M.O.T, V.A.T., Celebrity

Where has all the time gone?

Well first there was much to-ing and fro-ing as my car went in for service and MOT, to be swapped with M’s van, only to have to return again because of an oil leak. So while at home and carless, I concentrated on the last couple of pages of the VAT return, which is now almost completed and just awaiting a couple of stray invoices and some totalling up. My brother-in-law came for dinner last week, too, and invited us for Christmas, as the children will be elsewhere. He will do all the cooking. He’s a marvel – how could two brothers be so dissimilar?

I was supposed to be meeting friends for a pub lunch on Wednesday, but one of them had a horrible bug – there’s lots going around at the moment – so it was postponed. So I have also during a few boring days, been catching up with washing and ironing.

The highlight of the week was the Goldenford talk at Horsley Library, which was a fantastic occasion – one of the best we’ve done, in my opinion.

The Friends of Horsley Library made us so welcome and there was wine and savoury snacks for ourselves and the guests despite it being a totally free event.

It was an unpleasant chilly night, but that didn’t stop a number of people coming out and the room was absolutely full up, with every chair taken. One member of the audience was a teacher from my daughter’s school, Tormead, in Guildford. She remembered that I had come to the school to see their archives, as part of my research for Tainted Tree, for she was at that time the archivist. She was pleased to hear that I had included in the acknowledgements my thanks to the school for their help.

The three of us - Jay Margrave, Irene and I – talked about our books and how our personal lives had influenced our writing. Once we had finished, there was a stampede to the table where the books were on display and a member of the library staff dealt with all the selling and taking of money on our behalf – while we signed copies and generally felt like celebrities. I can’t speak highly enough of their efforts. They had managed to raise the profile of the library and even stop it being closed a few years ago by holding such events and generally raising its profile. At their next evening, they are hosting Simon Brett, the well known TV playwright and crime writer, so it was a privilege to be put in the same category as him.