December 2007
The video below is of The Dastards with my eldest son (red shirt) playing bass. What a star! What a great band!
November 2007
November is a pressurised month which consists of trying to get fit for the party season and getting all the shopping and organising out of the way so I can enjoy December. So thank you to Chris my personal trainer who is whipping me into shape. I am off to Cribbs Causeway to blitz the presents and stock up on Little Black Frocks … I am devising a complicated chart to make sure I won’t be seen in the same thing twice. And I’ve spotted some boots that will change my life.
Next week I am off to Fifteen, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Newquay to celebrate a friend’s fortieth. That should undo some of the hard work, though I have threatened to organise a run on the beach the morning after. It so won’t happen …
Later this month I am going to the Hennessy Gold Cup with my publishers, Orion. I’ll be buying a gorgeous trilby from my friend Jane, a milliner with a wonderful hat shop in Hungerford. If anyone has any tips, please let me know.
I am very proud to announce that my son Jake is going to play bass for The Dastards .Wake [Daniel Wakefield] is a fantastic songwriter with a unique voice – see them at a gig near you soon.
If Father Christmas should happen to read this, I would
like a set of Nikita underwear in emerald green from Agent Provocateur
and a flagon of Mandragore from Annick Goutal. And, more prosaically,
a KitchenAid food mixer in red …
THE BOOKSELLER RETAIL AWARDS 2007
Thursday night (20th September) was the Bookseller Retail Awards 2007, held at the Natural History Museum and hosted by the irrepressible Dara O’Briain. My publishers, Orion, held a drinks party in the Creepy Crawlies Room, which disconcerted most of the female guests – fortunately there were mojitos and champagne flowing to drown their phobias. Our table at dinner was right under the tail of a towering diplodocus – slightly surreal, but the setting certainly seemed appropriate when I presented the Orion Marketing Campaign of the Year to Amazon.co.uk for their Harry Potter Campaign.
September 2007
September for me is all about new beginnings -a much better time to make resolutions than New Year's Day. Hence the ferocious detox diet and fitness campaign. Well, if you spend all summer guzzling Pimms, cava, guacamole, lobster, pains au chocolat and tortilla chips, you are going to turn into a bloater ...Two weeks without booze, butter, bread or caffeine and the evidence speaks for itself - I have a whole new wardrobe eg all the stuff I haven't been able to get into since arrival of third child ... nearly five years ago. Have discovered Pukka teas: having never been able to get any of those filthy herbal teas past my lips, these are actually delicious. And divine packaging.
Next week I'm going to the Bookseller Awards at the Natural History Museum. I'm presenting the Orion Award for the Best Marketing Campaign. Looking forward to a glitzy night of champagne - oh no ... I'll be the one clutching the glass of sparkling mineral water, of course.
IT'S OFFICIAL! ... 'JUST A FAMILY AFFAIR' ... My new book will be published in hardback on 3 April 2008.
MID LIFE CRISIS
Birthday
pending. The only panacea would seem to be an open-top two seater – so
I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous navy blue MX5 – a car I have lusted
after for ages. And in celebration the sun has decided to come out: perfect
for a Thelma and Louise moment. Though it seemed a little rash at the
time we have all had so much fun in it that it does make you realise life
is too short to be sensible, rational and practical all the time. Visit www.mazda.co.uk if
you want a bit of ZoomZoom …!
Discovered great new band courtesy of Mark Lamarr – www.oi-va-voi.com
They have a beautiful and slightly dysfunctional sound - the vocalist
has been described as having the English purity of Marianne Faithfull
with the other-worldliness of Bjork, and there is some hardcore violin.
Be brave and buy it.
Read of the summer has got to be How
toTalk to a Widower
Midsumer Bulletin
I've just spent three days in the South of France with my dear friend Jane, in St Cyprien near Perpignan, where we had a marathon eating-drinking-sunbathing-shopping session, my first holiday for six years. Thoroughly rested and ready to go!
By contrast we went to see punk-jazz band Acoustic Ladyland, where Pete Wareham wrestled with his saxophone, treating it like a weapon one minute and a woman the next. This was live music at its best, less than ten feet from the band and able to smell their sweat, their fear and their enjoyment.
June 2007
It’s now officially June which means the French windows must be thrown open and the rest of the world subjected to the contents of my iPod. Currently on repeat are:
American
Doll Posse
Skinny
Grin
Butterfly
Version
Crocodiles
Release
the Stars
Great dinner party game: everyone writes down their favourite all-time track, drunken host downloads it from iTunes and everybody dances in the hope of recapturing their lost youth.
Music highlights of the summer are going to see Muse at Wembley and Lily Allen at the Eden Project. I’m retiring gracefully and leaving the festival scene to my kids …
May 2007
I’ve just got back from a week at the BBC in Elstree, learning what makes a story work. Having initially dreaded it, I now feel totally inspired and realise I have only been using half of my brain for the past few years. I’ve now resolved to use the other half, and to this end I’ve joined Word of the Day – see below – in an attempt to improve my vocabulary.
Hurrah! The maxi dress is back. No summertime sartorial crises this year. My favourites are on www.lipsy.co.uk and they won’t break the bank either.
Also fancy a corset from www.gash.co.uk, but endeavouring to lose a few pounds first to maximise the effect - if you’re that squished in it’s all got to come out somewhere else. So doing some serious power walking in my MBTs …
March 2007
EVERYTHING’S GONE GREEN …
Whatever the opposite of green is, that would be me. A flagrant leaver on of lights and televisions, user of tumbler dryers, and owner of a gas-guzzling four wheel drive, I am an ecological disaster. But the message is starting to get through even to me. I am determined to start just by making a few small changes:
1 Not using the tumble dryer. I have one of those airing racks over the Aga, and it really doesn’t take very long to put everything on it. I’ll be making a Kath Kidston peg bag next …
2 Composting! We are buying a compost bin from our local council, and all scrapings and left-overs will be dutifully dumped in there from now on.
3 Joining a vegetable box scheme. This will involve making a determined effort not to have a soggy mess of rotting produce at the end of every week, but with a bit of forward planning our mealtimes could become more interesting – jerusalem artichoke fricassee, anyone?
4 Taking my own shopping bags to the supermarket. The ones they supply break anyway, and you aren’t faced with the dilemma of what to do with fifteen empty bags.
5 Turning the heating down and sticking on another jumper. This probably burns more calories, so combined with doing as much walking as possible, going green could mean going lean!
If I can manage a month doing all of these, I can start to look at how else to improve my carbon footprint. Thankfully my children are all out of nappies, so I don’t have to face the real versus disposable dilemma …
February 2007
My very exciting news is that I have just signed a three-book contract
with Orion Books, who will be publishing my next novel,
A White Wedding, in hardback next spring. Amongst
other great names, they also publish the esteemed Maeve
Binchy
February is a dreary month, enlivened only by Valentine’s Day, which still brings a frisson of expectation even after all these years [23!]. If I had a babysitter and a chauffeur, I would love to have dinner at the heart-stoppingly romantic Combe House Hotel in Gittisham.
But I suspect I will be cooking at home, which I will enjoy just as much, with a glass of bubbly or three while I am chopping and stirring – here are my Sexy Food recipes for a Valentine’s night for two.
For the most divine packaging and even more divine contents, a box of Prestat chocolates would be most welcome on my pillow on the 14th – www.prestat.co.uk.
Meanwhile, I have a two-part short story inspired by Valentine’s Day coming out in Woman’s Own, entitled Going up in the World. Go buy!
Finally, if you want to curl up on the sofa with a good book, I can thoroughly
recommend Judy
Astley's
January 2007
Here
we are in January – resolution time – and this year I have resolved never
to make a resolution that involves deprivation, abstinence, self-control
or economising. I have decided to concentrate on the good things in life,
in the hope that everything else [going to the gym, drinking more water
and not procrastinating] will fall into place if I am enjoyng myself. So
here are my resolutions for 2007:
1 Wear matching underwear every day. There is no doubt that it makes you
feel great, but you need to be organised and buy it in the first place!
So my Christmas money is going to be spent on
or www.marksandspencer.com
2 Get more fresh air. I have a three mile beach outside my window. Actually,
who needs the gym – climbing up the dunes should give me buns of steel … I shall go to
for some motivational music.
3 Have more fun with the children. Ice-skating, horse-riding, swimming and
going to the movies – I love them all and don’t do enough.
4 Try a new recipe every week. That sounds a bit Good Housekeeping but I
get bored with the shepherds pie, prawn pasta, fajitas cycle. So Thursday
night is going to be a gastronomic adventure for me and my husband. I love
cooking but it has become a chore – so I am determined to be more experimental.
I like Sainsbury magazine for realistic but exciting new ideas.
5 Write more letters. I had a beautiful Waterman pen for Christmas, and
I am determined to put it to good use. In these days of texts and email
the letter seems to have disappeared – I think it is time for a revival.
There is nothing nicer than a handwritten envelope on the mat – or even
just a postcard. I might go to www.smythson.com to order some personalised stationery … told you my resolutions didn’t involve
economising!
How are your resolutions going? Let me know
… Happy New Year!
December 2006
We are firmly entrenched in December and I have already been to four carol services. As usual got off to a flying start and posted half my cards early, but now look in danger of not finishing the other half. My huge confession is that I have succumbed to a fake Christmas tree – my husband is allergic to real ones – and the truth is it is rather luxurious having nice even branches and lights that are perfectly spread out … oh dear. But on the advent calendar front I remain firm – no chocolate, no Simpsons, and at least a hint that the festival has religious connotations. Matthew Rice does the best, and happily my two younger children seem quite delighted by a mere picture behind the door!
All
I want for Christmas is … the new Pink
My
top party tune this Christmas – perfect for getting ready to go out
– is This Time by DJ
Shadow
November 2006
I’ve finally – phew! At last! – put the finishing touches to my next novel. Next week I am off to Elstree to start writing an episode of Holby City, which exercises an entirely different set of writing muscles and as they say a change is as good as a rest. It’s a huge challenge, as there are so many balls to keep in the air, but it’s very exciting and great to work with a team, as writing a novel is a rather solitary existence.
This is my favourite time of year – Halloween and Bonfire Night – and I am determined to get some serious cooking done this weekend, not least Nigella Lawson’s spooky cake with monster lollipops stuck in it for the kids. If experience is anything to go by mine won’t look anything like the one in the picture, but hopefully we will have fun doing it.
Are you a Lidl virgin? I was very snooty about it until my husband dragged me in there at gunpoint and made me cruise the aisles. Once you get past the Eastern-bloc style displays there are some amazing bargains and some really cool packaging. Figs for 20p each, Serrano ham, Parmesan, Emmental and jars of marinated artichokes for a quarter of the usual supermarket price. My favourite purchase: a plastic bottle of pancake mix – just add milk, shake and start flipping! And forget the Chloe Paddington bag – the Lidl shopper is capacious, striking and perfect for carting round my laptop and a few Holby scripts ...
Sartorial bargain of the month – swishy black velvet coat with scarlet lining for £99 from … M & S. Very Russell Brand!
October 2006
Kicked off autumn with a weekend break in sunny … Leeds. Myself and eleven close personal friends stayed at the wonderful Malmaison hotel and prepared for two days of indulgence – eating, drinking, shopping and … SLEEPING! Les girls hit Harvey Nichols as soon as it opened while the men demonstrated their self control by trooping off to The Armoury. Instant sulk as I saw what I wanted as soon as I stepped over the threshold [the iconic Thomas Wylde Portabello slouch bag], but at over £1500 I had to settle for buying it for one of the characters in my next novel, and got some delicious Annick Goutal scent instead!
Currently swotting for the Parents’ Association Quiz as one will, despite stout denials all round, be judged entirely on one’s performance and the Headmaster has personally thrown down the gauntlet. Must remind myself not to drink too much and become aggressive; it’s supposed to be fun. Our team is the Pussy Cat Dolts …
Wind is howling and the rain is lashing the windows so it is casserole time. Click here for my favourite autumn recipe - Normandy chicken, with lashings of cream and cider.
Book
of the month - Showdown, by the glamorous and sparkling Tilly
Bagshawe
Wine of the month - Tim Adams Semillon
Shoes of the month - Dark green suede courts with taffeta bow from M&S