The sights, smells and memories of the past weeks must be put away. No more moths drowning in the milk or dozing on a lampshade. The porcini mushrooms found in the garden have been eaten and we are still alive. The sun cream lotion is stored away, the beds are stripped and a large pile of sheets and towels have been sent to the laundry.  Tonight we will sleep in our own beds.

On the home straight now; back to the routine of daily life and of the writing life. The disruption to the writer’s day will cease and be replace by new ideas, the resolve to re-write stories lying fallow and a new project.

First on the list of plans for the coming week is the event of the Chiswick Book Festival, kicking off with a pub quiz this Tuesday. I must prepare for Wednesday evening, the Local Authors Party, the chance for Chiswick writers to pitch their new books under the bright lights of Waterstones, in front of a full audience of readers and family. I’ve drafted my 2 minute pitch and the words only fill 90 seconds. A heads-together session with my daughter – much better at this kind of thing than me – will complete the job. I hope.

Thursday early evening, will find me crossing London to Whitechapel for a workshop called The Creative Entrepreneurs, to talk about marketing and selling our own books. These workshops are run by Spread the Word in conjunction with the London Writers’ Network and are always worth attending.

On Friday evening, the Book Festival has an evening of appreciation of the life of actor Richard Briers, a favourite resident in Chiswick.

During the weekend, I’m booked in to 3 activities on offer as part of the Chiswick Book Festival.

Saturday will see me at a session on ‘Writing and Life Experience’; Sunday I have two sessions booked: a workshop on Self-publishing in the morning and a 2 hour workshop on the novel both taking place at the Arts Ed building.

I’ll be much too busy to miss either moths or mushrooms.