Oim on the telloi, loike...

I'm on the telly!

A reporter from BBC Midlands Today phoned me on Tuesday after I'd been a guest on Phil Upton's Breakfast Show on Radio WM, to ask if they could come to my house.

My house? Are you sure?

Having just come back from holiday in South Devon (so lovely that I didn't want to come home), my tiny flat was disappearing under the usual post-holiday detritus that I hadn't had time (or inclination) to tackle yet... Thus followed two evenings after work of manic cleaning, sorting, binning, dusting and vacuuming - leading to me sleeping on the sofa the night before the TV crew were due because I had so much stuff piled up and generally shoved into my bedroom that I couldn't actually get to the bed! Still, I now have televisual evidence that my flat can be tidy...

You can watch it here...

Needless to say, I am now convinced I look like Jabba the Hut's slightly overweight sister and am resorting to the Ryvitas!

Massively Humungous News!!!

OK, here it is...drumroll, please...

My novel is going to be published!!!

Coffee At Kowalski's was spotted on Authonomy.com by the lovely people at HarperCollins Avon and they've offered me a three book deal!!

It's completely crazy and utterly surreal - I haven't stopped smiling yet and it still feels like I might do a Dallas thing and wake up to find Bobby Ewing in the shower...(showing my age, there!)I found out just before Christmas and it's only just been announced, which is why I was bursting to talk about it all over the festive period!

It took me a while to realise that Avon wanted to actually publish my book - I was such a complete Dilbert that I assumed they'd just phoned me to offer helpful advice (d'oh!) - it was only when they said, "We do want to publish your book by the way," that the light finally dawned!

Coffee At Kowalski's is due to be published in time for Christmas and then two more books will follow, which still seems so surreal even now. The main thing for me is that I will be able to go into my favourite Waterstone's shop in New Street, Birmingham, and actually see my book on the shelves... For the past two years, every time I've walked into that store (it's the one in the old bank by the entrance to the Pallasades and it's really cool) I've turned to Bob and said, "One day, my book will be here." Now it's actually happening, I can't believe it...

I'd better leave it there as I'm in danger of doing a Kate Winslet/Golden Globes-style acceptance speech... Suffice to say this is a dream come true and I'm so excited about what this year is going to bring! :o)

Happy New Year!

It's going to be a great year...

Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks, as I have a HUMUNGOUS bit of news. Can't say anything yet, but it's big...

(And no, before you ask, I'm not pregnant and Bob hasn't proposed!)

In the meantime, I have just become a proud Auntie to the impossibly gorgeous Freya Elizabeth Smith, born on Sunday 4th January and weighing a healthy 8lbs 1oz! I'm going to meet her for the first time on Saturday and I can't wait! My sister Bev and her husband Ro are over the moon and it's fantastic to see them become a family (even if it is a tad disconcerting to see your kid sister become a Mum!)


My truly amazing and disgustingly talented friend Reuben Halsey has just released his brand new EP on indiestore.com - featuring a couple of songs that we worked on together, plus three other brilliant tracks. You can hear them here

That's all for now, but make sure you check back soon for
my B-I-I-I-I-I-I-G news!