I can't believe it's almost two months since I last posted on the Burly & Grum blog. Go on, ask me what I've been doing for the last few weeks! I'll give you a clue - I'm shaking builder's dust from my hair as I type. Yes, I moved from the house I'd lived in for 24 years to somewhere new. Well, when I say new, it was built in the 1930s but somehow managed to get stuck in a 1970's time warp. Not that I'm against the 70s at all, it's just that after 40 years the wallpaper is looking a bit tired! I've been up and down ladders, knocked down walls, drilled holes, painted everything that doesn't move, and poor old Burly and Grum have taken a back seat.
Not that they've minded at all, they've been relaxing on the beach and have been sending me postcards to prove it.This one is from Grum...
And this one is from Burly (he's been a bit nicer and you will note he's bringing me back a present)...
Although there is still a lot to do to my new home (having a kitchen that doesn't resemble a war zone would be good...), I'm going to start concentrating once more on Burly and Grum especially as we were doing so well, for example, being finalist for the People's Book Prize. There are a lot of great opportunities out there and I will be putting my ear to the ground to see what developments have taken place while I've been 'away'. So the holiday for Burly and Grum is now officially over and they are limbering up to start work again - this is going to be fun!
Yay - Burly & Grum are back! It seems strange to start blogging again after what has been quite a long break. Selling my home and trying to buy new one has proved incredibly time consuming and, believe it or not, I still haven't moved - I'm all ready, bags packed and raring to go but the legal side of everything is just moving so slowly. I'd love to live somewhere like Scotland where, I believe, you can buy a house and move in 24 hours later! Maybe one day it'll work like that here - I do hope so.
But that's enough of me, more than enough - on with Burly & Grum news! The final leg of The People's Book prize is now under way. You may remember that back in November that 'The Secret City' was one of the finalists in the Children's Section. It's been a long wait to get to the final point where the winners are finally revealed because the voting is seasonal. Now, however, all of the 36 finalists (12 from the three sections - fiction/non-fiction/children) can have their books voted on again by members of the public between 21-28 May. On 28 May there will be a grand award ceremony in London with Frederick Forsyth CBE giving out the awards to the final three winners. Keep everything crossed because I would just burst with pride if I won! And if you'd like to vote between 21-28 May that would be brilliant; I know that all of us here at Burly & Grum would be forever thankful! I'll put up the instructions as soon as I receive them from The People's Book Prize. I want to improve the Burly & Grum website, so that it's more interactive and I also want to start work on a book app for The Halloween Adventure in time for - yes, you guessed it - Halloween. There's a lot to do and I'm looking forward to getting going again - I've really missed Burly and Grum.
