Holed up in the Bodleian
When the stygian gloom of January bears down on you there is no better place to hole up than the Bodleian Library in Oxford. And so it was, my January was very busy with researching, reading, and writing notes; and consuming buckets of coffee and plates of cake. Hours of fun spent scanning zillions of databases and getting distracted by interesting snippets that you happen on like an account of a skirmish in the Indian Mutiny reported in the Cornishman newspaper in 1858.
Oh, and then there is the joy of calling up old manuscripts and books from the stack. I could spend forever getting lost in there, like Alice in Wonderland but there are books to be written.
What better time is there to go on a course to learn to write novels. I learnt about finding the narrator’s voice, the role of the author, and the problem of siting the narrative. 
I’m getting the hang of this so I’m about ready to pick up my writer’s pen for the two books in the pipeline. But, I haven’t done the Christmas cards yet. Too late.
So Chinese New Year cards will have to suffice, and then it’s the books, and maybe some more courses.
Old Lady by the Sea 