Saturday 25th Feb
It may look as if I am not working. That I am in fact sitting in a bar in Amsterdam, nursing a beer, but the joy of being an author is that a lot of the preliminary work is going on in the background – in our wonderful subconscious. The bit where you actually sit down and type is quite near the end of the process and at the tip of a very large ice-berg. Honest!
We went across to that interesting city, for the Vermeer exhibition, which was as good as it could be. A bit of a bun fight in places and a little patience went a long way but so worth it.
Years ago, I had a puzzle, 500 pieces, A Young Lady Seated At A Virginal. The blue dress, not the yellow one. I loved that puzzle even though it had a piece missing. I must have done it three or four times over the years. So standing there, in front of the actual picture, I found myself getting quite emotional. A good memory from childhood, that has left me with a lifelong love of jigsaws. And while doing a jigsaw it gives the old subconscious plenty of time and space to work out the intricacies of the next idea, plot, ending. At least that’s my excuse.
