I spent 3 days in the smoke recording the audiobook of THE BATTLE FOR GULLYWITH. I gave myself the job when I remembered that I had once read a book of my own on Woman`s Hour and what was good enough for them ought to be good enough for Long Barn Listening, the audio book arm of Long Barn Books. We didn`t publish the book itself, Bloomsbury did, but I like to hold onto audio rights of as many of my own books as I can. With download to ipod  as well as CDs these are now worth a few bob.

But I discovered all over again that reading books aloud is not what I want to do when I grow up. It`s really, really boring and really really tiring. The studio was in a converted garage in a bungaloid bit of what you might call Inner Surrey. There is no daylight of course, the air is warm because the whole place is padded like a nuclear bunker, and very dry and the temperature is a steady 75 degrees. I also spotted everything that was wrong with the book. But with the help of two cheery sound engineers we got through with only 10 bottles of water each and now tis done and will be available as CD audiobook and download, from October.

Back home to a pearl grey sky and delicious cool soft warm rain which is just the sort of weather I love. Waterloo station was a fashion disaster. There were lots of over but badly dressed young women going to Ascot wearing a strange assortment of summer frocks with pashminas and fascinators at odd angles. Well, to be fair, there is  no other angle at which to wear one. I do think fascinators are common. The worst was a very tall very large girl wearing a lime green mini skirted frock, a bright canary yellow pashmina, a  vivid pink feathered fascinator and, er, flip flops. And there was her bloke looking stunning in grey top hat and tails. All the men on Waterloo station looked stunning and I am sad to say not a single one of the girls. But it was the Saturday.

Apologies to all those whose comments were waiting for my approval but I couldn`t access the admin page of my blog while I was away. You`re all up there now.

I will be back later with a reply to a deluge of e-mails I have had after mentioning having had M.E. I can also now tell those who asked what my new short novel THE BEACON is about.