I am feeling very discombobulated today, which is a shame as I should be feeling elated at having sent off Honeymoon with the Boss at long last.  But I managed to break my glasses irreparably on Friday night , which meant that Saturday was spent replacing them as a matter of some urgency as I can’t read or write without them, and I still had two days to work on the book before my deadline.  It turns out that it takes two weeks to get a new pair of rimless glasses, so I had to settle for a pair with frames which I don’t particularly like and for which I had to fork out over £300!  And it’s a slightly new prescription which I’m finding hard to adjust to, so between the rims and the blurriness and a general feeling of frumpiness (not to mention the hole in my bank account)  I am very disgruntled at the moment.  Then last night I went into my garden shed and was startled to realise that my bike was missing.  There was no sign of anyone breaking in, so I wondered if I could have left it in town, although I have absolutely no memory of taking it in – the city centre is so close that it’s just as easy to walk as to ride from here.  I’ve just been in to the post office, though, and sure enough, there was my bike locked to a rack, so I haven’t lost it after all, which is good news.  On the other hand, I appear to be losing my marbles, which is less encouraging!

Anyway, on to more positive matters.  The book is done, and I’m just waiting to hear from my editor about any revisions.  It will have to be a quick turnaround as whatever happens it will need to be back with her by the end of the week.  Then I’ll have to start thinking about the next one … but I have a week walking in Cornwall first and I’m hoping that after that I’ll be able to settle down and focus in a way I don’t seem to have been able to do all year.  

There are good things coming up, too.  Last-Minute Proposal, the much-trailed 50th book is out in October, and that means party time!  Nikki has created a page for the book, complete with celebratory balloons, and you can read an extract here.  If you’d like to win an advance copy and read the whole thing, just send me an email telling me what Tilly is doing in the opening scene (a big, fat clue: there’s a photo of me doing it on the same page!) and I will send you a book and a bag. 

What else?  Oh, yes, I’m going to teach a week-long course on writing romance in Tuscany next April, so I’m thrilled about that, especially as I hear the food at the Watermill is wonderful!  I’m hoping to develop what I did with the two Barbaras in the San Francisco workshop and really focus on the emotional structure of a romance.  One of my jobs for September is to plan my course carefully, and I’m really looking forward to thinking about that in more detail.  No doubt there’ll be more about this from me over the next few months, but in the meantime, if you’d like to know more about the Watermill at Posara, click here.

Before all of that, though, the next good thing is the ever-popular  Kate Walker, who’ll be my guest on the blog next week.  I know Kate is always generous with her contests, so I’m pretty sure there’ll be a chance to win one of her books too, so do come back then!