Christmas Hot News 1998

Hot News Space

Oh no! Shock, horror. It’s nearly Christmas and I haven’t updated the Hot News Space since August. I’m sure this is a terrible web-site sin but I am so rarely at home I know you will excuse me. Thanks for your patience^as they so irritatingly say when your plane’s already been delayed for two hours and there’s another hour to wait!

When I’m at home I see my dad every day at his old people’s home and my mother every day in her own home, which takes about two hours. Then I have to walk the dogs, talk to my husband, water the garden, write books, answer letters and cook dinner, so where, in all that, I ask myself, is there time for messing about in cyberspace?! Let’s get on with it. . .

Hunwick’s Egg looks as if it will be a picture book after all. Hurrah. I’ll say who the publisher is if and when the contract is signed. Wouldn’t like to jinx it at this late stage! Since I last caught up with my news in August I have wasted eleven weeks of my life writing a novel for adults which may never see the light of day. Oh dear! A massive re-write is essential but I’m looking forward to it very much. It’s much easier to re-write than it is to write. And it’s easier to be clever than to be readable. At the moment the novel is trying to be clever, which is maddening. I will have to speak to it firmly!

My dad, the real and original Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, has been seriously ill and seemed close to death at the beginning of November, which was extremely distressing. I had to fly to the States a few days later to speak to 7,000 teachers at the Californian Reading Association and was torn in two. Dad rallied however, and has made a miraculous recovery, much to our joy.

I spent three weeks away in November/December in California, Texas and New Mexico (where it snowed^divine!!) before flying to Italy to stay with my sister, Jan Delacourt, for a couple of days. Malcolm, my husband was with me which was great because he speaks both Italian and French. LOVED the Italian village my sister lives in. She’s an anthropologist and will probably live in Italy for the rest of her life. Hurrah! The Italian way of life suits me very well: all that siesta stuff is simply perfect. We then flew to Paris to see our beloved Chloë for a day or two which was bliss. To have one child only and then having her living so far away isn’t exactly ideal. Fortunately we’ll all be together for Christmas.

We have already had weather to die under^over 41 degrees Centigrade, 105 (?) degrees Fahrenheit^ so ti looks as if it will be a long hot summer. I love the heat and we are less than 60 seconds from the beach so I’m happy.

Malcolm and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on January 2nd 1999. We are full of mutual congratulation that we’ve been able to put up with each other for so long. Big celebration. I’ll fill in the details of that event when I do the next up-date in late January. It’s going to be heaven!

In the meantime I’ll be at the following places next year and hope to see you if you’re near:

Columbus, Ohio
Feb 9 c/o Pat Scharer, Columbus University, Ohio
Feb 10 Pat
Feb 11-13th Kids Lit Conference, Columbus, Ohio 11th-13th

Feb 25 Portland, Oregon
Feb 26th Present: Fri 8.30 am and 12.30 p m Oregon Reading Association

Feb 28th Indiana Reading Association, Indianapolis

Mar 15th & 16th Michigan Reading Association, Grand Rapids
Mar 17th &18th Maryland Reading Association
Mar 20th &21st Illinois Reading Association

April 29th BEA Los Angeles 6.30 p m dinner
April 30th BEA Los Angeles 7.30 am author breakfast + autographing + evening cocktails with HB.
May 2nd - 5th IRA San Diego

May 27th W G Mc D P Award for Hammond Care Group, Sydney

May 31st Scholastic in Adelaide

June 24th Scholastic in Hobart

July 6th-9th ALEA in Adelaide (I speak on 9th at 3:30pm)

August 4th Scholastic in Melbourne

October 26th Scholastic in Brisbane

Nov 3-4th The Western Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Conference, Portland, Oregon
Nov 6th Mid-Missouri TAWL
Nov 11th/12th North Carolina State University workshops for teachers
Fri Nov 19th Little Rock: Arkansas Reading Association

See you in the New Year! Love, Mem xxx