Two weeks offline. Oddly enough, the only pangs I felt for those fourteen days were thanks to having sent an absurd amount of work the night before leaving (Well- about four hours before leaving, if you want to be accurate) and not being able to check that it had arrived safely. Thankfully, it all seems to have worked out fine, and the holiday turned out to be very good fun. Yes, being enclosed with members of your family (and particularly when young children are involved) can sometimes make the experience rather an up and down one, but on the whole it was very good fun, an excellent break, and a chance to collect some happy memories of Brittany to wipe away the slightly horrible ones accumulated on a school camp in 1986. We were right in the centre of Brittany, in a tiny hamlet called Lustryn and near to a small town called Rostren, and much entertainment was had. We went go-karting, visited an aquarium, went on plenty of walks and spent vast amounts of time lying around doing nothing, watching movies or playing computer games (I managed to complete the official tie-in game from Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and got re-addicted to Wipeout Fusion). About the only downside was the epic journey- fourteen hours, most of which was spent in the back of a car, and which left me somewhat frazzled and unable to think once I got in last night.

So, in the words of Sam Gamgee, I’m back. More importantly, I feel like the two weeks away have given me a little perspective, as well as giving me the chance to work properly on the book. All I need now is some time, and I think I know how to get the damn thing finished. At the moment, my main priorities are getting unpacked, doing the washing, tidying things up, and working my way through the gargantuan amounts of e-mail I’ve ended up with.

Plenty to do…

It’s four in the morning. Outside, the sky is a deep shade of purple, not helped by the cloud cover. Birds are singing. Nature is moving on. And, thanks to my hideous workload, I’m still awake. Considering we’re going to be leaving for France in less than two hours, there didn’t seem much point in going back to bed. I’m very tired, at the end of an extremely tiring week, and the journey ahead may have all sorts of difficulties– but I’ll be happy simply to sit in the back of the car and doze.

More than anything else, I want this holiday to be a genuine time of rest. I want to actually stop, allow myself not to think for a while, and get my breath back. I want to step outside of all my current problems, and focus myself on what’s really important. I think it’s going to be good. It’s certainly going to be the longest I’ve been away from the Net for a while. I may get the chance to post- I may not. Only time will tell.

Anyhow, for the moment- this is Saxon Bullock, tired, bleary-eyed but still going, and about to leap into another journey of adventure…

See you in two weeks.

(-over and out…-)

I think I might be in need of a holiday.

Stress is kind of getting to me– plus, for the next 48 hours, I’m going to be absurdly busy. We leave for France at about 6AM on Sunday morning– and I’ve got nearly £400 worth of work to do before then, along with getting various official forms in, and going to a screening of Transformers. And packing. And about a dozen other things as well. Basically, life is feeling somewhat difficult, added to which I’m having trouble sleeping, which means that the idea of 2 weeks in France not doing very much is probably a very good one.

(For those who are interested- the rewrite of the book has reached Chapter 12. Only five more chapters to go, and this phase is finished…)

Certainly, this blog is pretty likely to be dormant for the next two weeks. (At least, more dormant than normal). I’ll have a go at posting my reaction to the first part of the Who finale tomorrow… and once I get back, I’m hoping to be a little re-energised and ready for action. Summer’s going to be busy, and there’s not that long before I hurl myself once again into the maw of the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Stay tuned…