I’m really excited about this week’s Writer Top Tens – they’re by two brilliant writers, Scott Mariani and Matt Haig, who have new vampire novels out.  They’re brilliant reads and both are a totally new approach to the whole vampire phenomenon.  I can’t recommend them highly enough so put them both on your summer reading list!

Now, I know I said in my last post that I don’t mind working weekends but the last two have been the exception.  Yesterday, I had a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to meet the lovely author, Jane Odiwe.  Jane writes Austen sequels and I love her novel, Willoughby’s Return.  We met in the gorgeous gallery shop and then visited the tiny portrait of Jane Austen by her sister, Cassandra. 

It was then on to meet another Austen author, Amanda Grange, whose books, Darcy’s Diary and Mr Darcy, Vampyre are huge bestsellers and thumping good reads!  Here’s a pic of us all.  We all share the same US publisher, Sourcebooks, and it was really lovely to meet up at last.

Another weekend treat was seeing a true hero of mine in concert - Chris Isaak!  I’ve been a huge fan of Chris’s for years and love his music.  He was performing songs from his new album, Mr Lucky, and lots of the old favourites too like San Francisco Days and Wicked Game.  As readers of Molly’s Millions might remember, my hero, Tom Mackenzie, is a big Chris Isaak fan too!

Here he is in his fabulous glitterball suit! 

One of the great things about being a writer is that you can arrange your timetable to your own liking. For example, I don’t mind working through weekends so I can take the odd day off during the week and that’s exactly what I did last week with a trip to London Zoo.

Here’s a pic of the gorgeous giraffes at the zoo:

and a very cute quati:

My writer pals and I had a perfect summer’s day and I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to get away from the keyboard for a while.

Another mid-week treat was our first trip of the year to the south coast where Molly and I chilled out in the sand dunes whilst the husband painted.

Well, it’s back to the keyboard now and my page proofs for A Weekend with Mr Darcy.  It’s so exciting to have these as it really does look like a book now.  Only three months to go before publication…

Another two fabulous Writer Top Tens this week: Julia Golding and Jo Cotterill who both have new books out.

I’ve just returned from a wonderful Jane Austen weekend, staying at the fabulous house that was used in Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.  Overlooking an estuary and set in 5,000 acres of Devon countryside, it boasts its own beach and miles of glorious walks. 

The footpaths and hedgerows were filled with bluebells, red campion, cow parsley and buttercups – the very same flowers which Willoughby picks for Marianne in the film!

It was a lovely experience to spend a weekend with fellow Janeites and, in return for sharing a sneak preview of my soon-to-be-published novel, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, they helped me with my research for the third book in my trilogy.

Here’s a photo of the track used in the film – the very one Colonel Brandon, John Willoughby and Edward Ferrars ride along.  Unfortunately, no heroes on horseback made an appearance over the weekend but we consoled ourselves by watching the film again.

Today was probably the first warm day of May and very timely it was too for a meeting of The Arthur Ransome Society on the beautiful Ashridge Estate.  The event was ‘Picnic, parley and patterans’ and, after the picnicking and the parleying, it was time to head into the woods where the children had laid a series of patterans for the adults to follow.

It was great fun looking out for the patterans and I particularly liked the triangular ones indicating a warning which might well have saved the gossips in the group getting bogged down in mud!

Having made it safely back to the carpark, I left my fellow adventurers and the husband and I went on to explore the beautiful Ridgeway in our own particular ways: husband painting it and me and Molly walking it! 

And it was the perfect spring day with the sun shining, a little breeze blowing and the fields full of dandelions and cowslips.

Molly adored rolling in the fields and sniffing for rabbits and I enjoyed a day away from the desk and laptop.  Back to it tomorrow, though, because I really can’t leave my hero wearing nothing but a towel for much longer!

We’ve just returned from a wonderful week in Lyme Regis.  This was a special research trip for my current novel – The Illustrated Darcy - the second in my series about Jane Austen addicts.  We were staying in an apartment on the harbour front and had our very own view of the famous Cobb.

My novel centres around a new film production of Jane Austen’s Persuasion and it was fun to explore the settings of previous film adaptations.  Here I am on the very steps that Austen’s characters would have descended as well as the lovely Rupert Penry-Jones who played Captain Wentworth in the most recent adaptation.

Lyme is rich in literary history and, if you want to find out more, book yourself on a tour with the wonderful Literary Lyme.

It was a real treat to be able to walk along the Undercliff each morning and to follow the River Lim to Uplyme.  The bluebells were just beginning to open and there were primroses and violets along the paths and – everywhere – the incredible smell of wild garlic.

One of my favourite places to walk is Stonebarrow.  The sheltered footpaths above the sea always remind me of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel.

Here I am at Stonebarrow with my trusty copy of Persuasion.  Alas, I didn’t meet any Captain Wentworths in Dorset but I had plenty to write about my own wonderful heroes.

And I even managed to do some writing on the beach at Charmouth.  It’s always great to write in situ but it was absolutely freezing.  I really did suffer for my art that afternoon!  Still, I got my scene.

And no trip to West Dorset would be complete without a visit to the Donkey Sanctuary where you can get up close and personal to the residents!  I dropped by their wonderful shop to let them know that the sanctuary has a special place in my romantic comedy Molly’s Millions. 

Here’s me with the gorgeous Little Pippa.

There was, however, one distraction with being based in Lyme and that was the proximity of some very nice shops!  Book shops, boutiques and bakers were a particular weakness and one boutique I fell in love with was Frills which is definitely worth a visit if you want to find something a bit special and – if you go – look out for my books as they’re going to stock some lovely holiday reads soon!

If you’d like to see some of my hubby’s beautiful paintings from the trip, visit his blog here.  I love those lasers!

Who would have thought that a cloud of volcanic ash could cause so much chaos?  This week, the London Book Fair at Earl’s Court was a little quieter than in previous years.  My US publisher couldn’t make it but my amazing German agent managed to get the last train tickets from Zurich and it was wonderful to see her!

Here’s a photo taken from the balcony of the international rights’ floor and it looks as if my new publisher, HarperCollins, still had plenty to keep them busy.

Another gorgeous day in Oxfordshire yesterday.  Whilst the husband was busy with his brushes, Molly and I walked along the ridgeway to the white horse at Uffington.  It’s so high up and the landscape is so bizarre and doesn’t feel like Oxfordshire at all.

And, always on the look out for one of my favourite flowers, I managed to find some on a woodland walk.

Well, with the rewrites of A Weekend with Mr Darcy done, it was off to Oxfordshire for a much-deserved day out yesterday.  My husband wanted to paint the ridgeway and Molly and I went for a walk, heads down into the warm spring wind with skylarks singing above us.

After a car picnic, we headed to Letcombe Regis for another painting and another walk.  And Molly wasn’t going to let a stile come between her and an adventure at the hill fort, Letcombe Castle (Segsbury Camp).

And she certainly didn’t mind when her ears blew inside out in the wind.

The hill fort was the perfect vantage point from which to admire the landscape and I was delighted to discover a field full of cowslips just beginning to open.  Another Miss Read moment occurred in the village when I spotted a bank full of the elusive white violet.

And the churchyard was a perfect picture of spring with a fine display of daffodils.

Now it’s back to work.  My characters are calling me and I really should be working towards giving them all the happy endings they deserve.

One of the events I look forward to each year is the Oxford Literary Festival and, this year, I went to hear Anthony Horowitz talking about his books and TV career at the Sheldonian Theatre. I’m a huge fan of his Alex Rider novels and have heard him speak before. He’s one of the most entertaining and open speakers I’ve ever heard and he always makes time to meet all his fans afterwards, signing books late into the night.

More Writer Top Tens this week – from two of my favourite authors - Adele Geras and Sam Mills.