Owl Woman

A curt note from the publisher yesterday - 'we do not want to publish... your book'. Written by the woman who was so gushing and was asking about my second novel.

So, regrouping? Last night I just couldn't stop crying. Where to go from here.

And I must see V for Vendetta, if I can only hang onto £3.50 until next Tuesday afternoon.

If you haven't already checked out the website for Jonathan Strange, do so now. It's grand.

I’m writing this at home again, and hoping my fingers don’t freeze before I finish. Yesterday it was completely different – all sunshine and warmth and Spring waving a cheery ‘hello’. I went to Godrevy with my girlfriend and a pasty and we sat on the beach, all warm. After clambering around on the rocks and watching the birds and the ocean for a while, we climbed up to the headland and looked down on Mussel Cove (I think). At least 70 (gray) seals were sunbathing on the beach, including a few fluffy youngsters. Usually they just sleep and bark a bit, but yesterday they were very restless, slapping each other with their flippers and making a real noise. On the way back to the car we passed a field with a dozen or so rabbits in it, a couple of whom were running about like mad. Must’ve been the weather.

I’ve now re-drafted Chapter 2 of Part One of the new novel. It’ll all need at least one more re-draft, but I’ll wait until I’ve done Part Two. It’s certainly got more substance and direction now, which is what I was after. I even know what’s going to happen in the end now. But I do need to spend a day on the moors, investigating Daniel Gumb’s cave - he was a hermit in the 1750’s (I think) who lived near Cheesewring – and familiarising myself with the town of Lanson, where most of the book is based. Well, the bits on Earth, anyway. Christ, this was supposed to be a funny little short story and it’s just grown and grown. And what will I call it? A few ideas are now swimming around...

Meanwhile, I continue reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and love it to bits. I thought it would be much darker than it is, and definitely not so irreverent, even to its major characters, but it’s serious and funny at the same time. Big shout to Susanna Clarke! What a writer. The website’s gorgeous, as well. And my best friend is moving home, from Berlin to Leipzig, which sounds like a lovely little city not far to the south-west of big, bad Berlin. I wonder how he will cope away from the city that’s been a magnet to sexual deviants and assorted weirdoes over the year (him being both), but presumably it means he feels safe enough to leave. Journey well, D.

And a big shout to Aria, the 74 year old Spanish lesbian I was chatting with in the drizzle before the library opened. She looked interesting when I saw her from a distance, and she had my number before I'd even got my baseball cap off and shown her my cropped hair - talked about lesbians having to get together to do stuff or the men would ignore us forever. A taxi took her off after a short while, but she brightened my day.

I got Homogenic, Bjork's masterpiece, yesterday in Oxfam for £1.99. Truely mind changing music.

I’m trying to be clever today and writing this entry at home so I can just paste it onto the blog at the library tomorrow. I do actually have loads to write about but it can blank the mind when you’re surrounded by children gaming or some very strange locals (one conversation I heard next to me the other day: “Oh, hello! What have you been up to?” “I’ve been trying to deal with my psychosis.” “I’m glad I don’t have to deal with anything like that, I’ve got a pretty bad back, though.”). My audience of zero (actually I should amend that to one because I just found out that someone actually reads this: hello Mr Flowers!) deserves to know everything that’s going on! I’m listening to Green Day’s American Idiot at the moment, because I’ve been cooking – it’s a perfect album to make a curry to, have you noticed that? Try it. That’s all I’ll be doing to it, though, because it looks as if I won’t be doing the Green Day book, due to a very stupid, short sighted publisher that doesn’t want to spend any money. It would sell loads, of course, not just because I wrote it, but because anything on Green Day sells like hot cakes at the moment. The fools. I’m still waiting for another publisher to get back in touch about The Gathering, and meanwhile I’m re-writing Book One of the new novel, which I don’t have a title for yet.

Other good stuff: a trip to the Peak District planned for early in May. I’ll be staying in a little cottage near to at least one stone circle. Did they build them differently up there? – Not such a silly question, if you see the stuff of mainland Europe. Squarer stones and the like (Julian Cope’s The European Megalith has lots of gorgeous photos). And I’m more and more into the photography mode again, perhaps the bright winter sunshine down here is inspiring me.
Oh, and health-wise, a very strong recommendation if you have stomach/digestive problems (don’t we all in the poisonous west) – have a go with probiotics. Millions of healthy bacteria and immunity-boosting vitamins, all in one pill, and very, very affordable from Superdrug (£3.00 for 60). I’ve been taking them for about ten days now and I’m feeling the benefits. And finally, a big, big boo to the woman who bought Vixen Tor that's popular with walkers and has legends of witchcraft associated with it. She fenced it off, claiming that she couldn’t afford the insurance to cover any accidents. Now she’s demanding £35,000 a year for access rights, claiming the place is a commercial venture. Greedhead of the month and possibly the year. I suggest she be chucked down the cave in The Descent (if you’ve seen the film you’ll know what I mean, if you haven’t watch it immediately, it’s fantastic).