darlings
*specialquietvoice*
how was your wednesday?
oh good.
we had a strange one.
it started very early – 5AM actually –
and there was a drive across town (into the sunrise) and meeting up with friends and then listening to someone who needed to talk (we just listen, we have no particular or even general training but it’s a nice human trait; to listen) and then a drive back and some work emails and who-we-are-in-RL had Plenty to be getting on with (the calls came back, the commissions from Abroad are here – we’ve not seen her much at All today) and – most Excitingly – there was a Pre-Recorded Radio Interview to do….
and then we’re not sure what happened.
the rest of the day was shot (as the Americans call it – not literally – no firearms here).
you see…
*bites_lip*
the Thing (there is indeed a Thing) about making-a-living via one’s Imagination
and force of will and inspiration and ability-to-ask-interesting-questions and Spin a Tale and let the listener feel as if They Were There is – – – – –
well
when we *do* that – we are there too, you see.
and if the Experience we are Recounting was at all painful (yes, Tobias et al) – which it often is – but delivered with a Light Touch (we are known for a Light Touch you see) – we, well, there’s no way to say this but directly –
we relive it all over again.
which is *gulps* painful.
so the day was shot.
we took an extended nap. 
it’s now almost 10PM and we’ve managed to pick up the pieces of the psyche and get back to work (which will make thursday surreal we’re sure) for probably several hours.
all is well.
but we just wanted to let You know.
because – well – you Know.
and that’s delicious.
while being Rather Comforting.
*sweet_smile_to_camera_1*
(while picking up tea cup and taking a thoughtful sip).
on a more Upbeat note (as you know we do like an Upbeat Moment), whenever we just Happened to be Passing a major bookshop chain, we like to pop in, use the (extra special) British accent and ask the Person in charge of Customer Service whether they have ordered copies of you-know-what (because although mr. amazon has been delivering copies early to our friends in the USA, bookshops are Much Stricter and Wait for the “on sale date” which is 18th Feb, you see).
the Nicest thing about doing this (and yes, we always buy something to be suitably grateful) is that one gets to show them that who-we-are-in-RL is Very Excited about (our) the book.
did you know that if you are Very Nice to booksellers and show up in Person they generally order more while you’re standing there?
true story (happened in 3 bookshops recently).
isn’t that glorious?
we are Very Touched.
if you’re anywhere near Santa Monica next Tuesday, do pop upstairs at B&N (yes, “self-help” or “self-improvement”) as there should be a nice stack up there.
or if you happen to be at The Grove (and there are a lot of nice movies opening so you might well be, if only in spirit) at, say, seven PM (19:00 hours if you’re a european), well, we will see you there.
apparently a lovely new book will be fanned out elegantly On The Front Table (just as you enter, before the International magazine stand on the right).
gosh, no.
not doing a signing. per se.
although they’ve asked us to sign a few at our leisure that they’ll have upstairs on the table with signed copies.
we just want to visit it.
to see what it looks like – you know – in a public space – on its own – enticing potential purchasers to pick it up and take a look.
*deep_breath*
it’s rather nerve-wracking all this, you see.
which is probably why we took an extended nap this afternoon after pre-recording the Radio Interview with the lovely Diane Ray (being broadcast at 11AM Pacific Standard Time on Monday).
just to “re-calibrate”.
wonder if Anne Scott-James did that when Sketches From A Life came out.
deducing from the signature (lovely flourish, non?) but no dedication we’re assuming that ASJ signed these for a bookshop (perhaps Foyles?) and then left them there in a neat pile while she dashed off to have tea at a chum’s flat on the King’s Road.
we’re certainly glad of her company right now.
as we write in the book (said airily and with a little cute smile): books *do* make good companions. 
as do interior designers in fact (yes, we thought that was a neat connection too) we encouraged our Readers at Los Angeles I’m Yours to grab one this week and visit Mulligans.
gosh. is that the Time?
*peersatlaptop*
hmm.
10.17PM in L.A (wednesday)
SO – that makes it 2.17PM (thursday) in CHINA?
where one of our Newest editors is sitting, waiting for our notes for a piece for their June issue.
yes, we’re now (also) writing for CHINA.
gosh.
together with the published pieces and commissions for publications in Australia, UK, Mexico and now CHINA………that means we can (most officially) say we are now:
A Foreign Correspondent.
at last.
*giggles*
dreams do come true.
and some of them take twenty years.
which makes them all the sweeter, sweeties.
Oh dear, but what a lovely place to nap.
I have a copy of a book about two moxie dames in NY that someone in RL suggested I get my hands on, and I did, and when I looked at the title page I saw that it was signed. Being the utter skeptic I thought, isn’t that a silly thing for an imposter-fan to do? But it turns out, those are their signatures, Anita’s and Helen’s.
Remind me in March. I think they’d like you to have it.
gosh!
we have an unsigned copy – yes please!
Oh my darling there is nothing more important to have in one’s life than someone who can listen. It is a talent, a skill, an art, and the person who can do it is a treasure. You are a treasure. XXXXX
you are most very kind. truly.
happy thursday (which is almost friday)
_tg xx
What a lot of exciting things happening to you, I am there in spirit, and wish you the very best.
Joan
You’re a doll.
thank you!
_tg xx
Dearest Gloria
To speak is sensational. To listen though is divine.
A talent given to angels and reserved, often, for saints, especially at 5am.
We have some sympathy and understanding of the effects of talking of troubles in the past. The curse of eloquence is that when applied to one’s own woes, no matter how crystaline the spoken prose, some part of the pain is revived and lived again.
Happy then to take comfort in others’ words, yes, books do make good companions they also, as Anthony Powell once had a character point out furnish a room, and so, by extension, a life.
*Foreign Correspondent*.
So many echoes in those two short words, from Churchill to Adie, by way of Greene. You are forever “Our Woman in Los Angeles”.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
ooo, we ADORE that.
“Our Woman In Los Angeles”
so very Mr. G Greene, you’re Absolutely right.
MY WORD…Anne Scott-James….takes me back to Sunday evenings, tropical childhood, and listening to the radio. It was a lovely time. No need to nap after that memory but some are exhausting to recall, it’s true :( I haven’t been to the bookshop yet but I am hoping that my order will inspire the staff to order more.
radio?
oooo!
do tell.
did she have a Show?!
how glorious.
she is so very no-nonsense in the book.
we adore it.
and you!
“Over the years, the show gained a cult following, not just in the UK, but overseas where it could be heard on the BBC World Service.” That’s me and my family, listening on the BBC World Service http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/myword/ Also fans of Just a Minute and I am Sorry I haven’t a Clue.
wow!
found an audio clip on mr. you tube. not sure if ms. scott-james is on that show – still listening…
thank you.
If you find one with ms.scott-james do share. I couldn’t find one. I would like to hear her voice again.
oh dear. we searched and searched but this is the only thing we found and one Has to be a member of an Institute of Higher Learning in the UK (which the last time we checked, we are Not – although we know you and who-we-are-in-RL went to two)
http://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/St-Mary-le-Bow-public-debates/021M-1CDR0002931X-0200V0
Oh, sad, no access :( I am disappointed in you, British Library! (By the way, do you like the BL blogs? I do :) )
we shall examine them most closely immediately….
do excuse us.
How lovely this all is at the end… after a nap I always have a new perspective too. Monday…radio show… note to self. Got it!
*blush*
you are very kind.
truly.