"It was imprudent of us, in the first place, to become authors. We could have become something regular, but we managed not to.
We were lucky, but we were also determined." Roy Blount Jr

"I don’t change the facts to enhance the drama. I think of it the other way round, the drama has got to fit the facts,
and it’s your job as a writer to find the shape in real life."
Hilary Mantel

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Mid-week mania

So much activity! My days are busy. My evenings are more relaxed: I've cooked international dinners (Lebanese lamb last night, veal Parmaginana tonight) and worked my way through a few of those September fashion magazines (Vogue, W, Harper's Bazaar) that weigh 50 lbs. apiece.

For the first time in my life, one of those perfume embedded inserts has persuaded me to purchase a new fragrance.

My place of temporary semi-employment is an educational organisation, and the Big Thing on this week's calendar was a Preview/Open House for the Fall course schedule. We spent yesterday preparing, the event was today. I was in the office all morning, ran a few errands in the Capital City, then headed down to Manchester (I'm a State Rep--wheeeeee, don't have to pay highway tolls on I-93!) to the site of the Open House.

I was in charge of delivering our organisation's mascot, a giant ceramic penguin called Olli:



Although this remains the only state out of all 50 that has no mandatory seat-belt law (not my fault: I voted "Yes" when the latest version of that bill came before the House), I feel it's important that ceramic penguins are safely strapped in when travelling at high speeds on our interstates.

It was a fun afternoon, the place was crammed. I was the official event photographer, as well as occasionally staffing the "Questions" table.

Amazingly, in most instances I was actually able to provide "Answers".

Came home to find a check from my literary agent with additional unexpected royalty monies from Russia--rubles transformed into Yankee dollahs. The Chap worked out how much my books cost there. Reminding me that my MEP International Edition Shelf in the bookcase is bare of any Russian titles, he advised me to order some from Amazon Russia. (Is there one?) I admit, I would enjoy seeing my deathless prose printed in that cool alphabet they use.


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