Winter 2006/2007
Hi Everyone,
Hasn’t 2006 just flown by! I can’t
believe how quickly it’s gone. It was an eventful year for
me all in all, with the new baby, Jago (more on him below) and
plenty of book events and family events including my
parent’s 40th wedding anniversary bash.
2007 will be busy for our family as Ben, my
boyfriend/partner is doing an Olympic campaign in the Star boat
with his sailing friend, Maurice O’Connell
(‘Prof’). They have started training and will be in
Miami in January for their first event together. So good luck to
them in that! (Miami in miserable old January, isn’t it as
well for them!)
So here’s the rest of the news -
Baby
Jago
Baby Jago is now 8 months old and getting
bigger by the day. I call him Sumo baby as he’s so round and
cuddly. My (3) calls him ‘potato’, as she can’t
say Jago and I guess he is rather round. He’s now sitting up
and playing with things in front of him with only the odd topple.
He’s eating like a monster and I’m so looking forward
to our first Christmas together. We have our tree up (only e24
from Woodies, bargain!) and he loves the lights.
Reflections
on Baby Days and Mother Guilt
Jago is pretty heavy and the muscles on one
of my arms (the right one) are bigger than the other. Help! Is
this normal? If anyone out there has had the same experience, do
let me know.
I’m sitting at my desk listening to him
gurgling in the other room and itching to go and give him a
cuddle. It’s hard to work when he’s so near me but
I’m in the lucky position of having an au pair to mind him
so I can work. And I do love having him near me. I’m very
lucky.
I remember dropping Sam into his
minder’s (lovely woman called Barbara) when he was 2 months
old. 2 months! I was in bits. He was so tiny and vulnerable. But
I was on my own at the time and I had to get back to work to pay
the bills. So I’m so grateful to be able to spend more time
with Amy and Jago and to have them minded at home. I really feel
for working mums who have to drop their kids off to crèches in
the morning – it’s very tiring. And if you’re one
of those mums, hang in there, it’s nearly Christmas!
Books
in Progress News
I’m getting started on a new book
project in the New Year, so fingers crossed for me that it will
go well. I’m also hoping to write a teenage book this year,
if I can squeeze it in.
I am also editing a collection of real life
stories about motherhood called ‘Mum’s the Word’
which will be out in May. It’s in aid of cystic fibrosis
research in Tallaght Hospital as one of my oldest friends has a
little fellow who’s CF. Lovely little fellow but it’s
not easy as you can imagine. So I wanted to do something small to
help.
So far loads of brilliant writers have
agreed to contribute to the book, which is amazing. Thanks to all
of them for saying yes, including the extremely busy Cathy Kelly,
mother of twins no less. I won’t mention any more names
until the next newsletter when I’ll list them all. I’d
hate to leave anyone out.
Recent
Trips and Events
Morag Prunty’s Readers’ Day in
Ballina in November
The event in Ballina went really well. The
library where is it was held was packed and myself, Martina
Devlin, Alison (an editor) and Pat (an agent in Marianne Gunn
O’Connor’s office) put the world to rights on the train
on the way over. It was a bloody cold night but Morag warmed us
up nicely with some fine wine and a delicious Irish stew;
she’s a great cook as well as a great writer. And she can
sing. Far too talented, throw rocks at her!
At the event I met this lovely woman who
told me that her son and daughter still remembered me from a
school visit I did years ago to lots of different schools in the
Castlebar region. And they were still huge readers and her son
also writes now. It was so sweet to hear that. School visits are
really tiring and if the teacher isn’t all that interested,
a bit of a thankless task to be honest. But if the children get
something from it, it makes it all worthwhile.
New Books
When the Boys are Away will be published on
7th March and is Eason Irish Book of the Month –
hurrah! I’m delighted about that and it’s very good of
them to support it.
I’ll give you a sneak preview on the
website in February – I’ll put the first chapter up for
you to read. It’s the story of work and sports widows and
what they get up to when their men are away. Ironically I wrote
it before Ben decided to do the Olympic campaign as I’ll be
a sports widow myself for the next while! Any other sports widows
who would like to get in touch – please do. We can start up
a club!
Great Reads
I haven’t read all that many books for
grown ups recently as I’ve been reading a lot of
children’s books. I review them for the Irish Indo and for a
specialist magazine called Inis, so that takes up a lot of my
reading time. But I did have the time to squeeze in a few and I
hope to read more next year.
I really enjoyed All I Want is You by
Martina Reilly. A fun, charming and thoughtful book about a woman
called Poppy whose life changes when her husband’s firm goes
bust. Cracking dialogue too.
Woodbrook by David Thomson has been
beside my bed for nearly a year now and I’m finally getting
around to reading it, terrible, I know. It’s actually
Martina Devlin’s book too – sorry Martina, you will get
it back at some stage, I promise! But it’s a brilliant read,
packed full of Irish history, no gory details spared. It’s
set in a rambling old Big House and tells the true story of a
young teacher and his experiences with the Anglo Irish family.
Beautifully written.
Skulduggery Pleasant by David Landy
is one of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long
time, and I read a lot of them. Laugh out loud funny, clever,
sweet and scary, it would fascinate any reader of 9 to 90. Loved
it! It’s coming out in April and will make David a household
name. Look out for it.
My Winter Confession
I have two this time – firstly wearing
tights under my trousers. Ben thinks this is gammy and so just to
annoy him I tuck my shirt or top into the tights (under my jumper
– we have a very cold house) and pull up my jumper to flash
it all at him. Who said romance was dead?
And secondly – and I really
shouldn’t admit to this - I find Simon Cowell strangely
attractive – but only when he bites his pen and goes all
thoughtful, honestly! Not in general. I was a huge X Factor fan,
even though I thought the singers a bit tame and uninteresting
this time around. Bring back Chico I say. And Shane wasn’t
bad either, nice and moody. But Ray, I mean, bless, he’s
sweet, but he does nothing for me. And now I have You’re a
Star to watch too, excellent! They are the only
‘reality’ programmes I watch and I do adore them.
One
Final Note
In the last newsletter I was joking about
losing the baby as he was so good. Well, it really happened! I
didn’t lose him exactly, but I did leave him behind me in
XtraVision in Monkstown. The poor lad behind the desk who was all
of 17 was a bit pale faced when I ran back. He was worried
I’d dumped the poor baby you see. As if! I was just a bit
frazzled. I only realised my mistake when I was strapping Amy
into her car seat and I noticed the other car seat – empty!
I lashed back, Amy on my hip (the quickest way) and was so
relieved to find Jago sitting in his little seat, happy as Larry,
gurgling up at the lad.
Until next time, keep well. And I do hope
2007 is a peaceful and happy year for you all!
I promise a longer, more gossipy newsletter
in March. I find my energy levels are rotten by December, I can
hardly keep awake some days . . .ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Very best wishes,
Sarah XXX
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