Where has the summer gone?

I blinked and it turned cold.  What happened?  One minute I was scoffing ice-creams in Venice and the next I'm filling the foot spa up with soup and sneezing everywhere.  But with every passing day, I get closer to the publication of book 4, and that's no bad thing because it's always an exciting time.  Just get over Christmas and then things go mad.  And as I've just got the cover through, I'm at that lovely stage where things are coming together and I just can't wait for this one to hit the shelves.  There are a few contentious issues in it, it's my bravest book yet. 

Slogging on with book 5 now and I just can't believe I'm on book 5!  It only seems too minutes since I was staring at the phone willing it to ring to give me my first book deal.  And here I am with book 5.  Lovely though.  Worth all those millions of rejection letters.  Or was it trillions?

Other news - full of cold, just written a Christmas story for YOUR CAT magazine - the Christmas issue - doing a few columns for local rags, doing a show at the Civic in November 'An Evening With...' I do believe Ian McMillan's son will be on with me and the most wonderful poet in the world James Nash.  The dog is now huge and after nicking off with my dad's sandwich the other night, he then completed his evening of naughtiness by chewing my visa.  And I've got my first British royalties through because the Yorkshire Pudding Club has broken through the barrier and that, my friends, is a feeling akin to finding George Clooney on your doorstep with his lips puckered.  Well, almost :)