One of my readers from India has just sent me some wonderful pictures of her trip to Agra, Udaipur and Ahmedabad. Here’s the Taj Mahal, which inspired Crow so profoundly in book 2. How could it not, when it’s so magnificent?
Meanwhile, I shall be off travelling soon too. Not quite as far as Agra, but to interesting places all the same. It’s hard to picture at the moment, as I sit here with the tail end of a virus that travelled all the way from France to knock me for six. Luckily, I’m on the mend, so I should be able to enjoy taking the boys to see the amazing Jubilee River Pageant on Sunday. We will dress in red, white and blue, get as close to the river as we can in Battersea Park, and wave our flags along with the tens of thousands of other people who’ll be there, and I shall remind the boys (again) about how much fun I had when I was their age, and my parents brought me and my brother down to London for the Silver Jubilee in 1977. The Queen has been around for a seriously long time, hasn’t she?
Then it’s off to Hay-on-Wye for the book festival, and my chat with Lucy Peden from Bliss magazine, about the writing of The Look and how to follow your dreams. Given that Lucy gets to interview people like JLS for a living, and I get to write books, following your dreams is something we both know a bit about.
And finally, I’m thrilled to be invited to the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham, to do more talking. I’ve never been to a music festival on a racecourse before, let alone done a book talk at one. It all sounds pretty dream-tastic too. I’ll be there on Sunday the 10th. Come and find me if you can!