knowing my place

A bit of thinking time at Schloss Marland. I was a bit frazzled after the radio interviews; in short order, we did R4, RTE2, and Newstalk (an Irish radio station).

This blog would be valueless if it was only used for propaganda about the book; I want to look at how the process affects me, too. So the disclosure here (such as it is) is difficult, in the same way as I felt uncomfortable thinking back to the Gerry Ryan interview; it is about disclosure of things which I would not normally talk about. Were my answers to his questions the correct response, or should I have pointed out to him the inappropriateness of some of his questions? -I think I did the right thing; give listeners the chance to make their own mind up about me, and about Gerry Ryan. It was funny that he obviously thought that women shouldn't work in engineering; and his disclosure that his eight year old daughter is experimenting with heels and make-up was unintentionally quite funny, if rather worrying...

Then there's the question of where my place is, or is perceived to be, in relation to the book. Because ultimately it's Richard's writing, and I am afraid of looking foolish by seeming to appropriate it as my work too. I obviously feel very involved with it, and pleased with the physical contribution I made to it, though haiku and drawings are not hugely important in the great scheme of things.



I flatter myself that I can write fairly well; I was amused when the P&O defence lawyer described me as articulate and intelligent (and a whole lot of other things), intending this description as a criticism; someone in my position is not supposed to be those things, in his world view. How much I respect his opinion, you may imagine.

But Richard is a writer; he's worked at his craft for a long time now, and it shows. I was practically hugging myself when I first read his text, at the felicity of it all. I could never come near that.

Having acknowledged that, I still feel very much part of the process.

OK, that's the Sunday morning state of the nation address.

Tomorrow, Radio Bristol. Then Tuesday, TransLondon.

Onwards and upwards.