Annie Waller

Thousands more people know about ‘Albert’ thanks to MY WEEKLY magazine. See, you can’t keep a good read quiet!

But where have I been lately? Well, I lasted one month as Chair of my daughter’s playschool. Once the committee sussed out I was a loose cannon they side-lined me off into the fundraising and social events team. All went well for a week until I organised a meet and greet morning during half term. No one showed up. Yours truly sat alone amongst a crowd of strangers reading all about Jordan’s new boob job in a brightly coloured play zone costing ten pounds a minute. Oh well, at least I got to watch my little angel traumatise kids old enough to beat her up. We left after she stripped naked and chundered in the ball pit.

And last night I spoke to the lovely ladies of Westbury W.I. These amazing women have initiated a campaign to provide every service man and woman involved in conflicts around the world with a shoe box full of home cooking. So far over 300 boxes full of fruit cake and much needed home comforts have been received by the troops. Whatever your opinion on the situation of war, if you found yourself unlucky enough to be away from home, lonely and frightened, imagine receiving a box of goodies from someone who cared. Watch out for their website coming soon… www.boxesfromthegirls.co.uk.

I also graced the home page of www.christianwriter.co.uk for the month of January which gives me great encouragement to keep on chasing my dream of being a writer. It’s always one step forwards and two back but I never give up!

Yes I know I’m useless at blogging but I keep thinking something will happen worthy of reporting. Then I get told it’s all about patience. That’s a word not in my vocabulary. I want pink and silver hair but my hairdresser told me, “You can’t, your grey isn’t light enough yet”. See, I can’t even get old properly. So whilst waiting for the wheels of industry to turn I get up with the Lark and write book three.

I rise bleary eyed, still clothed (what - there’s a whole nation of mothers out there sleeping in their clothes - it’s quicker), push one of the kids off my arm, and stumble downstairs to write in the quiet hush of sunrise. If I’m lucky enough for beloved bill payer to be home and game for a school run, I keep going but with industrial ear phones on. Let me tell you it’s not a pretty sight.

One day my friends…

Incidentally my spell checker just told me blogging should be flogging which feels about right.

Well, apart from going completely grey, I am now released from Medavia, my publisher for Albert, and have an agent talking to publishers interested in Girl Guidance (check out the Story So Far page, link above).

Hopefully it won’t be too long before all can be revealed… Until then, I’ll crack on with book three. At the moment, You & Your Wedding magazine rate ‘Married to Albert’ as the second best honeymoon read ever - that’s higher than the Penguin entry (see page 32).

Back soon!

…but it’s actually only been a short while. However, I have moved house three times in six months so no wonder.

1 = Magnolia quarter.
2 = Fantastic fourteen acre (but rat infested slug riddled) farm.
3 = Small (standing room only) house near village pub.

Yes, I moved house again and again (and again) while darling hubby flew a block of flats around the world. Just one week after the last upheaval we welcomed into our lives a rather unusual guest. My home still had no husband, curtains, computer, phone, sofa but it did have a vicar! Liz Goddard, Chaplain of Wycliffe College pitched up, mucked in and blessed my chaotic cupboards for harbouring Earl Grey tea bags. Once a year, students and teachers from the college stay here, there and everywhere. I suspect the neighbours view me as odd since I hosted a ‘Grill a Vicar’ evening (much more tasty than a salad) where friends threw all sorts of questions at Liz but school were sure of it when my seven year old took her in the following morning to show and tell!

Thanks Liz, for your patience at my questions (’but why did he have to die…’ and, ‘what about the dinosaurs…’) but I also have to commend your passion. Life for you is simple and complete. The trick is just to trust and let go…

Last week the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund invited me to give a lecture on how I became a fast selling author. So I threw the kids at hubby and set off South but being directionally dyslexic I arrived in West Sussex via Portsmouth. Thanks for the lovely welcome (and lunch!).

After lunch (did I mention how lovely it was) I banged on about the healing art of writing, explaining that as long as I find life funny, I’ll write about it. Only afterwards when I met the guests of Princess Marina House did I start to feel humble. These fantastic people had years (and I mean years) of service under their belts with amazing stories of postings and action. My incredible journey from paper to publisher suddenly seemed inadequate as I heard about one resident (a spy in World War I) and met exceptional gentlemen like ‘Spike’ Kelly.

Real life accounts of true love, courage and survival are everywhere. Our ignorance of such memories is criminal.
Go on, grab a granny and ask what she did 50 years ago. She might surprise you and put your achievements in the shade…