Christopher Lloyd said that all gardens have an unpleasaunce as well as a pleasance – ours has several. In the last couple of months my husband has created order out of chaos and we are unpleasaunce down and several compost bins, new fence and a log shelter up.
The rest of the garden is half way through June as far as I can tell.
… I am being forced to use the new editor as I cannot upload media in the old one… and it is sending me crackers!! I have no idea why these images are different sizes. Here, I hope, is my art-house image of the garden.
This post is really to say a brief goodbye as I tackle the pre-publication launch parties for the new book. Copies were due last week… they will now arrive three days before the first party. I shall be away from my desk for several days. My sanity is hanging by a thread. I am trailing behind with all your posts, so will be doing some leapfrogging. Sorry about the ones I will miss.
Green Writing Room 
I hope you manage to genuinely enjoy all the hoo-ha, dear Hilary; it sounds as if it’s going to be rather different from the previous books’ burstings upon the scene. I wish you joy of your wonderful brain’s output !
Enjoy? I am half way through the hoo-ha now (another party on June 18 and then official release on June 30), parts of it are fantastic – meeting the relatives of some of the men I have been writing about. Other parts – organising stuff, are imploding this brain of mine. hopefully there will be some little grey cells left at the end of it all.
Love the pictures. Good luck with the pre-launch stuff!
Thanks. Pre-launch appears to be endless, though taking a blog break has given me some catch-up space.
Thanks for the pix, Hilary. I am thrilled for you as you head into launch parties for your book. Congrats, my friend!
And to you. I was on my iPad reading about the day before your launch, the day before mine…
Do not worry about blogsville. Enjoy bookville, publicville, launchville. I hope it is a just reward for all your talented effort….even better than “just,” I hope it will be an experience of surprises, re-creation, and joy.
You are right, blogsville has been surviving perfectly happily in my absence and I have been able to use the space to complete other tasks and enjoy events… and there are more to come, so I shall continue to be a sporadic blogger (hmm, surely there’s a poem there?) for the next few months.
The picture of the azaleas reflecting in the window is a real cracker. The letters written during the war so evocative and poignantly sad. All the best with your launch, Hilary.
Thanks, I hope your book is flourishing and you are having some party time too.
I see you are at least a little distracted by your garden. It all looks pleasant to me. So green! Wishing you and your book much success. A difficult topic but one so important to keep alive for this generation and the next.
When I am in the garden, I wonder why I ever return to my desk, but when I am at my desk I cannot see when I will ever get a moment in the garden. I have been humbled meeting some other relatives of the men I have been writing about. It means so much to them to have their parents, uncles, aunts etc remembered.
Such a beautiful garden! And good luck with the book…
Thanks, I have been so lucky to get to this point.
Good to see you stopping by once in a while. Glad you are doing alright.
I have only just realised that I am not following you. I have sorted that out now.
WordPress has a mind of it’s own. Happens to me too sometimes. NO worries, I am glad to see you back.
Thank you for taking time for us during this busy, exciting time. In Italian, for good luck, they say “Nella bocco del lupo”. (In the mouth of the wolf.)
It feels like the mouth of the wolf at times. I hear opera singers saying that to each other, things sound so much better in Italian!
Handle the priorities, Hilary – we’ll still be here when you get back!!
Such good advice, you are quite right and I have been able to make good use of the time.
Looking after your book, that story, that history, is first priority.
Your compost bins have inspired me to do something similar in my own backyard.
I am so grateful to everyone for making it easy to step aside from blogging for a while. Funny how exciting a row of compost bins can be.
Launch away, Hilary. Shoot for the stars! Love the reflection shot. –Curt
Thanks, it seems to be a very long-drawn-out process, but is definitely underway now.
Your garden’s looking magnificent. I hope all the parties go well.
One party down – and it went wonderfully well thanks to support of daughter and sister-in-law. Garden is suffering in fearsome gales at present, but nature is resilient.
It’s crazy how gardeners like to brag about their compost. I carry pictures!
I just wish my composting results were up to the design of the bins.
We have thre compost heaps. I have almost wiped out the one for this year. Next years is perking and we just started a Hugelculture this year. Everything goes on it now.
The covers look marvelous, Hilary, and I’ve no doubts the writing is the same. I hope I can get a copy soon (as well as at least one of your novels; just not sure which to begin with)—anyway, best wishes with the launch!
I found editing the non-fiction very different from writing fiction, so feel very unsure about the writing, which was all about joining up several different kinds of text. It is very kind of you to think you might like to read one of the novels. I have been trying to think which of my stories you might prefer. My friends have very firm views about which is best… but they all disagree. I think you like quite complex writing, but I might be wrong, maybe Unseen Unsung?
Congratulations on the book! I added it to my Goodreads want-to list. Good luck with the launch. You’ve given me something to think about with the garden unpleasance/unpleasaunce.
Thank you so much. I hope it proves worthwhile. The publishers assure me that an ebook will appear at roughly the same time as the print (30 June). My garden is currently all unpleasaunce as it has rained and blown mightily for the last two days.
WP is becoming increasingly irritating and I loathe the new editor with a passion. The post looked fine and your arty farty photo of the garden is fantastic (and suitable arty)!
The book looks wonderful. Enjoy the launch and pandering to your adoring fans. (They’d have to be adoring.)
I was too busy to see if they were adoring, but they wanted to buy the book and that is good enough for me. I will have to face that editor again, I fear.
Remember to enjoy yourself, the book cover looks fabulous. Congratulations
Thanks, that’s a good reminder. I am quite looking forward to the second party. There was some brinkmanship with the first as most of the books only arrived the day before!
1. really enjoyed this post and the pictures. 2. I’m both envious and understanding of a certain amount of dread and stress; this too shall pass. Mostly I’m excited that your book – a real labor of love. I truly look forward top reading it. Is that your Dad on the cover? He looks so like my own in pictures from that era. Hearty congratulations!
Thank you. Yes, that is my Dad. He had a bad accident when I was little, so I only knew him with a scarred face. It is rather good seeing him afresh on this cover.
Popped over here because I just saw your publication announcement in the RFHG newsletter. Congratulations! Can’t wait to get hold of a copy from Pen & Sword.
Thanks so much. P & S have been great publishers to work with (though there was some brinkmanship about delivering books for my first launch party). Are you near Cambridge? I have a launch here on June 18.
Sorry, just realised you are a long way away!
Ha, yeah, I’m nearer Cambridge, Massachusetts! Be there in spirit. Thanks much – all best wishes–
One more try to help out. I promise not to bother you again. These are both from “US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific Theater 1943-45”
This fellow isn’t all “spit-and-polish” I suppose because he was demonstrating the weapon.
This was the only picture I could find where the trooper had shiny boots…..
Enjoy your weekend!
Hello GP sorry, this comment was ‘waiting for approval’. Thank you for going to so much trouble. I have already sent a Powerpoint version of the talk to the guy in charge, though I may be changing some slides. I shall now be spoiled for choice.
Good luck with all the book dealings and I love your garden and in particular the unpleasaunces as shows how well you organise for the pleasaunces!
Ah, but that’s the thing about blogging, you choose which bits you show, there are greeter and lesser unpleasaunces!