Authors Electric

"Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one." If, for "baronetage" you substitute tidetables -- or better still charts  -- then, at this time of year, I am your Sir Walter.  It's August, for heavens sake. The barometer is steady, the weather settled, winds are generally favourable, the crew are gathering -- all volunteers, not a pressed hand amongst them. I have a new chart.  My lovely lovely older children are standing-by to stand-by on the caring front. So WHY am I still at my desk? The annual Peter Duck sailing holiday is reliably the highlight of my year. It's short and it's oh, so sweet. The date is negotiated months in advance -- at Christmas usually . Not because flight reservations must be made or hotels booked but because they don't .  All that is needed is that my...

What festival organisers do - 1. Claudia Myatt, coracle addict, Strong Winds series illustrator and part of the M Woodbridge team pretending that all she does is pose This is a what-I-did-on-my-holidays blogpost. It won't raise your consciousness, touch your heart or even help to improve your ebook sales. In September I was invited to three different festivals and I went. I didn't get paid but none of the people organising the festivals was earning anything out of them either. These were not high-profile, prestigious events. They were intended to be fun. First in the diary came Maritime Woodbridge . This is a biennial happening centered mainly around a derelict boatyard but extending some way further along the Woodbridge waterfront and into the town as well. It's intended to connect with the Heritage Open Days scheme, the weekend every year when interesting places that are not normally open invite the public in or free. In Woodbridge the main pieces of heritage a...