Achieving some objectives

The only way to clear a desk is one sheet of paper at a time. I have managed to deal with a few things. Some cheques have been sent out; some letters have been filed. And one or two of the other mundane domestic chores have also been dealt with. I meant to deal with some invoices M dictated last night, but somehow they were put on the back burner.

On the writing front, I have completed my rewrite of the article I've written about Goldenford and sent it to my fellow directors, Jennifer, Anne and Irene, for comments. In addition, I've been asked to send the complete ms of my novella A Bottle of Plonk to an on-line publisher of serials, Virtual Tales. I sent that off tonight.

I've also gone through my notes for a talk tomorrow at Sutton Writers. As things stand, it's an article, but I won't just read from it. My method of giving a talk is to write something down in more or less good English, using only half the width of the page, then put in notes and headings summing up what I'm going to say, down the empty half. I try not to read from the article, but it's there if I need it. I like to ramble a bit and face the audience. I'm always nervous in advance, but so far, have recovered once I'm 'on stage'. I hope it will go well tomorrow - M is taking me, as I don't do driving outside my patch.

Once I auditioned for the WI. The parking was terrible; I was a bage of nerves when I arrived, and I had miscalculated the number of words I needed, so my talk - which should have been 20 minutes - turned into about five. I was relieved to fail the audition. I came to the conclusion I really didn't want to travel the countryside getting tense about parking situations.

I still have a lot to do tomorrow. I must assemble my 'props' and some cash, in case anyone wants to buy one of my books.

Time: 11.30 p.m.