Sunday 26 October 2014

I recently visited the Coronation Street tour in Manchester. Not that I watch the programme, you understand. Well, at any rate not since Albert Tatlock got the shock of his life when Ena Sharples told him she was pregnant. (What a story line that would have made).
What was enlightening about the experience was the way some of the visitors were so serious about it. They spoke of the characters and story lines as though they were real. I couldn't help it, it just made me smile whenever I overheard a character talked about like that. I reckon the guide must have thought I was demented as every time he looked at me I was grinning from ear to ear.

I suppose that it is a mark of the writers and production staff's professionalism that they can make it so real to certain people and I certainly wouldn't decry that. All in all it was a most enjoyable experience and I would recommend it if you are ever at a loss for something to do when in Manchester. Just please don't ask for directions to Weatherfield.

Daddy's Girl, the first in my new series of novels is currently doing the rounds in the endless search for an agent. It would be so nice if agents explained why a book
"...is well written but not quite right for my lists..."
The second in the series, Come Softly To Me, is well on the way to completion and the plot for the third book is already starting to form in my head. The stories are set in 1960's Croydon, Just when Coronation Street was going out each week in black and white and starting to find its feet.
The 'Daddy's Girl' in the stories is Jill Bennett, the best detective that the Metropolitan Police never had. It wasn't until 1973 that a woman police officer could prefix her rank with the title 'Detective'.

The trip to Australia was the highlight, so far, of the year. If only the flying time wasn't so long. Thirteen hours to Singapore is a long slog. Mind you, it only seems like yesterday that the same trip, in a Beverly Transport aircraft of the RAF, took more than two days to cover the same ground. I can still hear and feel the droning of the Centaurus engines driving their reverse pitch propellers. Happy days.
We stayed on the Gold Coast in Queensland visiting friends and spent one week in New Zealand. The rebuilding of Christchurch after the devastation of the earthquake was nothing short of inspiring. Wherever  ominous gaps appear where buildings used to be the townsfolk have erected boards covered in colourful graffiti. It certainly works. The optimism you sense seems to be everywhere.

Oh well, back to the job in hand. Now, what was the address of the new agent...




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