Having finally (finally finally) sent off the text, language boxes, maps and photos I want to commemorate this momentous event in my life, my first whole book, with a blog where I can ramble, rant, use superfluous adjectives, and not worry about word counts or the wisdom of what I’m saying.
I am physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, but happy, relieved and excited about a few weeks in the Philippines before heading back to Europe for Xmas and no work until March when I’m covering Western Australia and the Northern Territories for the Rough Guide.
This morning I caught my reflection in the mirror and it was a halloweenesque spectacle; translucently green pallid skin offset by a bright ginger beard, deep black rings under my eyes and the look of one who’s seen the dark side of the moon. The final 42-hour writing stint running up to my deadline really wiped me out. Much as I want to have a random wordfest, I can’t think of a single adjective. But given this is the first solo book I’ve written (albeit with bags of help from Tot), looking back on it it never got tooo bad. In spite of the workload I gave it, my computer didn’t pull any disappearing acts with any of the files, and the nearest I came to losing it was ripping my t-shirt off in a feeble impersonation of the incredible hulk when a repair man came to try and fix the window at a seemingly ungodly hour.
Of course, the edit process lies ahead, and whilst all I have to do is answer the odd question, past experience tells me that the road may be long and fraught with misunderstanding, but for now that’s the last thing on my mind. Bantayan Island Philippines here I come.
