Nearly Here

When I arrived in the bar it was almost empty so I whipped out my camera and took the above photo, with no danger of disturbing other industrious writers. Isn't this a lovely space to work in? I also snapped this very quiet foyer in the Festival Hall:

When I went back down for a mid-afternoon latte, it looked like this:

There was some kind of Baby Disco going on. I'd never seen so many prams or toddlers. Crazy!

The writing is going well. A new chapter to put more meat on the bones of a character's story. Scrolling backwards and forwards and the definite feel that, yes ... things are coming together. The end is in sight, but that doesn't mean I can relax. The ending is going to be almost completely rewritten. Almost? Okay, completely rewritten.

On Wednesday I do my last day's work in the office and then I have a clear six days of writing before I have to officially throw in the towel and Do Christmas. Christmas is happening at my house this year, which means cooking for eight on Christmas Day, plus all the pre-cooking and baking, buying presents, stocking up on food, organising everyone, making beds, laying out towels. I have a vague hope of painting the bathroom before guests arrive, but that's probably a pipe dream. I hope to be more successful with my pre-Christmas knitting as I am frantically making presents. Those bamboo knitting needles are going to be click clack-ing away right up until the last minute! And in between all of this is the writing and the ever present deadline for a third draft. No problem.

I attended my writers' group on Tuesday evening. Not only are these sessions great for the feedback on writing, but also to share experiences and talk with people who are going through the same process, compare notes, offer and receive advice. As an added bonus, we spotted Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith, being photographed and interviewed not far from our table. (For anyone who's interested, she's teeny-tiny.)

On Thursday I met up with a writer friend before dropping her off outside Bloomsbury's offices in Soho Square for their Christmas party. (Hello to anyone who attended! You lucky people.) I enjoyed watching faces I recognised walking into the party, and felt a bit like a child pressing her nose up against the shop window. How I ached to gatecrash! I waved my friend off and wandered into Oxford Street for a spot of shopping. Oh well, perhaps one day...

I hope you are all enjoying your own pre-Christmas writing, and managing to juggle every other aspect of your busy lives. If you want to take time out to read an excellent new blog, let me direct you towards Katherine Langrish's Seven Miles of Steel Thistles. Katherine is a children's fantasy author who is staggeringly intelligent and informed. Her second only entry on this new blog is a really lovely account of a school and teacher who allowed her to enjoy that most treasured past time: being read out to. You're never too old to be read out to. I wonder if I can persuade my boyfriend...? Go on, Ian! You know I deserve it.

Finally, can any of you remember my blog post in August that included a photo of spotty trees on the South Bank? This is what they look like now... 

It's nearly here! Christmas, I mean.