Kissed by a Sealion

So the Summer draws to a close and the mantra of  'Back to School' echoes beyond the high street department stores and into the aching hearts of children and teachers everywhere...

And what have I been up to this long Summer break? I always end the holiday convinced I've done nothing.

A trip to Ireland proved restorative and informative (see below for trip to Father Ted's house). I heard a really creepy ghost story which I intend to tell at up-coming festivals and events. I drank a few pints of Guinness and ate tones of seafood.

I've written somewhere in the region of 50,000 words, revised The Bonehill Curse and sentit back to the editor. I wait with trepidation! The 50,000 words all now need rethinking because half of them were for a project that I put the brakes on (20,000 words in) and the others were for The Many and Varied Deaths of Jeb Marney (my fourth book rather than Book 4). I suddenly had an even better idea for Jeb and so will be rewriting. Nothing will be wasted though, that's the joy of writing! And all with the help of a social networking 'holiday.' More about that another time!

I've been down to London to record a video for Booked Up. That was fun!

I've read tons of stuff, the highlights of which were: Haywired by Alex Keller (ace book), Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King and a glorious pile of Uncle books by JP Martin.

But truly the best day was our trip to Knowsley Safari Park courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you're not familiar with them, their basic mission is:

"to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy."

How cool is that? They are an awesome charity and took us to the Park in a Limo. We had a personal tour, going off road and up-close to the animals, we fed elephants and giraffes and I was kissed by a sealion! 

Sometimes the medical needs of one member of a family and the dramas that surround it make 'normal' life impossible. Make A Wish made one day for our family extraordinary in the best possible way.