Okay, so that was longer than I meant it to be...

But I'm back now. And writing. And bearing recommendations.

One of the more useful things I did while I was gone.

Confession time: I have barely looked at Substack this past two months, let alone written on it. A HUGE sorry to anyone who noticed and missed my posts (the rest of you, just skip forwards). I think my last post here discussed how hard I was finding writing. Well, directly after that - with a cosmically hilarious sense of humour - the universe decided to reveal to me via my favourite podcast that a book had just been published that had an almost identical plot, setting and characters to my own work in progress. Same country. Same sibling set up. Same central issues. Reader, I nearly had a heart attack.

I’m halfway through this first draft now, I know where my characters are going. I have the voice, the plot, the themes. I like them. I don’t have a Plan B. I did what any self-respecting writer would do: I panicked for a few weeks, vented endlessly at my writer friends, and then finally sent an email to my agent and UK and US publishers and told them what I had heard on the podcast (I was too afraid to actually read the book in question). I won’t bore you with my level of neurosis (I’ve bored my friends enough) But I sent my WIP to my agent, she read it and the published book and the upshot is that everyone thinks the plot, tone, and my way of writing is sufficiently different, and the gap between publication will be large enough that hopefully nobody other than me will even notice the similarities.

I’m a big fan. Geddit?

Plus I keep reminding myself that I have a trump card: Almost two years ago I pitched this story to an A list celebrity at a film meeting. She loved it but couldn’t do it as she was already slated to do something similar, and I realised it was too good an idea to waste and decided to turn it into a book. So at least I know that other people know that this is the story I came up with. AND I WILL NAME HER IF I HAVE TO (although it would be a bit embarrassing, tbh).

ANYWAY. That was one of the things that kept me from here. But the other was that I have had the most insane month of travelling and it has been oddly discombobulating. In the last six weeks I have been in Belfast (a friend’s 50th birthday party); in Lisbon (the Feira de Livro), in Italy (another friend’s birthday and then last week in Glastonbury (I won’t post any more about that. I know it makes some people nauseous). It is quite tricky getting your writing groove if you only have a couple of days a week at home, and those are filled with needy dogs, an empty fridge and a backlog of domestic admin.

And of course the rest of life continued regardless: I took part in a huge event celebrating Penguin’s 100th birthday, where the green room contained everyone from Jilly Cooper to Ian McEwan to Anthony Scaramucci). I did the Hay Festival, which is always such a lovely friendly audience that I didn’t mind the eight hour round trip. I presented an award to the brilliant Kate Mosse on stage at the British Book Awards and I met Queen Camilla at a Royal Garden Party. It has been A LOT. I also got three extra ear piercings (don’t ask) and then discovered that one of them - a tragus piercing - meant I could no longer wear my AirPods. This is an actual disaster for someone who likes to block out noise, or listen to ambient music while she writes. Also please nobody tell my Dad.

That would be me with Ms Bridget Jones herself, Helen Fielding.

So this is my very long winded way of saying I’m finally back at my desk now, and very happy to be here. And I’ll be resuming normal service . I seem to have acquired a lot of new readers while I’ve been absent - thank you for coming! Oh, and here are my latest recommendations:

The Ballad Of Wallis Island.

This is an almost perfect little film. I can’t say too much about it, as part of the joy is the unfolding of the story, but it contains three beautiful performances, some lovely music and it made me laugh a lot and cry quite a lot too. Pretty much everything I want from a movie. It stars, among others, Tim Key and Carey Mulligan and I urge you to find somewhere that is still showing it. You will thank me.

Couples Therapy (BBC Iplayer)

I remember tuning into this a year or so ago and just feeling a little bored. How wrong I was. After reading a couple of reviews I tried again and have become completely obsessed by the couples in each series, and their movement towards understanding - or separation. It’s raw, honest, poignant and fascinating, and if you are a writer and interested in human nature it is basically ALL FOOD. Plus I now have a huge crush on Dr Orna.

There’s Nothing Wrong With Her - Kate Weinberg

Full disclosure: Kate is a friend. But if I say I felt quite cross when I read this because she is just TOO GOOD then hopefully you will let that pass. The paperback has just been released of her novel about a young woman suffering a long-covid type illness and trying to unravel her life and relationships at the same time. It’s painfully astute, poignant and funny. Includes a hallucinatory 16th century Italian night and a goldfish called Whitney Houston.

Hacks

Have you seen Hacks yet? Each series gets better. It’s not just a matter of it knocking the Bechdel Test out of the park - the two female leads almost NEVER discuss their love lives. But my god the pleasure, as a woman viewer, of just having two women fronting a beautifully written comedy and just being crabby and loving and complicated and capable and vengeful and making you laugh (and sometimes cry) while they do it. Start at Series 1 for the full benefit. I might start again just for the hell of it.

PS did anyone else watch Dying For Sex after I recommended it? I’d love to know what you thought.

Have a lovely week!

Jx