This week has been full of faff and the faff is still coming on strong. A refreshing break in the faff was seeing this interview published at Tall Tales and Short Stories… Thanks Tracy!

Otherwise, it’s been HOT HOT HOT (my car thermo said it was 47 yesterday!)(and that’s Centigrade people!!). We’ve had to move Fergus’ cot into the living room, cause that’s where the air con is. Last night I even tried sleeping on the couch. Ridiculous. And in Europe they’re freezing.

The week has been dominated by:

– Publishing TAKESHITA DEMONS (1% of my free time)
Siku sent through a few roughs for the illustrations in Takeshita Demons and we (Janetta (my editor), Jane (the senior designer) and I) had a quick discussion about what we liked and didn’t like and wanted to try out. Exciting! It’s thrilling to see characters you imagined drawn on a page, but somehow, perhaps because they look exactly how I imagined them, it seems very normal and natural that it should happen.

– Writing FORESTS AND FILTH LICKERS (9% of my free time)
Had a sensational writing session that blasted through some writers block and freed a character to act in a way that surprised even me. Woo hoo! No wonder I was blocked. I was writing the wrong story!

– HOUSE HUNTING (90% of my free time)
Nearly the entire week has been spent obsessively house hunting.  I am addicted to the unhealthy rush of seeing a place we might (shock!) like and (double shock!) be able to afford. I check real estate sites two or three times a day for new listings. We even made an offer on a place over the weekend, but missed out by a smidge. Boo hoo! Back to the drawing board.

(PS: did you know that if you search for “real estate” on GoogleMaps, you can see all the places for sale or to let? Sooo much faster than the real estate site that shall not be named.)(Using Google instead will probably add years to your life)(But perhaps compromise your soul?)(Ah, who cares about soul? We’re talking real estate here).

– Fergus watching (my other time)
Cute! Cute! Cute! We’ve begun a bit of toilet training and Fergus loves it. He pees and poos in the loo now, if we take him there at the right times. We’re getting good at it too…I’ve only changed two dirty nappies in the last five days! Woo hoo! He’s so proud of himself (and so he should be: he works hard on those poos!). Plus the nappies stay dry much longer, which must be more comfortable.

Cheers to you all! Hope your temperature is soon warmer/cooler, depending on your predicament and preference.