Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Reading, Writing, Walking and Speculating

I thought maybe I was overstating the case with my gut feelings about hedge funds. Then I read this by a Fund Manager who says, (regarding a company in his portfolio):

(This Company’s) problems were compounded by the loathsome short selling activities of some equity holders whose fleeting interest in the company are completely incompatible with its long term development. Our trust has never, and will never, while I’m running it, engage in stock lending activities.

I thought this was strong stuff by another financial body. It was also interesting to realise that in some cases, the short sellers have to borrow their stock from large institutions, and when they do, these institutions are complicit in a transaction which may have the effect of damaging the shares they themselves own.

But to move on, I have finished reading The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Despite my initial prejudice, I became hooked - I would even go so far as to say, haunted by it. I think it is a brilliant and ingenious novel.

My prejudice was because I thought it would be a science fiction book, and instead, I found it was a book about relationships. It was necessary to suspend disbelief, but to do that is not so difficult, because there is so much truth in the emotional lives of the characters. himself.

At Guildford Writers, last night, I read out the penultimate section of my holiday writing, which brings me up to nearly 45,000 words. I am going to have to work out what happens next very soon. I went to the hairdresser today, and she asked if I was writing anything else. She's not the first persons to ask when my next book's coming out and I’m beginning to realise how it feels to have a two-book deal. (If only.) She also told me she enjoyed A Bottle of Plonk very much, even though she read it after Tainted Tree. (It’s a much less substantial book.) And three other people told me how much they liked TT, including the mother of my neighbour, who telephoned from Norfolk a few days ago especially for that purpose. I’ve put her comments on my website.

When the sun shone at the weekend, I was so overwhelmed that, on Sunday, I insisted that M & I go to Wisley (RHS) Gardens, where we wandered around for hours, looking at late summer plants and following the Sculpture Trail. We also had a walk on Saturday, through our woods. After all this walking, I felt sure I would have lost weight, but I ended up putting on 2lbs.

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