Focused?

This is the same street as last Wednesday. Do you prefer this or the extra? Why?

I went to meet the same writer friends that I met last week, seeing as it was so productive and such fun.

Writing buddies are great, and they totally get it when you declare to have made one of your characters’ lives even more miserable than it was before. But the timeline checks out and it makes everything in her life work, so that’s the way it is. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-haa!

See, this is why I write: I gotta let my evil streak have a release valve!

I mooched round Toppings afterwards, ostensibly to get Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel for Mr Pandammonium, who has just enjoyed the series on iPlayer. I read the first couple of pages. Brutal.

I might have bought some more books, even though I haven’t even finished the ones I bought before the ones I bought last week. I love buying books.

My process is to judge the section first, depending on whether I’m in the mood for crime, sci-fi or general fiction. Then I judge the spine – colours, fonts, patterns – and look at the author and the title, and whether the book is part of a series or is a standalone book.

If I’m drawn in, I’ll pick it up and maybe glance at the front cover. I’ll read the blurb, and either put it back or read the first page. If I’m still reading after a few pages and want to know more, I’ll buy it. Otherwise, it’s back on the shelf.

If it’s my next Jack Reacher book, I’ll make sure it’s definitely the one I’m up to and just get it.

Today’s additions to the reading pile are my next Jack Reacher book, Music for Torching by AM Homes, whose first pages tell of the aftermath of a dinner party hosted by a … dysfunctional couple, and Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman because it reminded me of the conversation we’d had in the café.

After that, I mooched round a couple of clothes shops advertising sales, but bought nothing – I’d spent enough as it was, and I still had to go to the supermarket.

Back at home, we watched the first episode of The Following Events are based on a Pack of Lies, which we agreed was weird.

Now, I’m catching up on EastEnders. Such cat amongst the pigeons!