The Flying Dutchman Rides Again

Have just come back from the most amazing lunch at locanda locatelli - mmmmmm! I wondered after all the incredible food we ate in Italy, if Italian food in England was ever going to be as good, but this really did top it all (and so it should with 2 Michelin stars!)

Perhaps this meal could be topped though, by the delights on offer at "International Evening" at school tomorrow, where all the loving parents are going with their offspring for an evening of international cuisine (everyone has to take a dish typical of their country - I made Yorkshire Parkin, after all, it's practically a different nation isn't it?) As one of the other mum's said "there'll be wine there, please come" I felt I could hardly refuse! Daddy was very sulky at the prospect, but I appear to have convinced him (again I think the lure of the wine could have had something to do with it, not to to mention my killer parkin of course!)

As part of International Week, tied in (as Princess O proudly told me) with Black History Month, the kids all had to go to school yesterday in their national dress (which could include football kit for the two children of purely English descent). Thankfully some old neighbours of ours who were from St Petersburg had given us a mini Russian folk outfit, so I forced Princess O into it and made her promise to say it was Lithuanian (not too much of a stretch) as her Grandma is from there. Of course when I overheard her telling someone at school, she spoke like Judas Iscariot declaiming Jesus, and whispered that it was from Russia. Oh if only we hadn't told her it was wrong to ever lie!

So, there's good news and bad news on the book front - out of the blue, I had an email from The Flying Dutchman a few weeks ago, asking if I wanted to meet up again to discuss book/film project (or at least the notional project!) Despite clearing my diary for the rest of my life, we have yet to actually meet up though. Grr, why is this whole thing so bloody hard?

Also, very interestingly, Harper Collins have decided to set up their own website for unpublished authors to post their manuscripts and allow readers to comment, with the view that the most popular will be turned into books. I intend to email them and tell them I've done it myself already! Hope they'll be suitably impressed.