...he said.  "it's been gathering cyber dust for months. People will think you've gone off the radar.'

I haven't ; I've gone on the circuit.

Early 2010 has been a frenetic time.  I've spoken to WI's, Wives Fellowships, Women's Guilds, Soroptimists and various charity organisations and loved every second of it.   I've finished A Grand Illusion and sent it off to my agent and wandered around muttering to myself while the threads of the next story weave themselves into memories and impressions in my head.  I've given workshops and planned others and all the while the website slept in the background.

Not everyone minded. 

There are regular queries from groups looking for a speaker or a tutor and occasionally ( and best of all) people who've attended talks and workshops in the past get in touch and say, 'I did what you advised!  I've started/finished the book!'  A couple have even reached the publication stage and to them I say, 'Well done you!'   

Only one query was unsuccesssful so far.  Virginia Water Wine Appreciation Society - your email address isn't working and my response bounces back with an undeliverable apology.  Can you get in touch again, please?  The answer to your query was, yes. ;-)

Two nice things happened in the last week...

The first was a trip to Kilkenny in Ireland to watch my father, Tom Phillips, launch a book called In the Shadow of the Steeple.  It's a compilation of articles written by historians, storytellers and locals who make up the Tullaherin Heritage Society.   This was number 10 in the series and it's compelling - the sort of book that you read and you can feel your roots and know that they are strong.   It's societies like this who have the foresight and expertise to commit our stories to paper so that they can be preserved.  Custodians of all our yesterdays - I felt very proud.

The other thing happened last night.  It was the first prizegiving evening for the Elmbridge Literary Festival  - the children's evening.   The other readers were the poet, Agnes Meadows and the writer Simon Cherry.  I was first to read. It was a poem written by a six-year -old girl and I thought it might be nice (for her!) if I asked her advice beforehand on how to read it.  Very seriously, I read the first couple of lines and said, 'Is that right?'

She rolled her eyes and looked at me as if I really hadn't had my Weetabix.

'Noooo,' she said, 'don't sing it - just say the words!'

Right so. 

Later they lined the children up for photographs with the Mayor.  To see a row of small kids, all clutching their certificates, with their chests stuck out so far they looked like chickens was a treat. 

Tonight it's the adults' turn.  I have to read a story by a talented writer called Terry Ryan. There are a lot of song titles in it. I will not attempt to sing any of them.

I will just say the words...

It's in the papers all the time.  I read how this fellow or that has made a name for himself, really 'got himself out there' by blogging reguarly and encouraging a devoted following to hang onto his every word.   Blogging is the way to go - if you're not too busy twittering of course.

I like to get out there.  I love the talks and the workshops and the people who walk up and say, 'I read your book and I wanted to tell you something...'  and they do.  They've read the story more recently than I have and although I claim a mother's knowledge of my characters, they claim a lover's - there are things I don't know and they are determined to tell me. I love that too.  Through the talks I've done this year I've met SO many people who don't have computers, who think 'blogging' is a fancy name for bragging (and the answer to that one is??), who won't ever read an ebook because they love the crack of a spine when you open a book for the first time and the smell of clean paper when the words are still on it, as yet unread.

And I chat to them - for ages.   It leaves little time for blogging and it makes me look inefficient to you if reading blogs is your thing. 

But it's human.  As one lady said recently, 'Isn't it nice that we can still do things are don't require us to plug something in?'

;-)