I can’t believe it’s the 30th. I completely lost track of time, and only regained it again yesterday because it was our grandson’s second birthday and today our daughter gets the vaccine and our niece takes her driving test. And to be honest I gave in for a little while. The blog started to keep THE BOOK front line and centre but it’s always felt a little self-centred, though that might be a generational thing. But I also live with a man who is very discreet and private. I have tried to be more like him over the years. And though I do blurt things out less readily now I am older, there are still those awful heart-stopping, hot and cold moments when I find myself repeating Hagrid’s immortal words, ‘I shouldn’t have said that!’ But I also think you can be too private, too self-contained. We are made for relationship. For Christmas I was given Charlie Mackesy’s book, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. I would highly recommend it for ten minutes of pure joy. The horse is very wise and when the boy asks him, “What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?”, the horse replies, “help.”
That is a long way of saying that I’m going to keep going with the blog. It would be too easy to give up, to concentrate on being Granny, helping out at church, making more time for friends. This is too close to my heart, to peel it away and leave it festering in some dark corner.
So in the new year, for a couple of months, I’m going to try writing something different. Step away from Anna and her lovely parishioners. Book two is mostly done, so don’t worry, there is another on its way, though I don’t know when it will actually appear. But instead of worrying about who did it and how, I’m going to try something for fun and see where it leads. I will go back and work on book three, get it finished. I’ve got a couple of new characters who I think have legs! But I do need to step back from them. And I am still thinking an agent would be good. So onward and upwards, as my dad used to love saying!
