Rise and shine - not

We got up really late this morning - I switched off the alarm and the next thing I knew it was gone 10 o'clock! We had no appointments and have both had a busy week, so went to Fowey for a coffee and cake at Pinky Murphy's, which was almost deserted, unlike our last visit when we couldn't get in. I like Fowey. I like the combination of interesting shops and busy river life, the pastel cottages and view over to Polruan. It provides a good combination of browsing, strolling and cafe opportunities.

There is a literary festival every year in honour of its famous resident, Daphne du Maurier. I got tickets for the first time this year and went to see Bella Pollen and Justine Picardie. The rain was heaving down and the audience for Bella Pollen was a small group of elderly middle-class ladies in neat, quilted jackets, a token male, and me. I liked her much more than I expected, even when she revealed that her husband is a Macmillan of publishing fame - that's one way to get your first break, I suppose. She spoke very highly of du Maurier's novels which I dismissed years ago as adequate reading for fourteen year-olds. Perhaps I should give one a try.

I have often read Justine Picardie in Vogue and the papers and was surprised the turn-out for her talk was so low. She read from her book about clothes and I was tempted to buy it until I saw how big the print was! I could probably read it in a couple of hours and prefer more pages for my money! She said that she had never expected to write a book, she didn't think she had a book in her, which was interesting in terms of how a writer develops.

Sara and I were talking about this on the drive to college this week, how at first you write about your own direct experience, but that it is probably only after all that has come out that the valuable stuff emerges. But you have to do it before the rest is accessible. In this writing is like life - there are no short cuts to quality results.