Lisa Jewell: Diary March 2007

Diary

March 2007

Arty farty! Amelie, Hampstead Heath, 9 th January 2007

Hello everyone!

Well, I’ve put an exclamation mark there in an attempt to make myself sound perky, but the truth is that I’m not. I’ve had a bug, a pulled muscle, a cough, another bug, possible pleurisy, raging hormones and a pregnancy-related hip complaint that basically means that I can’t walk very far. I am so tired that even typing takes it out of me and I am totally and utterly fed up.

Even the publication process hasn’t managed to rouse me out of my deep blue funk. 31 Dream Street came out two weeks ago and has been doing very nicely so far. I’ve had loads of great publicity and been taken out for a fantastic dinner at Joel Robuchon by the Penguin team. But all I really want to do is go to bed and sleep until the baby comes!

Just like last time I was pregnant, my imagination and ability to concentrate died off at around 6 months and I'm afraid that I have been forced to abort my mission to Get Book Seven Finished Before The Baby Comes. I will come back to it (like I did with Vince & Joy) after she’s born, refreshed and energised and raring to go. And I promise I won’t make you wait too long for it.

Me and bump, at home, 17th March 2007: You can blame the small person inside that enormous belly for the late delivery of my next book!

But in between all the doom and gloom, I have been living my life and even, believe it or not, managing to have some fun. Christmas feels like it was about a hundred years ago, but if memory serves me well, was fantastic. On New Year's Eve we went for a curry near my sister's with the kids and were home by ten o'clock but managed to stay up past midnight, for the first time since Amelie was born. And then, of course, in January Amelie started nursery. God, she's cool. She took to it like a pro. No tears, no fuss, no drama. She loves it. And she loves being at home, too. In fact, Amelie loves pretty much everything at the moment and has become a perfect angel. Which is great, as angelic children are much easier to deal with when you're a hormonal wreck! She's become very friendly (wonders will never cease) and super-affectionate – especially if I squeak and pretend to be a baby mouse. And my bump gets hugs and kisses every day. ‘Hello baby,' she says, ‘I love you, baby.' Too cute.

Entirely Gratuitous Amelie pics


Amelie having a haircut. She loves the hairdressers. I love having a daughter	Jascha dressing Amelie, sometime around lunchtime, no doubt.

Babushka!	Chilling at her grandparents. Amelie thinks she is 15.

Earlier this month I managed to pump myself full of vim and gusto and head off to Penguin HQ for the eve educates Write Your Own Novel day (I love the title – every time I say it I want to change it to Bake Your Own Bread! Or Make Your Own Soap!) It was an utterly superb day. The sun shone, the views across London from the Penguin penthouse floor were magnificent and the enthusiasm generated by everyone involved was truly inspirational. The day finished on a high with a glass of champagne and a raffle and although I have rarely felt as tired as I did afterwards, it was worth every second. A big, big thank you to everyone at eve and everyone at Penguin and particularly and especially to every single person who came along and made it such an exceptional day. Spending a day with a hundred people who all wanted to write something and get published really made me feel so lucky and blessed to have done, and continue to do, both.

Me and a couple of dozen happy eve readers, the Strand, 3rd March 2007

More excitement followed shortly afterwards when I attended a tea party at no. 11 Downing Street . It was hosted by Sarah Brown to celebrate the launch of Mums, a charity anthology I contributed a story to (see my article here). It was all very low-key (although Judith and I had to show our passports to some nice policemen in a security booth on the way through) and felt like tea at the vicarage! We were shown through to a small drawing room full of huge cakes, where we made small talk with the other contributors to the anthology (including my lovely buddy, Mike Gayle who was there with his majestic mum, Evelyn). Sarah Brown milled around with her two small boys in tow and we even got to say hello to Gordon when he came home from work at five pm! He was very smiley and charismatic (and not, it has to be said, altogether unattractive). But my excitement high-spot of the afternoon had to be an unexpected sighting of a very informal Tony Blair on the back terrace watching the Brown's little boy bouncing on the trampoline in their shared garden. I really felt like I'd got the full Downing Street experience then!

Me and Judith outside no. 10,
7th March 2007

Meanwhile, as if this wasn't enough excitement for one afternoon, Jascha was at home participating in a furious bidding war on the flat above us. Which we won! So, wow, we now own a whole enormous house in a really smart bit of town. We have paid through the teeth for it – don't expect to see me reporting back on any more Caribbean jaunts for a while, we are down to our last bean – but it was worth it. And finally, after nine years as a full time writer, I will have a Room of My Own! God, I really was hit with the ‘jammy' stick at birth, wasn't I?

So now all I have to concentrate on is baby two. I have eight weeks to go and I really need to get cracking on with the ‘nesting' phase. I finally got round to sorting out all of Amelie's old baby clothes yesterday and was horrified by how many she had. The picture below is for 0-6 months. That's right. Just six months worth of clothes. I don't understand where they all came from. Thank God I'm having another girl, that's all I can say.

Shocking. Just shocking

So, next time I write I will have a one month old baby and a study. And I promise to include pictures of both. In the meantime, thanks as ever to all of you, particularly those who read 31 Dream Street and even more particularly, those who liked it! I'm really glad I didn't let you down. That is absolutely my greatest professional fear.

Lots and lots of love, And I promise next time I won't moan so much!

Lisa xxx

More Entirely Gratuitous Amelie pics


Amelie in the snow, January 2007	Amelie in the snow again, because I couldn’t choose which one I liked best.

Jash, Amelie, a river and a big clock	Me and Amelie on the London Eye, February 2007

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