Christmas Headaches

Image: News.com.au

I was into everything over the weekend—everything!

Not only did I get through a ton of Christmas cleaning, DIY work, TV and gadget fixing, and writing work, but I also managed a Day Job Xmas bash, and a 40th Birthday party up in town. It was, as they say, pretty mad.

Party Friday
I have to tell you about Friday night—it was a scream. It all started mid-afternoon when my team left work for the pub and our annual Christmas drinks. We found a table in Cloisters Pub in Tollcross and had a few pints and a laugh until the time came to split.

The team were going for a meal at Indaba, a South African restaurant just around the corner from Cloisters. Unfortunately, I could not be with them, as the night out also coincided with my brother-in-law’s 40th birthday. So as the team trooped merrily away, I hailed a cab to The Pear Tree pub to await the arrival of my family.

They were running late, so I was a couple of pints down before they arrived and we took our seats for the birthday meal in Khushis, a family of Indian restaurant that hold some considerable reputation in these parts.

The meal was beautiful; freshly cooked pakora to perfection and a lamb jalfrezi that hit all the high spots. The only criticism of this particular Khushi’s, is that although the menu was large, the range of curries on offer wasn’t. Other than that, my meal was superb.

Back to my BIL’s flat afterwards with the kids to have coffee and birthday cake, which is also where I wowed everyone with my skills at Guitar Hero.

Weekend
Into the weekend then and I darted up town for some respite and to buy some more Christmas cards on Saturday morning, before ploughing the rest of my day into cleaning and DIY. Bleaching, painting, scrubbing, sanding, you name it, then eventually got some time in the evening to enjoy a pizza and work on some of my other stuff.

I selected the front cover to go with next year’s summer novella release, GREENER IS THE GRASS. It was a tough decision but I asked some friends what cover they liked best and everyone came back with the same answer. It’s a cracker, but I won’t be revealing in until the spring.

I took my daughter out for brunch yesterday; coffee, hot chocolate and pastries consumed speedily by the window of a coffee shop overlooking Edinburgh Castle. She liked the chocolate muffin best.

We stopped off at my Mother-in-Law’s house on the way home before heading home to put up our tree. This is a job that’s fallen out of my hands now, as the tradition of having a real tree in the house has ended much to my despair. I always preferred real Christmas trees; the smell, the decorating something that keeps with tradition, but alas, no more.

After working through some more DIY, I got to work on SLICK and then take care of some Christmas gifts for the family.

The Week Ahead
It’s Christmas Week so it’s going to be a busy one. I’ve got to accumulate and wrap all my presents, finish up work on SLICK, get the December/Xmas Newsletter out, release the illustrated edition of SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE, attend a Mogwai gig at the Barrowland in Glasgow, and squeeze in drinks with a writing buddy of mine, if at all possible.

All this in less than one week? It gives Chrismas headaches just thinking about it!

The 3 Ebook Deal and Free Poetry
Visit my website at www.colingalbraith.co.uk and either sign up to the mailing list or ‘LIKE’ my Facebook page, as it will mean you’ll be entitled to a free copy of each of my next three novels. Get in quick though, as the window to register closes at 23:59pm 31st December!

Alternatively, just scan the QR code to the right or text 3BOOKS to 88802 or failing that, you can go direct to the 3 Ebook Deal web page!

The window to sign up for the 3 Ebook Deal will close on 31st December, 2011 at 23:59 so make sure you get in there today! It only takes a couple of minutes to sign up to qualify for 3 hot thriller novels to be released in 2012!

You’ll also find some great deals over at my poetry place www.chasstramash.com: all poetry ebooks are available for free download, 86p on the Kindle, and £3 (25% off!) for print copies.
Peace and out!