s Tea Room and Gift Shop on the last corner as you head east out of Biddenden.  From the outside it’s quaint and you wonder if you’re going to be supervised if you even breathe on the merchandise.  But you aren’t.

It’s gorgeous – absolutely gorgeous.   There’s a shelved wall of pottery that you really want to take home  and can, at a price.  There are trays of jewelery ranging from temptingly cheap to fairly pricey – definitely fairly – and another wall with cards for every occasion and on examination you realize that there’s a theme. Someone has a eye for the unusual and a sense of humour. The owners chat as you browse and there’s no pressure .  I ended up going back after the talk (lovely audience – made the long journey worth while) and wished I could have stayed longer.

Next time I’ll bring my shopping list.  Claris’s is well worth a visit.

I opened Writing Magazine yesterday to see my face scrutinizing me very seriously from the contents page.  On page 70 Lynne Hackles reporting on MY WRITING DAY, the result of a long conversation we had months ago.  Thanks, Lynne.  I’ve been enjoying those articles for years and am fascinated at the varying degree of discipline and devotion that writers give to pursuing their craft.

Two devoted and disciplined writers are very much in my mind this week. One is Meg Gardiner, crime writer, (www.meggardiner.com) who is heading off to the US next week to be unleashed onto a grateful reading public. I wish her Bon Voyage. Meg’s books rip and I expect they will sit comfortably in the US bestsellers list for a long time to come.

The other is Linda Gillard (www.lindagillard.co.uk) whose new book, Star Gazing landed on my desk last week. It is everything I hoped it would be and suggest that if you found the subtlety of the love scenes between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa moving, you need to get your hands on this.  Have some cold water to hand.

In the article I said that the best advice I was ever given was to ‘remember to enjoy it’.  I know both these women as friends as well as writers and have to say that I thoroughly enjoy having my faith in their ability vindicated by their growing fame and fan clubs.  Take a look at their reviews – and the caliber  of their reviewers.

It’s great not having to be biased.

“I tag you to write six random things about yourself. Rules on my blog.”

These are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
• Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I am not as tag literate as I should be but these are early days and some day, I will tag with the best of them.  Meanwhile the instruction is to be random and hey, random I can do….

1.  I was a teacher (still am at the least provocation) and thought it hilarious that anyone would pay me to tell stories. When I admitted to the nun who was my teacher years ago that I wanted to be a seanachai (traditional storyteller) she said, ‘Foolish child. You can’t earn a living telling stories. You’ll have to be a schoolteacher.’  I did and now I do. So she was wrong.

2. I do not think that I write what comes out of my imagination; I think I write what went into it.

3. I won one medal in my life – all Ireland Volleyball, cadet team.  I have a mean serve and my party trick was spinning the ball so that if anyone tried to answer the serve, it skinned her hands. Otherwise, I’m quite nice.

4. I’m ambidextrous and write completely differently with each hand – different style, different content. Typing works because it keep both sides happy but often the words come out backwards. Either that or I can’t spell.

5. I absolutely love the fact that I am Irish.

6. Recently, a man who’d booked me to do a talk, said that he had read THE JIGSAW MAKER. It took him three weeks because three years ago he had a severe stroke and reading was too difficult. It was the first book he finished in all that time. I said, ‘I hope you didn’t feel obliged to finish it.’ He said, ‘No, I wanted to know what happened.’ and he smiled.  I felt honoured and humbled.

If there were 7 things, the seventhy would be that I am lucky to know some fine people.

Over to you, Meg.

Ok-ay.

I was in the third or fourth row on the right (now we’re narrowing it down). I meant to tell you afterwards that I really enjoyed the talk but I was in  hurry so I didn’t stay around afterwards.

Oh.

Anyway, I thought it was great and I should let you know.  I got your email from my friend, S, who went to another talk you did and she met someone who knows you.

If I go to another of your talks I’ll tell you.

I hope she does, I really do.  I love her already.

As we filed inside there was music playing – Dolly Parton singing ‘Life is like a butterfly’ and as the music registered, smiles all round.  Which was it that he liked: or was it both?  It set the tone for the next hour: tributes were read, poetry recited and when a dignified grand-daughter paid tribute to her well-loved Grandad,  even the elderly gent in the official jacket wept openly.

I left straight afterwards and drove along the road to Cobham still humming.  I was honoured to take part in such a tribute, lucky to be aware that good people like that exist and are loved, and grateful to have been reminded of butterflies – fragile, transient but so lovely.  It would be a pity not to enjoy them while we can.

I still feel humbled.

What a lovely year I have in store - a warm welcome, coffee and cakes, an attentive audience – what more could you wish for on a cold February morning?  It makes up all the lonely hours sitting in front of a screen, trying to reason with characters who will not behave as I expect and unlike me, aren’t trying to follow the plot. 

I’ve had one very truculent character this week.  Her name is Tina and my plan was for her to have a bit part in this book. Tina is a Muriel Spark character, unreliable, delusional and gloriously self absorbed. I only needed her to answer the phone and stay quietly in the background while I figure out how to weave a backstory into the present predicament.  Our Tina has other plans.  She’s one woman hissy fitting hussy and  I cannot keep her down.  Six solid hours with her on Monday and I needed the WI, and the coffee and the cakes to restore my sanity.

Thank God for the WI. I look forward to to the next talk.