Birthday and new leaves

We were at a surprise birthday party at the weekend. Lunch out at a lovely restaurant in Guildford - Cambio's - and lots of chat with people we'd not met before. Our hostess then invited us back to her house for cake and champagne. The sight of the rather delicious chocolate roulade and chocolate gateau (there was also a lemon cake, but I managed to ignore that) overwhelmed me. I felt like an alcoholic in a brewery. I'm ashamed to admit I had three slices.

Such behaviour would have been OK twenty years ago. Now, there's absolutely no doubt, I'm succumbing to too many temptations and putting on too much weight. I've tried chewing gum, so as to get over the desire to be eating something at odd times of the day. (M not too pleased about this; apparently I left some chewed gum on a plate and gummed up the dishwasher.) I should also be taking more exercise, but it's been so wet and windy, I'm not inspired to go out for walks. I'll let you know how I progress.

We have another party on Sunday coming. It's my sister-in-law's birthday - and, in addition, her 25th anniversary. I spent a large part of yesterday looking on the Net for posh vases, sculptures or flowers to send on behalf of us, M's brother and other sister. But in the end we decided a garden plant would be nice, so we went off this morning and returned with a beautiful camellia. I'm still waiting for mine to flower, but perhaps this one will be happier and more cared for in S-i-l's garden.

I've just heard from Virtual Tales my e-publisher in the US. It's their intention to relaunch A Bottle of Plonk soon with a new cover and a new name. Apparently, they don't feel that my name and my current cover make it sufficiently explicit that it's a romance. Once it's up and running on their site, they're going to bring it out in print in America. So that's exciting news. In the mean time, you can still buy the print version in the UK and the e-version from VT under the old names. Look it up on Virtual Tales, under Romance, or at the Goldenford site. VT have a new forum set up, and you can leave comments there on any of their authors or titles, if you're so inclined.

In the meantime, Anne's publicity seems to be paying off, for I understand she's been interviewed by the Surrey Advertiser about her new book, Thorn in the Flesh. I agree with others who've commented that it's her best yet. Looking forward to seeing the write-up.