On a hot summer’s day a few weeks ago, I spent ten hours painting an elephant (not a real one) at the High Street Kensington branch of Waterstone’s in London. Afterwards, I felt as if I’d done ten aerobics’ sessions. It might have taken less time had I used something larger than a three-haired watercolour brush, but there is no way to rehearse the painting of an elephant (as anyone who has watched the Peter Sellars’ film, The Party, will know). Sore muscles aside, however, it was the most fun I’ve had in ages, thanks largely to Waterstone’s lovely staff and the children of Holland Park School, who visited for an hour and painted elephant pictures alongside me. If you’re at a loose end, the elephant will be in store until September, after which it’ll be retiring to the library of Holland Park School.

In case you’ve missed my Twitter dispatches, Dead Man’s Cove is out in the UK now. Read the reviews and see Max’s feedback on my Laura Marlin Mysteries’ page. I’ll be signing books and talking about it at Festivals and in bookshops throughout August and September. See my Events Diary for updates. In between I’ll be hard at work on the final draft of Kidnap in the Caribbean, the sequel. At least, that’s what I tell my publisher. More usually, I’m watching Max chase the squirrel round the back garden, or eating homemade chocolate brownies, or going out to the French baker for croissants.

Cause for celebration this month: the relaunch of Patricia Leitch’s classic Jinny at Finmory series. For the Love of a Horse and a Devil to Ride are two of my favourite horse books of all time, and when I was asked to ride a foreword for them I jumped at the chance. Between the ages of eleven and sixteen, when I was totally horse-obsessed and my whole world revolved around my black colt, Morning Star, I read, re-read and read again all twelve books in the Jinny at Finmory series. Like Jinny, I loved to paint and the walls of my room were plastered in paintings and sketches of Jinny’s chestnut Arab, Shantih, and the red horse of her dreams. They’re wonderful, timeless novels. Treat yourself. Oh, and buy the paperback of The Elephant’s Tale while you’re at it!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.