Daynote - Thu 18 Sep

Man, I am having a bit of a slow week on the writing front. I forgot we had an early appointment this morning and I slept straight through my alarm. On the plus side, the lurking post-festival lurgy I was worried I was coming down with (not Covid, thankfully, per a test last night) seems to have fled in the face of some First Defence and an early night.

ON DECK: I had about 30 minutes spare this morning, so I didn't make any progress on DRIFT, but I did start writing some book club questions for A RELUCTANT SPY, after a very kind reader asked if I had any at Bloody Scotland. That should be up on the website shortly for download.

LISTENING: I enjoyed this episode of Read and Buried with Matthew Blake, author of ANNA O and A MURDER IN PARIS.

WATCHING: We finished off KING & CONQUEROR last night. Daft melodrama but the final battle scenes/speeches were well done.

READING: More NO ONE TO HOLD THE DISTANT DEAD yesterday, along with some crit reading at lunch. And I'm also sneakily reading THE LONG WALK because several people have told me that, while the new film adaptation is good, it has a very different ending and I should read the (shortish) book first. It's vintage King (complimentary) and I'm enjoying it.

KIT: Bit of a random one because I made this recommendation several times to people at Bloody Scotland who were concerned about getting sick afterwards, but one of the things I've taken to doing at book festivals and conventions is taking First Defence with me. When I get back from the day's events, I use the spray before going to sleep and (aside from the horrible taste in my mouth) it has consistently saved my bacon from talking-all-day sore throats and been-in-lots-of-warm-crowded-spaces lurgy. Highly recommend getting yourself a bottle and sticking it in your travel kit if you do a lot of events.

LINK: There's a really good feature article in the Stirling Observer about Bloody Scotland this year, including a picture caption that describes me as 'authentic', so that's nice.

UP NEXT: This week has not worked out when it comes to writing routines, haha. But also, last weekend was pretty much a peak experience and also absolutely exhausting, so I'm cutting myself a little slack. I'm getting bits and bobs of admin and reading done and letting my brain rest a bit, so I'm not too worried. Back to it next week.

Onward!