¦ dialling in from Kitsch'n Cafe - Jesus Mound ¦
20th August : 09:47hrs : sitting on long black leatherette bench seat, back perfectly straight, poised over small square red formica table and my new laptop. Large plate glass window to my left - a view of Acorn Road, strangely deserted at the moment. Big blue sky and white fluffy clouds, some beautiful sunshine but the temperature is COLD. The cafe door is wedged open so I'm sitting with my jacket on as a defence from the icy breeze.
My previous laptop died a couple weeks ago - in the South of France, and thankfully it has been a surprisingly unstressful experience. Found this one through Dell online, amazing price, and although I had to wait 10 days for it to arrive... I was graced by the support of friends willing to let me camp-out on thier PC and internet. I've always been pretty religous about backing-up my data... particularly my writing, so I've managed to migrate to the new laptop without losing any work (nothing I'm aware of yet).
Drove up to Newcastle yesterday afternoon with Jo - 4 and a half hours. Not a bad journey. Walked in and found the house looking amazing... mum had set the dinner table for the three of us and had prepared a fantastic meal.
Bounced out of bed this morning; Jo left around 7AM to drive down to Darlington for work. I watched News 24 then walked up to Acorn Road and Kitsch'n cafe. Big hello's with Sam. Later Derek walked in... and Mike... and Ian. Lots of friendly familiar faces.
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25th August: Saturday: 12:51 : sitting at the wide expanse of oak table in the breakfast area. It's been a lovely few days. Long mornings spent in Kitsch'n, editing my proof copy of Yellow Dawn, writing up character profiles for the stars of Dog Eat Dog... afternoon's spent back at the house... Jo getting back from work around 6.30... red wine, great food, Norweigan card games.
Jo departed Friday morning - I'll see her back in Bristol on Tuesday night. Have had a couple of nights out with Mike K: he needs to get out of Newcastle, I can see the thick chords of cabin fever wrapping around his throat every month he stays here.
Meanwhile I'm looking forward to getting back to Bristol. Looking forward to time in the house (Cosey Castle), getting back onto a career track (a proper job), being with my friends, writing the next novel and seeing Yellow Dawn reaching a point where its ready for release. Strange how time slows down when I'm here in Newcastle - certainly in Jesus Mound... I've been here a week and it feels like a month.
Have had more phone calls from New York, progress reports dialled in by my Super Hero - Mr Floyd - he's got a copy of God Seed into the hands of a lit agent over there *fingers crossed the agent likes it as much as everyone else* ... he's working on some guerilla marketing tricks.
Finally, Zed is back. Back from Oz. In Bristol right now. Can't wait to see her. Almost two years since she left. What changes will we both see in each other?
DJr