Blow Up!

A cheery top of the morning (or afternoon to be more specific) to you, dear readers

I am freezing. I'm sitting here with my stylin' Marc Jacobs fingerless gloves on as I type this because the central heating has yet to warm up the Arctic conditions in my flat. Despite the fact that I'm fighting a cold, tonight I will be attending a Bonfire and Fireworks Extravaganza at Alexandra Palace (Ally Pally as it's known to we North London locals,) to celebrate Guy Fawkes day tomorrow.

Non-British readers may wonder what the heck Guy Fawkes is. But basically he was a dude in doublet and hose who tried to blow up the Houses Of Parliament many centuries ago in some international master-spy plot. (Obviously I'm paraphrasing here.) He got caught and in an ironic move ended up getting burnt himself. Guy Fawkes Day teaches British children that it is neither big nor clever to stand in the way of democracy by trying to blow up Parliament. Also that burning effigies of people in big bonfires and letting off fireworks that scare household pets is cool. And this paragraph is why I will never attempt to write a historical novel.

Anyway, Let's Get Lost is finally out in North America. Hurrah! I have no idea how it's being received (apart from a few lovely comments on this blog and MySpace.) If you feel inclined, reviews posted at Amazon and Barnes & Noble are always welcome. I will be interested to see how it's received, as American reviewers tend to fixate on how much alcohol my characters consume. While I would never condone underage drinking, it's legal to buy alcohol at 18 in the UK and I have a theory that people always start doing things about three years before they're legally allowed to. Not that I did. I was a paragon of teen virtue.

As well, as working hard on my new series – the first book has been copy-edited and we're just finalising the cover and the second book is almost finished – I'm writing a couple of articles for British ELLE and getting ready to visit NYC in a few days. Mainly for the purposes of shopping, and hanging out with one of my dearest friends who currently lives there.

Right now I need to transcribe an interview tape (which is the most loathsome bit about being a journalist) and make a huge vat of chicken soup to see off my sore throat.

I hope you are all wrapping up warm and remembering to wear a hat when you go out.

Love

Sarra x

(Cross-posted to A cheery top of the morning (or afternoon to be more specific) to you, dear readers