Miracle report

So far only half a miracle. I'm still sore, but not as bad.

Back in Trouble

Well, I've done in my back, haven't I? (And am feeling in the mood for a whinge.) Sat on the floor to screw together a little nest of tables and when I went to get up I turned into a victim of the Spanish Inquisition. Since then, I've been hobbling round like a centenarian and complaining bitterly. Off to the osteopath this morning in the hope of a miracle. I'll let you know if I get one.

Trees

Although I'm probably the least hearty individual on the planet, I do try to take a walk with Jacks each morning (when it isn't raining) in a rather nice public garden a couple of miles from our home. This morning while we were en route, the road was blocked by a massive JCB scraping at something over a low hedge. As we waited for it to finish, the driver turned the arm on a hedgerow tree and pushed it over, then manoeuvred to take out a second tree.

Jacks, who gets very emotional about these things, burst into tears. Both trees looked perfectly healthy and since they were growing in the hedgerow itself they were clearly in nobody's way.

It did occur to me that since we're now apparently living in a world where existing forest cover is unable to cope with the amount of carbon we're pumping into the atmosphere, it might make sense for Governments to enact legislation forbidding the uprooting of trees without a special (costly, difficult to get) permit. As the Tesco ads keep telling us, every little helps.

Expanding Universe

About a year ago, my agent and I had the bright idea of expanding the Faerie Wars universe into graphic novels. This wasn't a question of converting Faerie Wars into a graphic novel (although that could happen yet) but rather examining the lives of certain characters from the mainstream novels in graphic form.

Well, it now looks as if it's going to happen. Bloomsbury, who publish the mainstream books, are putting a toe in the water with a picaresque story about Brimstone when he was a boy. No further details beyond that at the moment, but the full story will appear on the main Web site as soon as I have information on publication date, artist and final format.