Variety

What a wealth of variety has filled my schedule these past weeks. Articles about shoe polish, press releases for the Jersey Film Festival and advice to a Best Man all agog about his forthcoming speech.

And then, of course, there are my delightful Writing for Magazine learners oozing enthusiasm yet borderline aghast at putting pen to paper. They are yet to realise their amazing creativity though I so enjoy my weekly task of coaxing their imaginations.

This morning I took great pleasure in interviewing the ever smiling Colin Dexter who quizzed me about poetry, bluebells and the first 4 minute mile before I'd even activated my laptop. He may be a touch frail physically but his mind, memory and knowledge were tip top.

And how charmingly delightful too was his dear wife. I so enjoyed our chat among the anemones.

Literary Blessings

The summer months have been a heady haze of socialising, providing an unrivalled opportunity to associate with a wonderfully diverse mix of published characters.

For instance, only recently I was a guest at a gathering hosted by the captivatingly gifted Paul Eccentric, a performance poet whose hectic schedule, I'm humbled to admit, doesn't preclude him from following my column (A Write Week) in the Tring and Berkhamsted Gazette.

And in just a few days' time I will have the privilege to interview the legendary Colin Dexter, crime writer extraordinarie and charmingly correct gentleman of the old school variety.

Ah, the literary blessings of inhabiting The Chilterns.