Whoo hoo - I have taken delivery of both "Imagine Oxford" & "Tell Tails" and here they sit in our state-of-the-art warehouse i.e. my office. I would be most grateful if you would buy, buy, buy so that I can get back to my desk!
The books look great...even the cats agree!
I guess I now need to turn my mind to the next book...but perhaps a day off...week off first....?

The wet weather and the build-up to publication has been too much for my cat. She has become a teenager and just stays in bed. She may wander down for her breakfast mid-late afternoon or not, demands a lot of attention and then just goes out...
For the rest of us life has been full-on as usual. It looks like we will take delivery of our books on Thursday and I hope to get copies out to everyone who has pre-ordered, by Friday (our local post office closes on Thursday afternoons). The jiffy bags are all labelled up ready in our slick Bombus postroom which doubles as my office! 
The sales and marketing continues....I was lucky enough to have a sound barrier placed by my desk at work this morning. This has provided me with a perfect marketing pitch just across from the front door in the sight line of every visitor. I have covered it with posters about Bombus and our books. It may not be there for long but thought I would grab the opportunity whilst I could!

Final cover proofs approved - check
Press releases done & out - check
Jiffy bags ordered - check
Comps slips designed - check
Point of salel/marketing material ready - hmmmm...still to be done...and more ideas in the pipeline...

We should receive copies of both books next week and I prepare to crank up a further few gears. It all feels very exciting and I am now just hoping that the world loves our books. My job now seems to be morphing into making sure that the world knows about them...I'm trying hard! Watch this space...
I hope I will be be able to send out pre-orders and review copies from 20 July -  ooooer.....
 

It was Oxford's turn today. Sadly, I live in the road parallel to the start of the torch's "journey" today. I felt like it was more than just a parallel road, more like a parallel universe. The klaxons started before 7am - WHY? What sort of person has a klaxon? Why does it seem a reasonable thing to use in the early morning in a residential area?
I set off to work on my bike assuming that the part of the road where the torch was not travelling would be open....silly me...it wasn't! I limped along with bike for some of the route then decided to get on and ride off as normal. There was a brief moment when I felt like a celebrity with crowds lining my way but they soon disbanded and the madness moved on...I rode off to work wondering why there were crowds on the streets....what were they actually watching? supporting?  B'ah humbug!

I am listening to the Archers omnibus as I write. It appears that, contrary to expectation, the characters and cast have managed the week without me! Fancy!

I have returned from the world of Arvon at The Hurst in Shropshire - wow!

When my eccentric and garrulous electronic travelling companion told me "you have reached your destination", and it read "unknown road" I got out with some trepidation. The worries about what would happen in Ambridge without me sunk down my list of priorities.
A smiling face rushed out to greet me and I found myself within the Arvon embrace. Somehow it didn't matter that the room was full of "unknowns", somehow they were already known to me on some level. It was extraordinary what an easy atmosphere it was and how easy to engage with everybody from the very start. I am sure this just does not just happen - the staff steeped in the Arvon ethos create it.
I am finding it hard to generalise about my week. It was storytelling gone mad. Some had arrived with their head already deep into the novel they wanted to write whilst others just wanted to write A novel. I had a story to tell but no clue how to tell it.  As I heard and got to know a cast of real and fictional people I was sucked further in. I will, I sense, always know these fellow journeymen/women. It was the same with our fantastic tutors Jane Bailey and Joe Treasure who we all got to know along with fellow students. They were generous with their time, their experience, their expertise and so much more.  
We spent mornings looking at aspects of the novel from structure to "voice". We practised and shared our pieces. The afternoons were spent in 1:1 tutorials, writing and cooking (if it was your turn). After dinner we spent the evenings listening to our tutors writing, having a guest speaker talk about her writing and, towards the end of the week hearing each other's work that they had written during their stay. I look forward to seeing everyone's name in print before too long.
I have started my novel based in 1970s "dirty" Soho. When not trying to plot and bring my characters to life by naming them, I spent my time inhabiting the clubs in Soho of the time and trying to think of names for them (Barbarellas sprang to mind).  Normally I would have gone straight online but without internet access I have had to search my imagination which has been so much more fun! I have also lost sleep pondering what slang was used at the time. Any ideas gratefully welcomed! I have, at last, taken some ownership of my plot and have even written 2000 words - so only another 68000 or so to go...
It rained for the entire week at The Hurst. As the week drew towards its end and we sat talking in the kitchen nobody seemed too worried about the thought of rivers bursting their banks and being forced to stay and continue our writing without access to the outside world. I suggested that maybe this is what Writers in Residence meant - last week's writers that refused to move on for the next week's course...If only...

A busy day of packing for Arvon. I have quickly discovered that going by car makes a mockery of "less is more" - no chance of car sharing. I am sharing with my wardrobe, all the books I might read, all the books I might need to refer to, a copious supply of codeine-based medications, laptop and its various accessories as well as other items on the "Things to bring" list....
I feel that..."walking boots or stout shoes" may not apply to me...I feel like the longest walk I will undertake (or not) will be the one from the car park to the house! Even the thought of walking on any uneven surface is painful so I am hoping that I will find inspiration from something other than the beautiful countryside.
"A torch" - Hmmmm...wonder what that's about..I am reading it as only necessary if you are someone taking the outdoor footwear.
Ditto for "a waterproof jacket or coat"
"Paper and pens" - at last something that I have in good supply
There are of course bigger things to worry about:
I am growing ever more anxious about lack of internet access. With 2pm and 7pm being times I will be busy, how will I be able to keep up with the problems at Brookfield and Ambridge whilst I am away?  I reassure myself that amongst a group of writers there will be others in the same fix and we may find a way to catch-up!

Then there is also the niggling feeling that I can't find any mention in the course literature about the supply of wine and wonder what this may may mean