quick catchup and London

Current work: second revisions (I really *am* going to nail them)
Listening to: Bach
Reading: Sarah Addison Allen (just finished Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen – both interesting ideas; also read Marina Fiorata’s ‘The Glassblowers of Murano’ while I was in Venice, and it was lovely spotting the book locations in real life – enjoyed the book thoroughly)

Life has been immensely busy since returning from Venice (of which still more to come – there are three more posts, all with lots of pics – and yes, I probably am really boring on the subject now). Really, it was a question of catching up on sleep (Milan, not Venice – see, I told you there was more to come) and then obviously it was school holidays. And I came home to second revisions (weep). Actually, I do understand why I’m getting them. It’s not because I’ve suddenly become a crap writer (my agent would’ve told me if that were the case) but the market out there is very, very, VERY tough, so books need to be extra-good now in order to persuade readers to buy them. Which is how come I have to add more ‘Kate Hardy magic’ to the jousting book (my ed’s words, not mine!) and, um, why I’ve been struggling with them for the last week.

I’ve been busy, but not actually achieved a lot; and I’ve also been distracting myself on the question of a netbook. (I might say here that Yvonne Lindsay, Trish Morey and Liz Fielding are Very Bad Influences - and I just know I’m going to crack as soon as these revisions are off my desk. Shortlist of four: so I need a chat with the tecchy people in John Lewis on Saturday, methinks.)

Anyway. I went to London yesterday for a meeting with my agent and editor, and had a very, very nice time. Nice journey in - booking a seat in the quiet coach was a v good idea and I will do that in future. My booked seat was backward-facing (despite the fact I asked for a forward-facing one), but luckily the train was quiet and I managed to find a forward-facing seat: joy of joys, it also had a table, and I was able to spread out the proofs of the Essex book and sort all that out on the way in. (Well, hey. Multi-tasking is good.)

Met my friend and fellow Modern Heat author Heidi Rice for a coffee and a catch-up (and BOTH of us had a camera and forgot to take a pic! How bad is that?), then headed to Kensington. I was a little early and it was a glorious day, so wandered round - the architecture in this part of London is gorgeous.

OK, so I was house-hunting for characters. But look at these. Aren’t they lovely?

There was hardly any traffic; very peaceful and pretty. (And is that a magnolia tree I spotted? I liked this. A lot.)

Then to Chez Patrick to meet my lovely editor Sheila Hodgson and equally lovely agent Dot Lumley.

Lunch was scrumptious: Dot and I both went for the 'Chevre brick' as a starter (the salad had a lovely pesto dressing), while Sheila had the salmon.

Main course was guinea fowl with cream sauce, served with spinach and celeriac (v scrum, lots of nutmeg).

And then the most gorgeous framboise mousse. Dot's ice cream was prune and armagnac - very interesting combination and none of us guessed it!

The food’s good, the staff are charming and attentive without being intrusive, and I’d recommend the restaurant highly.

Obviously I’m not going into details of what we discussed, but broadly these lunch meetings tend to be about how an author’s books are doing in terms of monitor scores (i.e. the reader panel ranks each month’s books and your position tells you whether you’re getting it right or not) and sales, what you’re planning to do for the next year, and a very frank discussion about where your career is going (strengths, weaknesses etc). Some authors hate seeing their figures; I like to see mine because I’m a planner and it helps me to focus. It’s the first set I’ve seen for a while, so it was interesting reading and it’s boosted my confidence a bit – especially after the revisions issue. (I’m still going to moan about it because – well, hey, I’m an author and we’re a paranoid bunch. But I know why they’re happening and that makes a difference.) I feel a lot more focused now, and that’s always a good thing.

After that, had a quick wander round (was going to buy the kids something nice in Gap, but then remembered that my mini fashionista has better taste than I do – she picked the top I bought for yesterday’s meeting). Had just enough time to meet my bestest cousin for a drink - she's a City chick, and is utterly glamorous. (Proof: her amazing shoes.)

Lovely to catch up (we have many shared tastes... including Chablis *g*. Rats, forgot to tell her about the Robbie Williams lookalike in Milan). And actually, that was work (wait for it), because a wine bar scene is in a future book; it’s years since my PR/media buying meetings in London, so it was useful to refresh my memory. (Terri was having a guilt trip about the bar bill until I explained that two glasses of Chablis in London = 2 coffees in Florian's.)

Then caught the train home. When I booked, weirdly, it turned out that first class was actually cheaper. Was nice because I had a forward-facing seat and quiet people near me, but there were some braying businessmen at the end of the carriage. (I realised why as I left the train – rather a lot of gin consumed there…) Still think Italian trains are nicer, but see future Venezia posts for details!