White Tents Are Sprouting

Image: Scott McAndrew

Lovely day over Edinburgh yesterday; sunny, warm, and it felt oddly like a Friday.

I had a busy day in the office as my workload increases and I find myself being pushed into newer and higher profile areas. All good clean fun but the meetings once ends up in can be less than interesting at times. Still, each is a learning opportunity so it can’t be bad.

I passed Charlotte Square during the afternoon. The first couple of white tents have sprouted up and the grounds have workmen laying the foundations for the 2009 Book Festival. It’s a great feeling knowing it is just around the corner; the magic is close, the excitement growing—it’s going to be a great 3 weeks in August!

After work I popped along to a night out in Mezz, a small bar on Broughton Street where a couple of my friends were having a pre-wedding get together with friends and colleagues. Linda and Paul are getting married in Ireland next week so I shared a few Guinness with them and wished them the best of luck.

I met an interesting woman who works for the National Gallery of Scotland. We had an interesting conversation about the future of the galleries in Scotland because they are debating what they should do for their 2010 program. I tried to influence this by mentioning the likes of Banksy but I doubt it will ever happen.

It turns out she used to be a journalist but lost faith after having to change stories to sell the newspaper as opposed to telling the truth as it really was. She never specialised because she became so disillusioned, a position that was unchangeable even when I referred to her the benefits of specialising as I do with my News of the World articles.

I’ve got rather a lot on again today: meetings, deadlines and possibilities. Tonight I will have the house to myself so I want to catch up with all my email and blogs, and then get some serious writing achieved. BACCARA BURNING is smouldering with ideas and creative opportunities, and with some great feedback finding its way back to me concerning STELLA, I think I may have a small fan base that wants to know what happens next to Stella and Randolph.