Licking The Heat

I'm not complaining when I say that it's 42 degrees outside! Thank goodness for those large, leafy trees they have around here.

I am currently in the Basque country, San Sebastien, where everyone is shirtless and the air smells of sunscreen. We have ventured our way down from Nice, where we also called in to Vence and St Paul de Vence - this cute little place features in my novel and is also where James Baldwin used to live.

I have brought five novels with me and will enjoy having the time to get through them all. I am currently reading another Macmillan New Writing title - Across the Mystic Shore (I bought all six of the books that launched this imprint and I'm now on to the fourth). Having got this far, it is now clear there is a definite problem with the editing or checking of manuscripts. There are too many typos and small mistakes. This is not the fault of the authors. I would suggest that MNW needs to invest some extra time in proof reading when the book is set. I will come back to this later when I review this latest book. I'm only three chapters in, but so far so good in terms of the story.

I'm also taking loads of photos, jotting down verses for poems and nutting out the chemin of my new novel. After here we're heading for Bilbao and then a graceful descent down the coast of Portugal - Porto and Lisbon included.

I will sign in again when I get the chance. I hope you are all green with envy, unless of course you're in fancier quarters!