Month: May 2018

What’s happening in my world, this week:

• Work: finishing M&B #83 (overdue, sigh); updating my website one backlist book per day (in theory, but in practice I’m away so won’t have the time); and faffing about with my Big Book (need to decide which of the four ideas in my head needs writing first and stop messing about)
• Reading: The Light Behind the Window, Lucinda Riley (enjoyed)
• Looking forward to: King Lear on TV tonight; uni open day trip with Chloe to Manchester – as it’s a long drive there, we’re staying overnight and going to see Happy Days at the Royal Exchange; also planning to see the Museum of Industry and Mrs Gaskell’s house, and meeting up with friends; and it’s Gerry’s birthday at the weekend
• Workouts: as I’m not here most of the week, it’ll be walking in Manchester
• Planet Kate last week: busy with work – managed to get my dates wrong so we missed seeing Jon Richardson, which is a shame, but we did have nice weather at the weekend so we took Archie to the park on Saturday and to the beach at Holkham (i.e. the beach you see in Shakespeare In Love) on Sunday
• Fave pic from the last week: Arch with very fluffy hair, cow parsley (I love the structure of the flowers) and one very happy spaniel on the beach

  

  

  

What’s happening in my world, this week:

• Work: writing M&B #83 (cardiac unit, marriage of convenience book); updating my website one backlist book per day; and faffing about with my Big Book
• Reading: haven’t had time to read, this week!
• Looking forward to: picking Archie up from kennels today; Jon Richardson at Norwich Theatre Royal (comedy)
• Workouts: probably no time for gym this week, but I did walk 130,000 steps in Tuscany last week, including climbing the towers of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Campanile and the Duomo itself, and the leaning tower of Pisa…
• Planet Kate last week: Florence. What a city. So much beautiful art and architecture. We had a wonderful time in the art galleries and museums, chilling out in cafes and having dinner in gorgeous little trattorias. And we had a bonus when we spent our last day in Pisa, because we managed to get tickets for the tower (which was a very strange experience – as you walk round, you can feel the ‘lean’ changing). And also it was our son’s 21st birthday at the weekend. Where did that time go? Great that we actually got to see him on the day and took him out for lunch.
• Top tip from me for Florence: buy the Firenze card (72 museums, access for 72 hours – and most importantly you get priority queuing, so it saves time – it more than pays for itself in admission fees, too). Get to the Uffizi for about 8.30 to avoid the massive queues. And if you want to climb the Duomo, book your tickets on the first day (and if you’re going to be there at a weekend, probably pre book from England, because places are limited and tickets sell really fast – we booked on Tuesday morning and the first ticket available was Thursday lunchtime.)
• My fave bits of Florence: the library at the San Lorenzo complex; climbing the Duomo  (and the crypt in the cathedral, which has the most gorgeous Roman mosaic pavement); seeing the Botticellis at the Uffizi; and the modern art gallery at the Pitti (only in Florence does ‘modern’ mean 1750 to about 1920! That’s the one with the Macchiaioi paintings, which is what the book I’m about to start writing features quite heavily).
• Favourite church in Florence: torn between Santa Maria Novella (for the camera obscura meridian, and the frescoes in the cloisters) and Santa Croce (tombs of Michelangelo, Dante and Galileo).
• Fave pic from the last week: Bearing in mind I took rather a lot…  The San Lorenzo library, the peacock in the crypt at Santa Mara, the inside of the Duomo, cathedral complex, the Botticelli that made me cry because it was so beautiful, the leaning tower of Pisa and a quick shot of the four of us on Chris’s 21st. (Large, because it came out upside down on a WordPress gallery and I couldn’t work out how to change it!)

What’s happening in my world, this week:

• Work: Research trip in Florence for M&B #84 (art world, opposites, needs a better conflict) while trying to finish off M&B #83 (cardiac unit, marriage of convenience book);
• Reading: The Teashop on the Corner, Milly Johnson (made me cry); The Light at the Window, Lucinda Riley
• Looking forward to: Florence!! – and also it’s Chris’s 21st birthday on Sunday so we’re going to see him in Nottingham
• Workouts: didn’t make the gym last week – too much on – but walked Arch a lot
• Planet Kate last week: blur of deadline!! The oven broke halfway through a barbecue  at the weekend (aka veggie kebabs and cooking the chicken so it finished off on the barbecue and was cooked properly without being charred); the repair man came out on Thursday and didn’t have the right part on his van, so that had to be ordered in; haircut Thursday and went a shade lighter for the summer (I don’t have grey hair and certainly wouldn’t be worried if I did, but I do have horrendously fine hair, and the dyeing process improves the texture enormously); signed the deal memo for my next M&B contract (which takes me up to #90 – scary!!); emergency dog visit to vet on Friday as Arch had a lump on his chest – two nasty ticks, so he’s on antibiotics and had some super-expensive flea and tick treatment that should mean he won’t suffer again. (Ticks are vile. I’d never seen one before. Nasty, bloated things.) Sunday was mad dash down to London to see The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe (Chloe’s A level text – and the only performance I could guarantee as it’s touring in the summer on a ‘voter’s choice’ basis – was very good), and then to the airport.
• Fave pic from the last week: the Globe, which is a place I love very much.

What’s happening in my world, this week:

• Work: writing M&B #83 (cardiac unit, marriage of convenience book); updating my website one backlist book per day (slipped a bit with that as am up to my eyes); faffing about with my Big Book; and doing the #RomanceAuthorChallenge over at Instagram
• Reading: Juliet Bell, The Heights (utterly brilliant reworking of Wuthering Heights and I wish I’d written it); CL Taylor, The Escape (you owe me sleep, Cally Taylor!); Kate Field, The Magic of Ramblings (very sweet); Kerry Barrett, The Forgotten Girl (enjoyed – plot was quite close to an idea I had, some years back, so it was nice to see how it was handled)
• Looking forward to: Taming of the Shrew on Sunday at the Globe (one of my daughter’s A level set texts and the only performance where it’s not chosen by the audience so I can guarantee it! Not my favourite play and it always sends me into a massive feminist rant; but I am looking forward to taking Chloe to her first production at the Globe); and I’m really, really, really looking forward to my research trip to Florence on Monday – our first ever visit.
• Workouts: dogwalking, and one session at the gym
• Planet Kate last week: Monday and Tuesday, new boiler installed; Tuesday night, Scott Matthews at Norwich Arts Centre (excellent – also one of my fave venues in the city because there’s no barrier, just the edge of the stage, so it’s really intimate); Weds-Fri, working like mad; Saturday, barbecue with the neighbours (and the oven decided to pack up, arrgh! Luckily the top oven still worked so I could finish cooking the chicken properly before putting it on the barbecue for flavour – but I need to sort out a repair next D week); Sunday, walk at the Great Wood in Blicking to see the bluebells, and they were utterly glorious (that was a research trip, but it was a nice one where husband, daughter and dog could join me).
• Fave pic from the last week: three from Blickling because it was just glorious. Although the car park was really full, the woods are so large that you have space to enjoy them and the birdsong.