A week in the life..

Well... Hello little blog. Hello blog pals. It feels like ages since I have actually sat down to write a Proper Post Full of Things.

Seeing as a stuuuuuupidly busy work week has meant that reading has been reduced to a few pages before I fall asleep on the bus, I thought I'd just share some of the things that tickled my bookish taste buds last week.

First up, was last Saturdays brilliant Guardian article on writer's top ten tips in the Review section. They are all good in their different ways, but my personal favourite (as someone who pretends to write for a living - yep someone pays me and everything) was Roddy Doyle's.

Here are the first five...

1 Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

2 Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph

3 Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it's the job.

4 Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

5 Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don't go near the online bookies – unless it's research.

I'm not sure how many of you saw this, but I would definitely recommend a gander. Fascinating stuff.

Monday meant work but also a meeting and discovery of my new favourite reading spot in London. Sketch may be one of the most ridiculously pretentious places in town, but it's tea room, with it's Alice in Wonderland like frivolity and comfy sofas and oh-so-pretty cakes makes it the perfect indulgence if you want to escape the gloom. A girl can dream..

'scuse the crap photo... was trying to do it subtly, in that, 'I'm totally not overwhelmed by this. I come to here all the time' kinda way...

Tuesday meant a trip to the Design Museum for the Brit Insurance Designer of the Year.

This rainbow book pile made me happy.

As I was wondering/running manically round London town this week, it did get me thinking. It would be really interesting to plot a route around the important literary places... it can seem as though you're never far from something you've read in a book.

If anyone has a particularly good one, whether it's in London, or you're home town, I'd love to know. Maybe we can start a bit of a virtual map...

Anyhoo, apologies for this bitty, long post... have a super week!