Some great news

Well I'm back from what felt like a very long week in Newcastle (it was one of those courses which seemed to go on forever, so by the time Friday came Monday felt like it had been a different course months before...) Judy Marshall, one of my fellow trainers, kept me company for the week as we shared lifts there and back and were in adjacent rooms in the same hotel, so basically she kept me sane and I drove her insane, probably.

It's a lovely weekend so far with brilliant weather, but as this is England I'm sure it will change dramatically and very soon. For now though me and Lou are making the most of it, finally getting the garden into shape and so far it's looking good. Oh, and after last week's chance meeting with John Porter on a train coming home from London, yesterday I bumped into Dorothy Horton, another pal from my RBS days but this time from Credit Documentation in Centurion House (aka "The Jones Tower" - if you didn't read "Tales of the Old Monkey III" you won't have a clue what I'm talking about here) and we've not seen each other since I left there in September 1998. We had a nice chat there in the lawnmowers aisle of B&Q in Altrincham and I'll be getting in touch with her very soon. She's ace - we always got on really well.

Anyway, on to the great news. "Kaleidoscope" is on the horizon for Bewrite Books, featuring two stories by yours truly, but on Friday I received an e-mail from one of their editors inviting me to be a part of their next collection, tentatively titled "The Dark Side of Love." Better still, they have asked for just one story to be included... and it just so happens to be "Martin's Wish" which I feel is the best (and, outside of "CZJ", "The Victoria Principle" and "Carriers," the longest) thing I've ever written. Hurrah! I'd better tell my dad to brace himself for that one though, as if "Final Demand" freaked him out this one will send him over the edge.