Wife in the North

Am rather heartened this weekend - a townie in the country has just published a book, Wife in the North, about her own trials and tribulations for being a, er, townie in the country. She started off with a blog, which became an enormous hit, and now has a book and is in 'talks' about a tv drama being made out of it. Shows there's an appetite. As for my own book - the jacket has now gone to the printers. Not long, I hope, before I have the actual hard covers in my hot little hands. We've found a venue for the joint-book-launch party - the v lovely Julie's in Holland Park - and set a date for the launch. (I'd like to pretend otherwise, but really, the party is the best bit of publishing a book.)

Meanwhile...we're in the country. After weeks of procrastination we've finally cut the lawn (well, I say lawn, it's more of a steep bank of bumpy ground overrun by nettles, knotweed and some brown grass). A long walk this morning included one glorious narrow path cut through long fields of corn that is just beginning to turn gold. A single biplane flew overhead, making us feel as if we were in a film that had spliced together the Wizard of Oz and North by Northwest. I shall roast a chicken later and then draw the curtains on the blooming, bird-singing countryside in order to watch Wimbledon.