Thursday 8 May

The birds are singing and the computer is humming as I type. The farmers' market was a great day although both I and my co-director of Goldenford Jacquelynn Luben - see her new book Tainted Tree published last week on Goldenford's website and pop it into your Paypal basket - got burnt. Normally I'm neurotic about the sun - wearing large brimmed hats, 35 factor sun cream and staying in the shade but the deception of England conned me - it was just warm, wasn't it? My fear of the sun developed when we went to New Zealand some years' ago and arrived in the middle of National Melanoma week with lurid ads on the T.V and children running around like Maori with pretty coloured patterns on their faces which turned out to be their parents' way of making sure they always went out with sun cream on. NM week in NZ will turn anyone off....
We sold some books, chatted to the other stallholders all of whom are great people and wandered up and down Guildford High Street. We were visited by friends and some of my clients who took a double look - not quite believing that their solicitor was a stall holder. I have great fun with this - people's perceptions of how you are defined are very rigid. Solicitors are boring old farts aren't they? From my acquaintance with my professional colleagues this is not always so - and the joke is that most of them spend their professional lives trying to get out...

Am now working on my entries for Winchester Writers' conference - a chaotic affair which both lifts and depresses - all those people who rush from one seminar to another and hope to become professional writers and all those stalls like ours which hope to sell books and the writers just ignore us! - its a conundrum.

I'm preparing three novels (first three pages and synopsis); a couple of short stories and, if I am brave enough, some poetry. My poetry is very personal and I'm not sure it's any good but hell, everything is submitted under a pseudonym so if it doesn't win no-one knows who you are....

Had some brilliant news yesterday - I'm going to Freiburg in June with my Goldenford co-director Irehe Black - she of the Moon's Complexion and if you enjoyed that, look out for Darshan to be published later this year - for their summer festival. We will be talking about Goldenford and our books - luckily Irene speaks some German but all I'll be able to say is ja, nein and Dankeshon (and don't even know it that's spelt write) - but I have a month to learn some more. Freiburg is twinned with Guildford although I've only just found that out! Shame on me.

Have to close now as we are going to Gloucester (that's me and spouse) for the Crimean War Research Society's annual shindig. Yes, I know, I was a bit 'do-what?' at first but they're a great crowd and we have lots of fun, good wine, good food and loads of conversation. Sometimes we have contingents - see I can get all military - from the Ukraine, but usually have delegates from the U.S. and the Netherlands. I've been to the Ukraine twice and loved every minute of it.
I'll spend my time looking at the Cathedral and generally moseying around while the AGM is taking place - I'm just a camp follower and don't take part in the proper events. I get a lot of ideas while I'm doing this which I keep for future reference.

So don't tell me off if you don't hear from me for a few days - my first duty when I get back is to visit my brother as I haven't seen him for some days and all I can think of is that he's in this double locked ward in this beautiful sunshine with few visitors....

Now how do you say goodbye in German?

Jay