The problem with promising to write a column every week is that you then need to have IDEAS, TOPICS, SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT. Which shouldn’t be so difficult for a WRITER, except that at the moment all I can think about is my third novel, which is so near to completion, but frankly not quite there.

I suppose I could write about said novel – but I think I shall leave it for a while as I dare not risk its fate becoming like my Novel Number Two.

In 2016, I was preparing to launch said  second novel: THE PORCUPINE’S DILEMMA. And Blackwells in Oxford was to host its launch. I was delighted. Not everyone has the  very good fortune to find such a prestigious place to host the introduction of a book.

But alas, I ended up in the John Radcliffe Hospital with a stroke, which effectively put an end to the Grand Launch of The Porcupine’s Dilemma, and unluckily, an end to my progress as a writer for the next three years. For my own unfortunate stroke was followed rather quickly by the even more disastrous illness and death of my husband, John Tyerman Williams, well known for his books on Winnie-the-Pooh (Pooh and the Philosophers and others).

That was too much for my feeble frame, which apparently attempted to help me follow him. However, thanks to my son who made sure I actually saw the doctor, and to the experts in the John Radcliffe, I am now more or less restored. Lacking energy (but I am 83), I now plan to try to promote The Porcupine’s Dilemma so that it is not completely lost, while finishing Novel No 3.

If anyone is interested, The Porcupine’s Dilemma is now available at the very low cost of £5, plus postage. Just let me know and I’ll get a copy sent to you!