A writer friend once told me he felt he wrote about life while not having one. Sometimes when I am close to a deadline, or trying to have a book “surge”–deploying all my forces to win some war over my own lethargy– I don’t see many people, and I don’t really feel like mastering a new instrument, or learning to pilot a hot air-balloon, or whatever you’re meant to do to seize the day. The life on the page can feel more vital than my own shambling-around-in-pyjamas life. This is the way I get work done, but I’d love to learn another way.  When one’s writing seems most average, the hours sunk into the mad project of a book, seems most depressing. So, Pru—who replied to my last post–is right that JCO’s diary is an inspiration. It’s essential to try to fill up on beautiful moments in between the slog at the desk. And in an attempt to do just that I’m going on a family holiday tomorrow morning and I’ve packed a couple of books so as to catch up with reading on the plane. God Bless the Summer Read and all who sail in her.