The title is the second line of a Xmas song. Quite appropriate. The evenings are getting shorter and the shops are full of calorie-laden goodies. People must be hoarding them till Dec 24th, which is when Germans celebrate the "Christ child" coming (from somewhere, I never found out) with presents and - presumably - the lebkuchen, chocolate hearts with a Turkish delight lining and stollen, to mention but 3 of the delicacies. I don't really have a sweet tooth, but I must confess to eating stollen (a currant and candied-fruit yeast-baked bread) from early October, since it's baked during the summer months for sale everywhere and by Xmas it's getting a bit long in the tooth and I don't like stale bread.
I had to get used to the custom of eating bread to the last stale crumb here in Germany (but I don't do it unless forced to). Add to that the dry cake and the bergamotte-laced tea and you get an idea of what is on offer at tea-time. There's no such thing as Christmas pudding for lunch or dinner afters, either. I have to get a friend to bring some (or make it myself, but that is very laborious). We Brits also do lovely mince pies, which are not made of meat, but have a currant and apple filling. Traditions are different here in Germany, of course, but I try to make my Xmases taste like the ones I remember at home. Otherwise, I'm not a food fanatic and a very lazy cook.
I finally got round to writing more chapters for my book. I have started to read it from the beginning and noticed quite a lot of errors that will have to be corrected when I revise. The problem is that when I revise I don't write new copy at the same time, so I will never finish the book unless I ignore discrepancies and wade on. I probably have about 3 chapters to go, but I'm not sure.
November is my traditional month for writing a whole book (I've done it 5 times for NANOWRIMO and revised all those books at least once since I wrote them). I can't decide whether to ditch my 12 novel strong Miss Price series for something new, but I love my characters (except the ones I have killed off or pushed out of focus). I don't know if that sounds silly. I don't know any other authors. I'm on a different planet in that respect.
Maybe I should write a love story, or one about beaten women, or one about womern who use men to climb the career ladder. I don't really have much experience of any of that (I could tel la tale or two about colleagues and the casting couch!), so I'll probably stick to crime. My experience of that is minimal too, I hasten to add. I once, heaven help me it's 53 years ago! - rode a tram without paying in Frankfurt, shortly after I arrived in Germany. I knew too little German to ask for a ticket - but there was no conductor anyway. I felt like a criminal for weeks.
I had to get used to the custom of eating bread to the last stale crumb here in Germany (but I don't do it unless forced to). Add to that the dry cake and the bergamotte-laced tea and you get an idea of what is on offer at tea-time. There's no such thing as Christmas pudding for lunch or dinner afters, either. I have to get a friend to bring some (or make it myself, but that is very laborious). We Brits also do lovely mince pies, which are not made of meat, but have a currant and apple filling. Traditions are different here in Germany, of course, but I try to make my Xmases taste like the ones I remember at home. Otherwise, I'm not a food fanatic and a very lazy cook.
I finally got round to writing more chapters for my book. I have started to read it from the beginning and noticed quite a lot of errors that will have to be corrected when I revise. The problem is that when I revise I don't write new copy at the same time, so I will never finish the book unless I ignore discrepancies and wade on. I probably have about 3 chapters to go, but I'm not sure.
November is my traditional month for writing a whole book (I've done it 5 times for NANOWRIMO and revised all those books at least once since I wrote them). I can't decide whether to ditch my 12 novel strong Miss Price series for something new, but I love my characters (except the ones I have killed off or pushed out of focus). I don't know if that sounds silly. I don't know any other authors. I'm on a different planet in that respect.
Maybe I should write a love story, or one about beaten women, or one about womern who use men to climb the career ladder. I don't really have much experience of any of that (I could tel la tale or two about colleagues and the casting couch!), so I'll probably stick to crime. My experience of that is minimal too, I hasten to add. I once, heaven help me it's 53 years ago! - rode a tram without paying in Frankfurt, shortly after I arrived in Germany. I knew too little German to ask for a ticket - but there was no conductor anyway. I felt like a criminal for weeks.
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