Bump!

Back into the world of tax bills and hospital appointments, misalignments, and well, work.

I have a copy of Tree Soup that I'm looking at lightly, because newly printed books of mine send me into a panic. The cover is lovely, save for it having (along with the paperback of Wenlocks) fallen into a gap between the announcement of age-banding and the outcry of most children's authors that seems to mean that age-banding won't last. This means a nasty 7+ sign on the back. Currently several authors with a lot more clout than ones like me have voiced their disapproval so vehemently that a few publishers are not going ahead with the scheme, and others are offering it as a choice (I did not particularly feel I had a choice when Tree Soup went to print, or I would certainly have said no).

Inside, I am very proud of the book, though I've spotted a few mistakes already. I'm hoping the most obvious of these is perhaps restricted to this one copy, or just a few, since it is only to do with cropping. These kinds of problems are always the sort of thing that most wouldn't notice, and people ask me if I'm proud etc. when a new book is printed, and I always am, especially with these Stanley books that I have struggled to make (in lots of different ways), but you might be able to see why it is also always a bit of a panic and a mixed emotion?

Yesterday we had a picnic in Victoria Park. I like Victoria Park, even if there are scary squirrels there.