With one of my manuscripts under serious consideration at the moment, I’m almost chewing my fingers off - the nails have long gone and I’m almost down to the knuckles. So, it was lovely to see a comment about it from Helena Pielichaty on her blog.

"Lunch with a David Tennant fanatic and a-soon-to-be-published head of English. Great kids. Great staff. Great stuff."

At this stage, I can only hope. The book’s a good one; I just need a bit more patience before I wear a hole through the rug with all the pacing! Helena has more faith in me than I do!

Helena is fab, by the way. If you haven’t read any of her books, you really should. I picked up Never Ever a while ago, mostly because I was writing a dual narrative and was looking at how a few writers did it. I was hooked. It’s actually rare for authors to nail teenagers so well, but I was reading along, smiling and nodding, thinking ‘Yes, I teach him,’ or ‘I remember having one just like her a couple of years ago.’ Accidental Friends was also a wonderful read. Full of warmth, a clever structure, and real characters that you can’t help but empathise with.

So, once today’s training for the Olympic team’s pacing event is completed, I’ll write a bit more of my demon and then get the Christmas tree up so we can have a happy Neurotypical Christmas, albeit with a few more trains around the manger than is strictly necessary for a Nativity scene and a spot of Weetabix for Christmas lunch for the Autistic contingent. Have a good one!

I finished the NaNo experience on a little over 61,000 words which, given the mad pressures elsewhere in my life at the moment, is something I’m really proud of. The story is in full swing at the end of Day 4 (out of 7 planned days), with two more full days to write, as Day 7 is pretty much only for wrapping up the story. I’m anticipating the draft weighing in in the 80-90,000 word range, which is far too long for what I’m writing, so I’ll start the pruning and editing after I start the Christmas break from work.

So, although Nano is officially finished, I daren’t stop yet. I’m chipping away at the rest of the story and hoping it’ll all be finished in draft by 21st December. It’s flowing well at the moment and it’s getting pretty addictive to write. I want to see what happens next, and that’s always a good sign!

And it’s December. I’m not entirely sure where 2008 has gone - I seem to have blinked and missed it. Lots of work to be done and three more weeks at school to do what feels like millions of assessments in preparation for next term. Little Madam and Tiny Flirt break up next week and I haven’t even made a start on my Christmas cards, or even my Christmas shopping yet! It feels chaotic. It is chaotic. But I’ll have the carols on and be baking mince-pies before I know it. I’ve just got to finish this novel first

I’m in love.

I have Joseph Fiennes’ autograph on my desk and his picture is sitting looking moodily at me. And he signs himself ‘Joe’ - how thrilled am I?

If you can’t remember who he is, you might remember him best in this role…

Such a distraction from all these exam scripts, not that I’m complaining :D

My old trusty knee-high, black leather boots are on their last legs - no pun intended. The rubber that covered the bottom of one heel fell off when I was doing yard duty the other day, and the soles are getting pretty thin. They’ve been fab boots and covered literally miles of Madrid last February, but it’s time to wave them goodbye and get a new pair.

So, tell me - when I need black boots, why have I just bought these?

It’s almost NaNoWriMo time again. It’s a fabulous idea, which works very well for me as a writer. It gives me a focus and a deadline and more than anything else, it helps me to get the basic storyline down on paper in a relatively short amount of time.

This year I’m focusing on the second book in the Meg and Josh series. I’m having to cheat a bit as I’ve got a few bits scribbled down (although I’ve edited it savagely since) so I’m aiming to crack through 50,000 words on top of that. It’s a challenge and a half, but I’m looking forward to it and I’m raring to go! I’ll post my progress and the odd extract every now and then, but if you want to keep an eye on me, my profile is here.

In the meantime, as an incentive, I’ve bought myself a pair of most wonderful shoes. And yes, they are purple. Life’s way too serious sometimes!