And we had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Carol Drinkwater whilst she was on tour for her latest book, Return to the Olive Farm.  I adore Carol’s books.  She writes beautifully and passionately about life on her farm in the south of France.

There was also a quick day trip to Bath which is the setting of my third Austen addicts book.  Molly and I took a walk up Lyncombe Hill – a walk Jane Austen would have known well.  The views across the countryside were beautiful and we then descended back into town to enjoy a sit down in a peaceful square by the abbey.

But this month hasn’t been all about research.  There’ve been parties too!  My dear writer pal, Janet Gover, had a party to celebrate the launch of her new book, Girl Racers.  Janet and her partner are leaving for New York City in a few weeks so this was also a chance to say farewell.  But what they didn’t tell us was that there was yet another reason to celebrate: they’d just got married the day before!

Here I am sandwiched between the happy couple, Kelvin and lovely writer friends, Julie Cohen, Jean Fullerton and Henriette Gyland.

Here I am with fellow authors Juliet Archer, Janet Gover and Jean Fullerton.  You can find out more about the group at our website.  We’re booking lots of other events so watch out – we may be visiting a books shop or library near you soon!

Back to the novel now and I’m half way through – chronologically that is.  It’s a nice settling feeling to be in the middle of a new story but I’m equally aware of all the work that is yet to be done.