This week has been all about getting back into routine after a socially wild few weeks. I thought I'd be glad of the rest but a rest can be too much of a good thing after two days of thumb-twiddling. Well, actually that could be an exaggeration. What I should have said, is two days of washing up (dishwasher totally defunct, new one arriving this afternoon), a spot of gardening (weather allowing, so that would be about 5 minutes a day) and planning my upcoming India holiday.

I seem to have been permanently cast into the role of trip-planner, not least because I've done it before, countless times. School trips, music group trips and personal holidays. I've organised two India trips with friends before, but this one's slightly more complex. In 1999 I used a good Indian online tour agency - just fed them my ideas and itinerary and they did the rest. But they don't do South India, only North, so that's them out. In 2002 I was already in situe in India when I did the planning – with a great deal of difficulty due to the appalling local Thomas Cook, but that's another story. This time I've got to do it all at a distance with online untried tour agencies that demand my credit card details. The most difficult thing is estimating times to travel from one location to another. Some of the roads are – well, less than perfect, and there are mountains to traverse. And booking hotels will have to be guesswork.

I just hope I get it right as it ain't just Himself and YT, but a couple of other geriatrics too – same German buddies as came with us twice before, so they have high expectations. It's giving me a few nightmares so I think a trip up to the Indian Tourist Office is called for. And the visa office needs to be tackled soonest.

Apart from that I'm doing plenty of work for Goldenford, currently designing a new brochure to accommodate all 10 Goldenford books. And marketing Darshan. Oh, BTW you can currently buy it from my eBay site as well as Goldenford, Amazon, my website and various bookshops.

Had a nice email from SIL, who said:

'Well, we took Darshan on holiday and read it - what a lot of work you have put into it. We are all very very impressed. I thought your first two books were good (yes I love the 'green lap top one) but this is brilliant.'

Thanks for that, SIL. Spread the word, won't you?

Half a mile down the hill was Dovedale and across the road the 1000 foot Thorpe Cloud hill, which Kay and Joe decided to tackle on our first evening. You can just make out the small black and white figures coming down – Joe (black) and Kay (white).

Another childhood haunt was the nearby Manifold Valley. We tackled that in the afternoon. It's much more wooded than Dovedale and you walk along a former railway track. Thor's Cave is very dramatic. We didn't have time to climb up to it. Next time…

Sunday was spent in Manchester looking up family (Himself's that is). Lunch at cousin J's and memories shared before heading back down to Oxford on Sunday afternoon.

Now I've got a free run for the next couple of weeks with no more major social commitments until September. So my priorities are: marketing my novel Darshan (a journey), organising our upcoming trip to India and getting some more Noontide Owls onto paper.

Talking of Darshan, it was featured in the Oxford Times Book Section this week. Read it online

Here's a lovely soundbite from Maggie Hartford, the reviewing journalist:

'An involving story, beautifully written.'

The print version carries a picture of the cover and both the print and online versions mention that the book can be bought from the Inner Bookshop on Magdalen Street in East Oxford.

 

Oh yes, and by the way, the Virtual Tales eBook version of my first novel The Moon's Complexion is now available as an Amazon Kindle book, as well as from Virtual Tales, Mobipocket and Fictionwise. I'm delighted to say that it currently has a 'good' rating on Fictionwise.

Also the waterlily house was gorgeous.

We spent Saturday in London. First the RA Summer Exhibition. Some really nice stuff this year – but I have to say that it was the exhibits by RA Fellows that were the most arresting. There were the Kitaj works, quite wonderful. And a superb painting of Times Square in the snow by Bill Jacklin.

I loved a gigantic blue chrome egg by Jeff Koons, fantastically positioned so that it reflected a glass dome inside its 'cracked open' top.

We stayed up in London for dinner. A bit of nostalgia for all of us for we'd first got to know L & N in Bangalore in 2004 when we were all staying at the Indian Institute of Science. So we evoked a bit of India by eating at the Malabar Junction – a Keralan restaurant just up from the British Museum. Totally scrumptious!

L & N left on Sunday, Now we have a few days to do the washing and sort out the dishwasher before the next event on the August social calendar this weekend.

Had some more good news about Darshan. A lovely email from Cecilia - I quote…

'This morning I reached the end of your book. I like your writing very much, as much as to keep me reading till 2am when I normally go to bed at 10:30, every time thinking "one more chapter and I go to bed" but ..... You maintain the emotion and suspense throughout…'

She also went into detail about why she liked the character and plot development, but I can't quote this as it would give away the story. Suffice to say that she noted with approval that I don't go in for clichéd, treacle resolutions to my characters' conflicts. I should think not, indeed. I hope I make the reader reflect and think beyond what is actually written.

The wonderful Inner Bookshop in Oxford has taken some copies of Darshan and are even talking about doing a window display. Although they don't usually take novels, they were swayed by the Hindu aspect of the book and its Oxford connections (and mine).

And Waterstones in Bristol are arranging for me to do a signing there.

Meanwhile I'm trying to squeeze in an hour here and there to get on with my allegorical fantasy The Noontide Owls. It's been sitting around for years, initially a short story, but asking to be turned into a crossover novella – or even a short novel, who knows.

And there's my thesis waiting to be worked into a South Indian temple guide. I will get round to it, if I keep on telling myself I will! Maybe my upcoming visit to India will spur me on.

A lovely surprise to end on. Just got a Skype call from my Sri Lankan nephew in Oz. Great to chat with you, and to be able to see you too, and Himself had such fun having a face-pulling competition with your gorgeous little girls. Modern technology is a wonderful thing.

So – the wine has been drained, the quiches, dosas, koftas, idlis, vadas, pizzas and salads have been eaten, as have the kheer, the chocolate mousse, mithai and mangoes. The books have been sold, the speeches made. No more sounds of animated conversation and laughter. No bedrooms filled with overnight guests. The house has returned to its usual sleepy state.

In short, the launch of Darshan is over. And very successful it was too, with plenty of takers for the books (and other Goldenford books too) ...

... and some embarrassingly flattering comments from people who'd already read Darshan. A neighbour from down the road made my head expand several sizes on the spot with his comments. As an Oxford graduate he was totally bowled over by the way I'd dealt with the Oxford student scene. So realistic ...I must be an Oxford grad too…? No, but I know the city well, Himself having worked there and the Son and Heir domiciled and working there. We still have a bolthole in the city centre. And students are students wherever and whenever, surely? All have similar hang-ups and hopes and fears. Even mine in faraway, long ago Manchester and more recent, not so far away Leicester.

The same lovely man took great pleasure in telling me (with a twinkle in his eye) he was a grammar and punctuation freak, and he had to inform me that he'd found one missing comma somewhere in the book. Hope that doesn't put you off. I'm not a pedantic grammarian. Just seem to get it right (most of the time!) – and had good Goldenford editors! My Good Neighbour has requested an evening with me to talk about the book. Meanwhile he did a brilliant job bending people's ears about how much he'd loved it.

It rained. On the cards but until it actually happened I lived in hope. When the 'intermittent showers' lost the intermittent bit, I started to panic. How to accommodate fifty + lunch-guests into the house? Would it burst at the seams? Well, it didn't. In fact it stood up … warning - adverb overdose…stalwartly to the invasion like a true Brit.

I bucked the trend by foregoing the usual reading from the book. As I explained to my guests, I'd rather they did that themselves. Instead I said a few words (very few) about the book. Unlike The Moon's Complexion, whose theme could be said to be India, around which the romantic-thriller plot was built, the theme of Darshan involves a young woman's quest to find harmony within herself, around which the locations naturally fall into place. She sets out on a journey – both physical (through three continents) and emotional, exploring love, religion and her own roots. I told them how, while I was doing my post-grad work on Hindu temples, I had become fascinated by certain ideas in Hinduism, around which the story evolves.

Does my protagonist find what she's looking for? I'd love to know what you think when you've read it!

I said a word or two about the cover, which pictures a deity from the gorgeous Kesava temple in Somnathpur (nearish to Mysore in southern India). I explained that the temple itself is one of the stars of the book, in spite of its late entry into the story.

Now comes the hard bit. Getting the book into the shops and getting reviews. I already have one on Amazon (thanks, Anne). I also had a lovely email from AE in Germany (who is a grammar school teacher and post-grad linguistics student) telling me how much he enjoyed Darshan. This is (translated from German) what he wrote:

'It's a very gripping and credible plot that reads very fluidly. In fact the suspense never lets up, so that you want to keep reading on, in order to find out what happens in the next section.'

Thanks, AE, you're a star as always!

After the party I found the green salad in the fridge. My fault – I forgot to tell my kitchen army about it! I hope it wasn't missed!

Oh - and a big public thanks to my regiment of helpers, who, in fact took over everything, leaving me free to socialise: Kay and C in the kitchen, A, the intrepid barman, Ant - washer-up and post-event tidier along with Kay, A and C, The wonderful Golden Girls, Jackie and Jennifer, who not only manned the books but also provided delicious food, cutlery, glasses and chairs; Jennifer's other half, T who produced a superb pizza; S, whose quiche disappeared before I got a look-in; F, our miraculous marketing lady who spent the entire time selling books, Himself, who together with Joe, spent Saturday preparing the house and garden, and last but not least, Joe, who also sold books and is responsible for 165 superb photos, a few of which are on this blog. You're my heroes, the lot of you.

Hallo – I'm back from an amazing ten days in Eastern Germany and Berlin, with a dip into Poland for good measure. I wish I could ramble on for ages about the wonders of that part of the world, but I have to restrict myself, as I'm now knee-deep in preparations for the Darshan launch on Sunday. I must be mad timing it so soon after the hols!

Anyway I'll try to be brief but it's so hard as there's so much to say. We started off with four days in Pasewalk, my father's hometown in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a few miles from the Polish border. We stayed with E and D, a couple of great friends there. Have known them since '88, since The Incident with the Manhole-cover, which I mentioned in my 'things you didn't know about me' blog some months back. To be more precise, in 1988 E read in the Berlin evening paper about my exploit in exporting said object from Berlin to Guildford via Checkpoint Charlie (after having been ceremoniously presented with it by the GDR Waterboard) and got in touch with me. We've been corresponding ever since.

I should explain. Before WW2 my father owned an iron foundry that made manhole covers. These manhole covers are still around – lots of them in Pasewalk, bearing my father's name and town.

 

Have you ever tried googling yourself? Course you have, hasn't everyone? I suppose it's inevitable that there are a lot folk called of Irene Black. Not exactly a name of distinction. Unlike me though, most of them seem to be American.

For a while I thought I was the name of a make of American shoe – as in 'Irene Black Rounded Toe Wedge Pumps' and 'Irene Black Womens Sandals' and 'Irene Black Lace-up Shoes'. Till the penny dropped and I realised that the 'black' referred to the colour. Duh! But they're still called Irene. I must say, they all sound far too sensible to be associated with me. Having said that, one thing I AM sensible about is shoes. It's always struck me as iniquitous that women disfigure themselves – effectively turning themselves into helpless victims – by tottering around in three-inch heels and cramming their feet into pointed toes. And we think bound feet were barbaric!

What else? There are many genuine Irene Blacks in North America – living and dead. I discovered a living one in Vancouver on Facebook (Vancouver USA is where Virtual Tales , who publish The Moon's Complexion in America, is based so a coincidence there).

Another namesake was born in Mississippi in 1866 and died in 1903. Then there's a cryptic reference to a 1920s Irene Black 'born to Mary E. of Finland and somebody Black of Alaska'. And yet another one was married to Lieutenant Alexander Franklin Black, now residing in Arlington National Cemetery.

Talking of which, how's about this for creepy – 'Irene Black's Cemetery Book'. This seems to be the same IB as the: Irene Black Genealogical Library in Bridgeport Illinois.

I haven't escaped the law either – how about Judge Irene Black of the Kayenta Judicial District, Arizona?

And here's another coincidence: The 'Sam and Irene Black School of Business' is part of The Behrend College in Erie, Pennsylvania. My maiden name happens to be Behrendt.

Then there's the Scottish connection. Irene Black appears to be a Dental Decontamination Adviser at Scottish Power. More interestingly (and the third coincidence) is reference to an Irene Black of the Department of Molecular Biology at a Scottish Science Institute. (Coincidence? Himself is a Molecular Biologist.)

And lastly – and somewhat disturbingly, Irene Black the author. Not to be confused with Yours Truly, Irene Black, the author. The other one has written novels with such tasty titles as 'A Husband For The Countess', 'A Determined Lady' and last but not least the titillating 'A Mischievous Miss'. Let me repeat - IT'S NOT ME!!!

Of course, I was aware of my literary namesake, and I did consider publishing under the name 'Irene Behrendt Black'. But this suggestion was greeted with howls of protest from my Goldenford colleagues on grounds that

• No-one could pronounce it
• It was too long for the book covers
• No-one would realise it was me (which could, of course, be an advantage!)
• As Irene Black I might actually gain some readers, who think 'The Moon's Complexion' and 'Darshan' are sequels to 'A Mischievous Miss.' Boy, are they in for a shock!

I couldn't go to Winchester on Saturday because I had to go to Bristol to the Bristol Prize Awards Ceremony. Himself came with me. We parked in a very expensive car park and ate a very expensive and fattening pizza. The awards ceremony took place at the Bristol branch of Waterstones. All but two of the 20 shortlisted were there with partners and hangers on. There were various speeches by top dogs from sponsors Waterstone's and Bristol Review of Books. We were told that the Bristol Prize was set to become one of the most prestigious competitions in the world! Then the Chair of the judges, announced the winners. Naturally, I wasn't among the top three, but it seemed to be quite an accolade to be shortlisted and in the anthology. There were a lot of mumbles about the fact that two of the prizewinners were from Bristol (including the first prize) but I guess it means that more Bristolians entered the competition than anyone else.

This is me up on "stage" getting my congrats from the Chair and the Lord Mayor of Bristol Naturally the only picture of me had to be blurred!

Conversely Anne, Jackie and I were regularly shortlisted for the Guildford Short Story Competition over several years, until last year, when none of us were. Is it possible that the organisers were trying to avoid accusations of Pro-Guildford nepotism? Or perhaps our latest efforts simply weren't good enough, perish the thought! There doesn't seem to be a competition this year so can't test it out again!

Back to Bristol - the Waterstones people promised they'd invite me back for a book-signing - the suggestion came from them, not me, so I'll be reminding them if I don't hear in a reasonable time! The Southern area manager also said he'd try and get my novels more prominently displayed in their Guildford shops. We each received 2 copies of the very smart, glossy Bristol Prize anthology. They published each author's bio at the head of each story and I'm delighted that in my bio both Goldenford and Virtual Tales got a mention. You can order the anthology here.

Meanwhile Jennifer and Jackie were having a bonanza selling day at Winchester and I understand that numerous approving comments were made about the striking Darshan cover.

By the way - the Darshan books are in from the printers, ready for the launch, so you can aorder your pre-publication copies from me. Just email me and I will generate a PayPal invoice for you. £8.99 + postage (£1.70 (UK) or £3.00 (EU) or £5.20 (rest of world)). The Moon's Complexion is the same.

We high-tailed it back from Bristol late at night and when we got home AE from Germany had been safely delivered to the house by Joe, who had collected him from Gatwick. AE is staying until next Saturday and then Joe is going back to Germany with him for a week's holiday. AE brought us the most amazing present. It is a basalt sculpture of a millstone from his home town - and my home from home - Mayen. Basalt is mined in the region and many of the houses are built from it. There are numerous fabulous basalt sculptures in the town. Now I have my very own, and it was made especially for us. I love it - it's so dynamic.

So we were all pretty exhausted by the time we got to bed on Saturday night. Joe took AE off to Kew on Sunday so that they could romp in the tree tops, while Himself and I entertained two delightful scientific ladies from India, one of whom was an old friend passing through England on her way back to India from the States. We had to promise we'd drop in on her in Gujarat when we're in India in the coming autumn.

On Monday AE and I met up with PA, a colleague from my teaching days. We had lunch at Pizza Express in Godalming, which I wholeheartedly recommend. AE was our German assistant nearly 10 years ago and is now himself a long suffering teacher in Germany.

PA and I went into raptures about the joys of being out of teaching and bemoaned the fact that modern languages are no longer compulsory on the GCSE syllabus. German is becoming less and less frequently an option at schools and French will soon follow suit - if it isn't taught there will be no one to teach it in a few years time. What does this say about British education? Coupled with the fact that we have just heard that pupils are opting for easy A-level subjects like media studies or drama instead of going for sciences or languages, and that it is getting easier to get a first class honours degree, it all seems to be depressing confirmation of what we all knew all along, that the whole nation is being "dumbed down". Perhaps we are all being turned into a set of malleable zombies who read the Sun, worship celebrities and have lost the ability to be inspirational.

I took AE to Arundel yesterday. I've been before but there's always something new, like this garden which was completed this year and opened by none other than the estimable Prince Charles (?!). Weird or what? All the "buildings" are made of wood although they look like stone.

And inside this "Oberon's palace" is a strange fountain and all the walls are lined with shells. It's certainly different!

I also discovered some nice carvings on pews in the family chapel.


And we even struggled up to the top of the keep!

Had an e-mail from Pam who bought a copy of Darshan in Winchester. Thanks Pam, for writing:

'I've started reading Darshan and am loving it.'

Love you too, Pam! Thanks for that.

Wednesday 6 p.m.: I'm on the train to Waterloo-on my way to the Royal Opera house to see Ariadne auf Naxos. Couldn't find anyone to come with me, so am going on my own. It's one of my favourites and Deborah Voigt is singing, so hopefully it will be a real treat. Update later! Mind you, I haven't got off to a good start. Got halfway to Woking (more trains to London than from Guildford) and discovered I had forgotten a printout to say I'd booked online, so had to go back. Now I realise that I have forgotten my glasses, both reading and distant. Luckily I can manage without. They just sharpen things up a bit. But I've got my opera glasses-a cardboard pair bought at the New York Met in 1999 and still going strong. Very good they are too and I'll need them on the vertically challenging amphitheatre of the Royal Opera house.

Boy, it's been quite a week. On Tuesday morning Dad's Army arrived at the door and asked if they could dig a up our drive! We'd booked Surrey Drives and Forecourts to give us a brand new driveway next week. Can you believe they arrived a week early? Someone had cancelled because of a bereavement, so could they do ours instead? Yes of course they could. Himself had to rush around and warned the neighbours. We knew it would be chaos as we're at the end of a tiny cul-de-sac and two doors around the little traffic island from us are having a mega--extension. I hadn't realised quite what a major undertaking a new drive is, however. The pictures speak for themselves.

Siegfried and the Dragon?

The Surrey Stripper reveals all

The Incredible Hunks? Well, maybe not...

The noise was something else. Little Miss T would love it-she's tractor-mad at the moment and we have a lovely yellow one all of our own! Our long-suffering neighbours had been great. Both sides offered to let us park in their drives, which is a godsend, as there is nowhere to park on our little circle. They've promised tomorrow will see it finished (having persuaded us to part with a bit more dosh to include the area outside the front door, which was kinda rustic and I liked it but Himself and Dad's Army know better (being men, of course).

Update Thursday: the opera was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! The story is quite mad as opera stories often are - an opera within an opera and the opera within the opera is itself an amalgamation of a serious opera with a comic opera. Strauss often tries to make a point in his operas. In this case it was an argument about whether tragedy or comedy is a more valid art form and I think he's taking a swipe at all those melodramatic 19th-century romantic composer's with their heroines dying for love and grief. In this opera Ariadne tries to do just that, but Bacchus comes to the rescue, and disavowing her of the idea that he is the god of death come to claim her, tells her that he'd rather the eternal stars all died in heaven than that she died in his arms. Her life, he says is just beginning, so snap out of it and love again (and let Bacchus have his way with her)!

Deborah Voigt was stunning as one might expect, despite having shed half her weight, and Gillian Keith was marvellous as Zerbinetta. SIR Mark Elder conducted (Claim to Fame: I once spent a week in France with his brother. We were on a French course for teachers in Sèvres and he and I were in the same 'team').

So Isolde, Brunnhilde, Tosca, Aida, Senta, Madame Butterfly and all the rest of you distressed damsels eat your hearts out! (Actually, I have to confess that I love all those. But I love Strauss too. And I can see the irony of what he's saying. It's a question of Zeitgeist.)

Better get this uploaded as Jackie is coming to lunch (though heaven only knows where she can park). And tomorrow I'm off to Winchester with Jennifer and Anne, so if you're there drop by the Goldenford stall where you can buy some of our books at special prices. Then on Saturday I'm off to Bristol for the Bristol Prize award ceremony. My shortlisted short story will be featured in the anthology which will be on sale. You can also see the daunting company I'm in here.