Rather more easy and straightforward than continuing with ‘The Grass is Always Greener’ series was the 9 days last month spent assisting Dad with the recreation of a living van he is building on a chassis acquired some time ago. Planing the timber and cutting mortise and tenon joints was very good practice for when I (eventually) build a timber-framed house…

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I’ll be back again in April to assist (more diversion from the written word), so we’ll hopefully get closer to the finished article, which will look something like this:

Enjoyed a lively weekend in London for Neil Hodgson’s 40th celebration – a surprisingly singular festivity considering he had three leaving dos when he left London for Malta (and then came back anyway!)

After a blissful night’s sleep, the whole situation didn’t look quite as desperate, so I trundled back to Zebbug to finish off ironing the Egyptian cotton, making the beds & cleaning the pool. The family from Lancashire arrived bang on time and were both delighted with the house and delightful in themselves.

Now I’m working on ‘Wilde’ – my new novel and it’s all coming together nicely (well, it’s coming together) – with Amelia ‘Mel’ Wilde’s character emerging quite stridently – which it needs to as she’s a thwarted ex-DC with a very big grievance.

Soon the sun’ll be over the yard arm & I can relax with a G & T and look at the photos from the trip to Sitges – which I have to say was the best holiday I’ve had in years…

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Olivia Greenstreet – former star of stage and screen – celebrates her sixtieth birthday by upholding her decision of twenty years to stay out of the limelight and live peacefully, if slightly precariously, in her crumbling country mansion with an array of companions whom she has helped to opt out of the rat race.

Justin Featherstonehaugh (‘it’s pronounced Fanshaw, actually’)  – writer, producer and theatre entrepreneur – is risking millions in a West End musical production based on the film ‘The Ball’ in which Olivia – who also happens to be Justin’s ex-wife – starred twenty years earlier.

Susie Venables – Justin’s vitriolic, pushy and opportunistic current wife – is playing the lead in ‘The Ball’, but her lack of acting talent is causing mayhem and concern at rehearsals. 

When Susie is found hanging from a chandelier in a macabre re-enactment of a scene from the film just before opening night, the hunt for her killer and the quest for a new leading lady turn chaos to pandemonium in the back-stabbing world of West End Theatre where secrets, lies, long-term deception and career-changing sex scandals seem to be the order of the day. A sexually frustrated vicar’s wife, a busty Jewish impressionist and an unfortunate case of mistaken identity lead to more confusion as suspects and motives multiply. The pace quickens, culminating in an unexpected but satisfying conclusion to the convoluted plot of this heart-warming tale of the importance and realisation of dreams.