If you are new

If you are new to this site, you may have come to see if I've written any other books. I'm delighted to say that Zuzu's Petals will be published next year by Snowbooks. Or you might want to fnd out more about Sally Howe and where she lives. If you'd like to see some photographs of places in Plotting for Beginners, then click on the link to Sally's World, on the right, under the heading GALLERY. Sally Howe has been keeping a blog since December 2006. You'll find it by clicking here.

Incy Wincy Spider

I was reciting Incy Wincy Spider yesterday, as one does, and I got to thinking:

Is Incy Wincy the spider's name? - as in "Incy Wincy, a spider, 43, was found climbing up a spout..."

or, is incy-wincy an adjective? - as in "An incy-wincy spider, climbing up a spout..."

Blogging award!

Someone - Diane Shipley, a freelance journalist and reviewer and co-editor of the popular website Trashionista - has given me a blogging award. Gosh, I'm honoured. Really honoured. Not only has she posted a comment on my blog (see below) - she's given me an award as well. Perhaps she's the only reader of my blog...

I am supposed to continue the schmoozing by giving my own blog awards. The problem is..I don't read many blogs. I like my elder son's, as he has some excellent photographs on it, but I can't give him an award as he doesn't update it often enough.

The only blog I read every day and find interesting is the Snowblog ( my publisher's blog.) The Snowblog covers lots of topics - publishing, politics, what's happening in the Snowbooks office, what the Snowbooks team are doing, thinking, feeling. Sometimes it's even inspiring. I commend it to you, and I give it my only blogging award.

Authors are sad people

Wendy, a dear friend who lives in San Francisco, sent me this photograph. She knows that I'm still a new enough published novelist to be excited by a picture of my first book sitting on a shelf in Barnes and Noble on the other side of the world.

Is this sad?

Vote now (she said, safe in the knowledge that no reader of this blog ever, ever posts a comment.)

O.K. then...

Well I did say that readers of this blog are reticent, but really! Nothing in the comments box.

Either you are

1/ the most incurious people in the world

2/ I have covered everything on my blog you might possibly want to know (and even more )

3/ you are all away on holiday

4/ you are trapped under something heavy, able to reach the mouse to click and open websites, but unable to reach the keyboard to type a question

Whichever is true - I'm off to lounge in the sun.