Running

I ran my usual five mile road route in 42:28 last night. Fourteen seconds better than last time. It's the race in four days. I am going to do the route again tomorrow. I hope to break 50 minutes. But there's a foot of snow on the road up there.

Christmas

I've been sledging with my daughter the afternoon. Bombing down a hill near where we live. She is getting braver about it this year. But on one of our early runs we nearly went over. I managed to keep it steady. Just. I think if we had gone over she would have given up winter sports for good.

This after I finally cracked the plot of Football Detective 4 in the Bear cafe, this morning.

I showed the first 20,000 words to my writing group last week and they were into the the villain, a nasty 16 year old who has just been released by a Premier League football club. He was just a fringe character, but, because they liked (or hated) him, I am going to give him a bigger role.

I like being in a writing group. It has a huge effect on the books. One, because their feedback makes the books better. Two, because I write bearing in mind their criticisms of previous books. Three, because the books seem to need less editing at Puffin if I've shown them to the group.

Hot Toddy

So I did the route of the Hot Toddy run today. 5.8 miles up and down hills near where I live.

52:04.

Not bad for an unfit overweight 42 year old man with a dodgy knee. I loved it, though. At one point I was on the tops with fine rain showering me, 50 geese circling overhead. Bliss.

I started a story I am doing for Tom Watt's 2010 anthology of football stories today. I did the plan. The idea is that 5 writers do stories - plus 5 footballers. All about Tom's fictional Shelby Town FC.

The writing group gave their feedback on the fourth Football Detective novel last night. Pretty good. I was pleased.

Mince pies. I've had four already today. Mmmmmm.

It's been a while...

I've been busy not working for a few weeks. My wife had to go into hospital in late November and is slowly recovering at home with Nurse Tom. But she is recovering well, which is a relief.

No more dark clouds looming over us.

I have not done much writing as a result, but will start big time on Wednesday. Less than two months to finish a 40,000 word novel. I've done 20,000 first draft so far. But I like the pressure. My writing group meets tomorrow at my house to give its verdict on the first half.

I've also been running since I last blogged.

There's a race in my home town, called the Hot Toddy. 5.8 miles up and down hills on 27 December. I've entered. I haven't done a race ever. I got my 5 miles down the road and back from 50 minues to 48 minutes and yesterday 44.42 minutes. Tonight I want to break 40. But may die in the process. It's a ridiculous target. But it gives me something to blog about, I suppose.

I've been reading two novels by Jed Mercurio. I'd not read him before. He is amazingly good.

Leeds have stopped winning.

Wales II

I am still in Wales.

I got a train from Newtown to Machynlleth to work in a school this morning, except it was delayed by an hour, so I got to Machynlleth late.

It had rained all night and was still raining. The fields were like lakes, sheep clustered on high ground, trying not to drown.

I had slept badly.

I walked to the school, asking directions as I went. In the rain. Half way there and it started chucking it down. By the time I arrived I was soaked.

But there was a room full of lads waiting to do a penalty shoot out, so I put my goal up. I’d hardly got started when a lad came into the class to tell us some of the school buses were taking people home. At 10.30am. The lesson ended. And I was told I should try to get out of Machynlleth (by, I should mention, a lovely teacher called Carwen).

I got to the station. All the trains were off. I was told we were cut off. But that there might be a bus in an hour to get me out of there.

Two hours later a bus came. It struggled through flood water and gridlocked villages.

And now I am in Welshpool, which is lovely. And I’m writing.

Take Me Home

I am in Wales this week. A beautiful part of the world with lovely people, but I wish I was at home.

Authors have to get out to talk in libraries and schools as much as they can. And I do that. But I’ve been at it for months now, since the summer.

Maybe I feel like this because I’m coming to the end. In a week I’ll be at Leeds v Leyton Orient, celebrating having done my last event for six weeks.

Then home. To spend those six weeks writing and as much time with my wife and daughter as possible. And with the Leeds players, occasionally.

Lancashire

I'm doing Lancashire's Shout About Books festival this week. Events in Fleetwood, Knott End, Accrington and Burnley.

Even though I am from Yorkshire and am naturally wary of the North West, I always have a good time. Lancashire know how to put on a good event in a library.

It will be good to go to Burnley. I researched my Football Academy series at Burnley FC and they were very nice to me. They let me talk to under twelve players and their parents, plus the coaches.

I was in Springhill High, Rocddale yesterday, too. Six sessions with year eights. It must have been a good day. My wife told me to stop going on about it at eleven o'clock last night. The kids were great. Four of them even supported Rochdale.

By the way, there's a great book about Rochdale FC called Believe in the Sign. It's by Mark Hodkinson. It got longlisted for the William Hill sports book award last year, so it's not the fact that he lives up the hill from me that I'm recommending it. It's great.