Back in the studio briefly

I went into the studio today for a brief visit. John was in and doing some new work on his laptop. He's been doing a lot of really interesting stuff lately - I hope one day to actually grab some and put it on the blog.

I didn't actually do much. I am going to reorganise in the studio once I get my (overdue) book off to Bloomsbury.


And I realised today that the UKLA Children's Book Award is being announced at the weekend. I am guessing that as I have heard nothing, that it ain't going to be me.

Brazil

I went to London today to meet Mimi Liang from the British School in Rio who is over in the UK for a while. We met for lunch and discussed what I might do with the students when I come over to Brazil in September/October. After talking about the possibility of the trip for so long, it was nice to be discussing it all in very concrete terms and nice to finally put a face to the emails.

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror is being published by Rocco in Brazil and they have brought their schedule forward to accommodate my visit, so I am hoping to meet up with them and maybe do some work for the Portuguese edition while I'm over there. It is all very exciting. I have never been south of the equator before!

A bit of a blur

An absolutely crazy day today. My son and I seemed to be cycling all over town in downpour after downpour. He had his induction day for his new school today and we cycled over to register him for that. Then I had to cycle back in a thunderstorm and pick him up and we cycled over to the Kirkham's house where Lisa kindly gave us toasted teacakes and the children hung out together before we got back on our bikes and headed off to his Grade 3 piano exam.

After the exam - when at least it had stopped raining - we cycled back into the centre of Cambridge to meet my wife and we all ate out before heading back to the school for the parents' bit of the induction where we were shown a video of children saying how much they liked the school and then we all got to ask questions. It was exhausting and must have been doubly so for my son who had also had the stress of being thrown into a new environment with lots of new people.

Inevitably it all brings back memories of starting secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne many, many years ago (the same school, weirdly as Peter Kirkham, though not at the same time), and not many of those memories are happy ones. Having had a very good early school experience with very good teachers, I found school from eleven onward a bit of a shock to the system. I think I only ever felt really in control in the art room or when I was writing stories. Everything else was a bit of a blur.

Not much has changed actually.

More young musicians

I had a very different kind of musical experience today as we went to watch my son take part in the annual concert organised by his piano teacher, Anne Marsh-Penton. It is held in Churchill College chapel and is a really inspirational show of young musical talent. It is a tribute to Anne's teaching ability and the incredible ability of children to absorb, enjoy and perform music. It is hugely inspiring.

These are some of the amazing John Piper stained glass windows from Churchill College chapel.

The Kaves

I went to The Junction here in Cambridge last night to see Liam Parker play in his band The Kaves. I have known Liam since he was a baby and it was a real treat to see him playing lead guitar up there on stage. Check out the link to their MySpace site and have a listen.

The crowd was a bit small and seemed to consist almost exclusively of teenage girls (plus a couple of old-timers like myself). Liam is the son of very good friends of ours - Kate and Carl Parker - and it was great to see them too. Kate used to share a studio with my wife next door to one the one I rented in Shoreditch many years ago.

I had a conversation with Kate over the top of the earlier band, the sound so loud that I could here one in every fifteen words Kate said. I got an early idea of what it must be like to be ninety and deaf and just nodding with a stupid grin on your face to questions you haven't really heard properly. We escaped with their friend Mark for some relative peace and a chat. I really am officially too old for this kind of thing.

Peace be with you

I drove to Coventry yesterday to see my good friend Clive Hogger get ordained as a deacon in the cathedral there. The ceremony had - maybe appropriately - a little of a wedding about it, combined with something of a christening. There were lots of ladies in hats and there was a general buzz of familial pride.

For me it was all a bit strange. The only services I have been to for as long as I can remember have been weddings and funerals. Had I not felt a bond with Clive, I dare say the ritual could have been fairly empty for me as a non-believer, but the one thing that I did find moving as well as seeing the bishop blessing Clive and him walking away looking a foot taller - was when everyone was encouraged to greet their neighbour.

Hundred of people turning to each other and shaking the hands of friends and strangers and saying, 'Peace be with you,' struck me as a quite a beautiful thing and managed to somehow short circuit my default setting of cynicism. It had a simplicity that was lost among the pomp of the occasion.

So, peace be with you.

And good luck to Clive, the coolest deacon I know.

After the reception back at Alison's parent's house near Rugby, I then drove back to Cambridge in time to have, appropriately enough after standing on the touchline with Clive watching our sons play football for their school, a kick around with my son and watch Spain win Euro 2008 in fantastic style.

I need answers

A busy Saturday today. I took my son to tennis this morning, then worked whilst he went to the school's summer fete. It is my deadline on Monday and I'm not going to hit it. I have killed one of the stories off - or rather I have put it into suspended animation. It needs time to make it really work, so it will end up in another book, another time. Sometimes writing is more about letting go of something than it is about the work itself. You can't afford to be precious.


I dropped in to the school later just to see how it was all getting on and have a chat to John and Judith among others. In the afternoon I cycled with my son to have a piano lesson at his teacher's house on the Trumpington Road and then back for Doctor Who.

Dr Who is regenerating after being hit by a Dalek after an hilarious slow motion romantic running sequence involving him and Rose. Regenerating! It can't really mean that David Tennant is leaving can it? Why can't Catherine Tate regenerate? And what has happened to Billy Piper's voice since she's been in the parallel world? I can hardly understand what she's saying. She seems to have twice as many teeth. I need answers and I need them now.


Off to Coventry cathedral tomorrow for Clive Hogger's ordination.