Laying the Ghost

Now, this is the title of the latest book by my friend Judy Astley, and very good it is too. It is also a very good title for this post, because the book deals with finding - or being found by - people from your past. Which is what has just happened to me, and I'm stunned!

Once upon a time, when I attended Clapham County Grammar School for Girls, a group of us occasionally interacted (!) with a group of boys. Over the years, I lost touch with most of them, girls included, but Brendan stayed a constant. Tall, dark and handsome, he was around to take me for drives, to parties, even to the theatre on one memorable occasion. We last spoke on the phone six months after I'd got together with the late dh, and that was that.

So imagine my surprise, dear reader, when an email turned up in my inbox yesterday morning. He had just joined Friends Reunited, and I'd forgotten I had a brief profile on there. Terribly excited, I paid me money and replied.

This morning I had a long, long email from him remembering all the incidents from our joint past that I also remembered, including some I'd forgotten. As he hasn't got broadband in his flat (in Switzerland) I shall have to wait for him to visit the next internet cafe for the next instalment, but we did spend a lot of this morning when I should have been working emailing back and forth.

Exciting, but is it a dangerous occupation? In her book, Judy comes to the conclusion that it can be, and of course, we all remember the problems Friends Reunited had when it was in its infancy. It's very tempting, especially when drearily over the hill as I am, to fantasise a little, isn't it? And I am...

Bother Judy. I can't use it for a book, now...

Lunches, departing children, Hamlet and the CWA

A little better - only two weeks since the last entry.

In which time, I have been to the Lady Mayoress of Canterbury's Ladies of the District lunch - invitation only, of course! - where the guest of honour was Lady Mountbatten. Very interesting, good food and service in Abode, the former Chaucer Hotel. The following day, to London with daughter Louise, to lunch with Katie Fforde, who wanted to interview Lou about her job, as she has a character in her next book who does the same. We are going to the next of Lou's public gigs in London together for Katie too see how it all works in practice.

This week, daughter Philly has finally moved out, to go and live in Cambridge with fellow band members, and take up a temporary job with the Faculty of Engineering. Hollow laughter. I feel rudderless. All four have now gone, and although I was on my own for a couple of years before, it never felt permanent. This time it does.

Yesterday went to see Nothern Ballet's production of Hamlet which was superb. Very controversial and explicit, sexual and torture scenes depicted with graphic realism. Made me cry at the end, though. Difficult thing for a ballet to do...

Still battling on with the CWA conference. Nearly there as far as bookings go, but now have the ghastly finicky bits to do, as well as paying for my own place. Can't afford it, either, but there you go. Where's my second-in-command? Not heard of in ages.

Murder by the Sea has taken a new turn and I feel somewhat happier with it. It won't bear much relation to the original idea, but you can't have everything...

Valentine's Day

Must try and be more active on this blog, as it was my publisher who wanted me to start it and I don't think it gets read much... Anyway, it's Valentine's Day, and after the postman had knocked to ask me to sign for a parcel for the daughter, and we had commiserated on our lack of Valentine's Cards - although, as he said, he had an awful lot of red envelopes in his sack this morning - I sat down at the computer ready to work (ha!) and promptly rejoined three online dating agencies. This is truly the triumph of hope over experience, though to my horror I realised that on one, which I had joined some three years ago, my email address hadn't changed, and there were several messages from men with good taste to which I'd never replied, because I hadn't known about them.

I do have a friend coming round this evening to drink a lot of red wine with me and watch a couple of old films. I will, meanwhile, be recording Ashes to Ashes and the wonderful Philip Glenister, who is in my own personal top ten.

Now, I really ought to do some work...

Heroes

In time for Valentine's Day, the RNA - Romantic Novelists' Association - have published a list of heroes. This will probably appear on everybody's blog - everybody who reads mine, anyway!

My new cats seem to have been here for ever. They are entertaining and affectionate and so far, not too destructive.

So, here's that list. Please note, it isn't necessarily my choice!

Johnny Depp and Pierce Brosnan make Romantic Novelists’ hearts throb


Members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association have voted Johnny Depp
as the
Number One Perfect Romantic Hero in a poll to mark Valentine’s Day.
According to these authors, a romantic hero should be gorgeous,
deliciously
sexy, intensely masculine and have a commanding presence.



‘We should be qualified to judge,’ one writer commented. ‘After
all, we
create these heroes on paper every day.’



The top ten male celebrities voted the Perfect Romantic Hero were:



1. Johnny Depp

2. Daniel Craig

3. Sean Bean

4. Richard Armitage

5. Hugh Jackman

6. Colin Firth

7. Alan Rickman

8. Pierce Brosnan

9. George Clooney

10. David Tennant



A second poll, taken by members of the RNA bravely admitting to being
‘over
a certain age’, voted for male celebrities over fifty who’ve
‘still got it’.
Remarkable for his appearance on both polls, Pierce Brosnan took the
crown
for the over fifties by a huge margin.



The top ten Over-Fifty Perfect Romantic Heroes were:



1. Pierce Brosnan

2. Harrison Ford

3. Ranulph Fiennes

4. Bill Nighy

5. Liam Neeson

6. Sam Neill

7. Sean Connery

8. Peter O’Toole

9. Clint Eastwood

10. Omar Sharif