Commemorating the Marginalised

Rootstech is round the corner and with it the option to see if I am related to any of the many lovely fellow-attendee family historians that I have got to know over the decades, both in person and online. Along with thousands of others, I am attending the mega international conference virtually, from the comfort of home and I’m looking forward to learning new things. As well as the ‘Relatives at Rootstech’ fun, there are options to see if you are related to famous people. Allegedly I have connections to a few. Most of these relationships are based on some seriously speculative genealogy. So, although I probably am Winston Churchill’s tenth cousin three times removed, I have serious doubts that the late queen is my 14th cousin, at least not in the way that is suggested. I suppose it would be mildly interesting to find that ‘Gateway Ancestor’ that leads back into royalty but even though I am about to enter my 48^th year of serious research I have never found that connection. Do I care? Not in the slightest. My interest is in all those ordinary ancestors whose stories will never be told unless I tell them.

I find marginalised ancestors the most fascinating of all. What circumstances led them to become stigmatised, or to find themselves on society’s fringes? Was this down to their own actions, or society’s attitudes? I love to find the lawbreakers, the sick, the poverty stricken and the ostracised on my family tree. Not in the slightest because I want to reveal their stories in some kind of version of the sensationalist press but because their lives are so caught up in the social history and mores of their times. They become much more ‘real’ as their lives are revealed and of course they may leave traces in the documentary record.

It was this interest in those that history forgets that led me to give talks on the subject and my Rootstech presentation this year is about just that. Entitled ‘Tracing your Marginalised Ancestors in Britain’, I will be delivering this remotely but live at 8.30pm GMT (London Time) on Friday 1 March. If you register you can listen for free from anywhere in the world. I believe the session may be available afterwards too but that is still to be confirmed.

A couple of years ago, as a result of a magazine article I wrote on the subject, I was delighted to be approached by Pen and Sword to write a book to help others trace their own marginalised family members. It seems like forever since I finished writing it last March but it now exists as an actual book and those who ordered pre-publication copies should be receiving them any day now. If you have ordered a copy, please do post a photo on social media when it arrives, as I love to see where in the world my books end up. I am supposed to take a photo of me with the book for publicity purposes. This endeavour is hampered by the fact that I am the least photogenic person in the world. To detract from unphotogenic me, I decided it would be a good idea to utilise some of the spectacular landscape that is on my doorstep. This of course means it needs to be dry and ideally sunny. The first attempt was Monday. Bright, rather than sunny but unfortunately also windy. My fine, baby soft hair looks windswept when the Beaufort Scale is at zero. Let’s just say this photo shoot was not a success. It may have to be the ubiquitous, in front of the library shelves shot. You can order copies directly from Pen and Sword.

On the upside though, I have just signed a contract to write another book that may be out next year, or the one after; the writing is well underway.

The study of the marginalised ties in very well with my work with the A Few Forgotten Women Team and I am looking forward to talking about Forgotten Women, in person this time, at the Alfred Gillette Trust in Street, Somerset, to celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March. A Few Forgotten Women will also have a small exhibition, tickets are available here.

Memorials to the Marginalised

Most of you who are reading this will know that I am part of a team who aim to tell the stories of women of the past, who might otherwise be forgotten, on the A Few Forgotten Women website. As a family historian, I believe that all those on the family tree deserve their place in history, even if their lives encompass some challenging issues. If we just tell the success stories, the stories of the heroic, the popular and the blameless, what an inaccurate portrait we are painting and what unrealistic expectations we are setting up for those who come afterwards, who can only feel inadequate in the face of all those ‘perfect’ ancestors.

My fascination for aspects of the past that are not exactly filled with sweetness and light, led me to give talks on Forgotten Ancestors, or Ancestors on the Margins, those who are often discriminated against or stigmatised by society and forgotten by history. This led to me being asked to write an article for Family Tree Magazine and subsequently, I was approached by Pen and Sword to write a book, helping others to trace their ancestors on the margins. This all seems like a very long time ago now but I had great fun writing about how to trace the criminals, the illegitimate, the poor, the prostitutes, the witches and many more on you family tree. I tried to provide plenty of social historical context and each chapter finishes with a case study. Finally, the book is now in the late stages of gestation. Publication date is 29 February but pre-orders, at a reduced price, are already available here.

Of course, women have often been marginalised by history and I am excited that my final presentation of 2023 will be a Maternal Line workshop for the Society of Genealogists, when I will be encouraging participants to investigate their female ancestors in more detail. Bookings for this are still open.

What about moving house? I hear you barely dare to whisper. Well some slight bumps in the road but we are at least still on the road. I will reveal the whole ‘you couldn’t make it up’ story when it is all over. As an aside, I am, for reasons that will be explained in future posts, currently living like my ancestors with no central heating as the snow flurries descend – thank goodness for the woodburner. I am not convinced said ancestors also lived with half empty cupboards and shelves and a obstacle course created from boxes in every room but there you go.

Some years I have provided an advent calendar of blogs on historical or book related subjects but I am a bit pushed for blogging time at the moment – maybe next year when the chaos has (I hope) abated. You can always look back on calendars from previous years.

The alphabetical Christmas advent posts start here December 2012.

Historical Novelists starts here December 2016.

Social History books advent starts here December 2017.

In December 2018, each day I blogged about a different source that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

There wasn’t a complete calendar in 2019 but there was a series of posts about favourite family history websites starting here December 2019.

Looks like I have had a few years off! Good intentions for 2024.

Seasonal Musing and some Exciting News

Sorry for the long silence dear readers. It certainly hasn’t been because I have been idle. Although I am continuing to stay at home, I have been around the world virtually, Zooming into homes across the planet. I am pleased to announce that I have enough support to continue to present my ‘History Interpreter Online’ series of Zoom family and social history talks. This is deliberately a small group so we maintain a friendly, chatty atmosphere but we do have room for a few more, either as occasional visitors or ‘season ticket’ holders.

I’ll start with the exciting news. I have had the great honour of being awarded a certificate of achievement by the Society of Genealogists. These are awarded annually ‘in recognition of efforts and activities that have made some exceptional contribution to genealogy to the benefit of anyone wishing to study family history’. I know I am in some very illustrious company, so it did come as a bit of a shock. The precise citation is, ‘For long-term services to family and local history and encouraging the involvement of young people in history and heritage.’ The ‘long-term’ bit makes me feel very old but I suppose I have been seriously researching my family for 43 years so I guess it is justified! I am looking forward to the face-to-face presentation, which can hopefully take place in August next year.

Despite the ‘long-term’ research I have managed to add 9x 10x and 11x great grandparents to a branch of my tree this week so there’s always something new to discover.

Of course, it is impossible to ignore the fact that, in general, things have been on the gloomy side. Christmas, as expected, will be different this year. I had planned to visit the descendants right at the end of the school holidays, giving family members who are in school as much time as possible to develop any nasties they may have picked up. The freedom that we have to visit for five days around Christmas Day itself just doesn’t work for me, especially as we would have a 600 mile round trip to make and the world and his wife will all be travelling on the same days. It is a very long way to go to wave to your nearest and dearest from the other side of a chilly field, which is what it would mean if we went in early January. Although I would go to the ends of the earth to see my family, my head says that, having been so careful for nine months, it would be stupid to be reckless now. So, I will, regretfully, continue with my ‘just because I can doesn’t mean I should’ stance and make the most of what technology will allow.

It is, of course, that time of year when not just visiting but also seasonal gift giving is in our thoughts. Many of us are unable or unwilling to visit shops in person at the moment, so we are seeking other alternatives. Living, as I do, a distance from a shopping centre, relying largely on online shopping is the norm, although I do love the atmosphere of the shops at this time of year. I usually try to find a garden centre with displays of decorations. I am planning a swift visit to acquire a Christmas Tree but shan’t be lingering any longer than necessary. The added consideration this year is that gift purchases will need to be sent directly to the recipients or be easily postable. I am hoping to patronise as many small independent online shops and sellers as I can. If I was more talented, I would be hand-making gifts. I am also hoping that folk may want to relieve me of a few more books. I am happy to gift wrap these and send them straight to the recipient if you are looking for gift ideas. My fictional offerings are described here and for non-fiction you need to look here. I don’t charge for postage to the UK. Or you could gift a season ticket to my talks!

Zero progress on a potential new novel I’m afraid. My writing has been devoted to finishing a new course for Pharos and an article for Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, due out next year.

The next thing to look forward to will be getting the historic decorations out of the loft.

Book Launches, Boats and a side dressing of Crime

Busy, busy, busy. It has not all been work though. I spent a week going out with half my family; some weird activity that I’ve not done since March. This involved a spectacular face-plant (mine) on the football field, building sandcastles in the drizzle (effective for social distancing) and watching an excited boy catch his first fish. This particular expedition did involve running the gauntlet of a crowd of irresponsible idiots who clearly felt that being on holiday entitled them to abandon any concept of COVID awareness but we survived. Although it was lovely to see the sea, I am still much more comfortable staying at home and have no great longing for meals out, the pub or the hairdressers. I did get Martha to hack a bit off my hair while she was here but I could have managed without. It went like this – a little more off this side to even it up, oh now a some more off that side, oh and a bit off just here but she did a good job.

This week it has been full on book marketing. Only three days until the big day and the excitement is mounting. Devon Family History Society have kindly offered to host my launch talk, when I will be describing how I researched the story of a seventeenth century town and its inhabitants, in order to write Sins as Red as Scarlet. This means spaces at the talk are available, so contact me now if you want the secret code to attend via Zoom. Those on the Devon Family History Society virtual talks mailing list will get the link automatically. Not only does Sins as Red as Scarlet greet an unsuspecting public on that day but an audio book version of Barefoot on the Cobbles becomes available too. Thanks to the lovely folk of Circle of Spears who have done a brilliant job. I seem to have cracked uploading to Amazon so Kindle versions of Sins as Red as Scarlet can be pre-ordered now and print-on-demand paperbacks for those outside the UK are in the pipeline. You will be able to order UK paperback versions but please don’t. Come to me instead, you’ll get a better quality, signed copy and I’ll pay the UK postage. Or go to a bookshop or my lovely publisher.

There are other exciting things on the horizon. On 5^th and 6^th of September, I am joining other local authors for two days of talks about various aspects of crime. My session will focus on the C17th but there are sessions that will appeal to lovers of history, folklore, literature, psychology, vampires, Agatha Christie and much more. At £5 for a ticket to listen to as many of the sessions as you choose, that can’t be bad.

I will also be giving two presentations for the Institute for Heraldic and Genealogical Studies in early September. The seventeenth century again and one-place studies in the C19th. Places are limited on these so book early etc. etc..

As for the autumn, wait and see!

Book Launches, Blogs, Being Online and Breaking Free

Sorry for the long silence. It isn’t that nothing much has been happening, rather that life has been hectic, mostly in a virtual way. Firstly I need to say that this blog has been listed in the top 100 Genealogy blogs site. So, thank you to the compilers for that. Do go and check out the other great blogs on that list.  I am at number 131, so not sure how that works (maybe it is a bit like the ‘100’ years’ war) but I am grateful for the mention, especially as I ramble on about things as well as genealogy. I also have no idea who moved North Devon to New Brunswick – it wan’t me.

I’ve been Zooming away across the globe, chatting family history to anyone who will listen, including a great session with my ‘down-under’ genealogy friends from Talking Family History and several sessions both as speaker and as host for Devon Family History Society, including a breaking down brick walls session for a bumper audience of close to 200. Bit of a shame therefore that my magic wand appeared to have gone awol but we did make some inroads into a few tricky genealogical problems. My own history interpreter sessions are being well received. These continue through to the end of the year and there’s plenty of opportunities to join in the fun, so do take a look what’s on the programme.

I’ve also left home, not once but twice. For someone who hadn’t even been for a walk or to a shop since mid-March, it did feel a bit odd. Two trips of 300 miles each way with the caravan, so effectively taking our own room, in order to sit at a social distance from the two twigs on my family tree. Definitely worth it though and it is surprising what fun you can have from the opposite ends of a garden.

On the book front, what I hope are the final edits on a school text book that I was commissioned to write are done. Now it is all systems go for the appearance of Sins as Red as Scarlet in 32 days’ time. I am expecting about 40 boxes of the same to be deposited on my driveway any day now. The troops are assembled read to lug them into the house. Where they are going once I get them in the house, is a logistical problem of mammoth proportions that is still to be resolved. I also have to make space for potential socially distanced visitors. Maybe we can use boxes of books as a barrier. People have been very kind and relieved me of copies of my other books in a last-ditch attempt to make more room but ………. .

I have been writing the talk for launch day – 29 August. You are welcome to come and join me as I describe the family, social and local history research that underpins Sins as Red as Scarlet. Here I am reading a few extracts on cover/title reveal day. To be in the virtual audience on 29 August, 2pm British Summer Time, you just need to contact me and a few days beforehand, I will let you have the link to the Zoom presentation. There is also an offer available for those who pre-order the book.

And there’s more. If all goes to plan, the audio book of Barefoot on the Cobbles produced by the awesome Circle of Spears Team will also be available from 29 August. Plenty of excitement here therefore although I now have to bite the bullet and try to remember how to upload the file for those who might want to order a Sins ebook, or to order from outside the UK. As usual, I issue a plea for those in the UK to order directly from me, my publisher or an independent book shop. Not only do you get a better quality book, rather than print on demand but it helps reduce my pile.

In other matters, I have discovered how difficult it is to  Zoom quiz when your other team members have Whats App and you don’t and despite living in the C17th, I am hazier about English Civil War battles than I should be. Fortunately, this did not feature in the above mentioned text book. I’d much rather concentrate on all the lovely social history than the political stuff.

Today is the Day! – cover and title reveal

Ladies and Gentlemen – I give you Sins as Red as Scarlet.

This amazing cover has been designed by Devon artist, Robin Paul of The Branch Line.

Now some of you will want to know more about the novel. Details can be found on it’s dedicated page on this website, along with information about the special offers that are available to those who pre-order. I am pleased to announce that there will be an accompanying CD thanks to Dan Britton. You can come along and listen to me reading short extracts on Facebook Live at 11am (technology permitting). You can also book to attend the free Zoom talk about the research behind the book, that I will be giving on launch day, 29 August, at 2,00pm BST. Please contact me for details of how to register. If this email address bounces, or if you do not get a reply within 48 hours, please keep trying, or use an alternative email address.

Mostly about going Virtual – Isolation day 93

With all the awfulness that is going on at the moment, I am sure this should be a deep and meaningful commentary on current affairs. It isn’t. Not because I don’t feel strongly about things. Not because I don’t care. I am an historian. I should have something to say. Not least about what some claim is the erasing of our history. Indeed I do have thoughts and opinions, it is just that they are not yet fully formed and putting them into words requires more emotional energy that I have at the moment. So I am sorry if this seems a bit like I am burying my head in the sand and ignoring world events but just for now, I am retreating back into the everyday, whilst I process everything.

There haven’t been many posts lately because, to be honest, most things are just jogging along in much the same way as they have for the past few weeks. The weather has turned a bit and the garden has reached a plateau. Plenty of baby blue tits to watch but not much else to report. So far, the relaxing of lockdown restrictions has not made any difference to my life, so I remain here in my own little world, making contact online. I have been invited to do several online presentations and have attended a lovely school reunion and several Devon Family History Society meetings. I took part in Crediton Literary Festival, talking about Remember Then, which was fun and there is also a YouTube video of me, with a very croaky hay fever voice, reading from Barefoot on the Cobbles. I will be reading for Exeter Authors’ Coffee Time Sessions on Thursday at 12. I have decided to run my own series of family/social/local history lectures, as well as provide a four week continuation of the family history course that I ran for Crediton library. There are still spaces if anyone is interested in any of these.

Tomorrow is the cover/title reveal for novel #2; so anyone who has been waiting for more news will learn more of what it contains. I am attempting to read some extracts from the book at 11am via Facebook Live. That’s another whole new learning curve. Now to create my ‘set’, which so far involves some red material, a sprig of bay and a noose …….hmmmm.

This Time it is all About the Books (includes offers and free stuff)

So, the excitement is mounting as the publication date (29 August) for my latest novel creeps nearer. Well, let’s be honest here, I am excited; maybe one or two of you are too. As face-to-face marketing opportunities have now dwindled to zero, I am climbing some steep learning curves in order to do some online promotion. You will also see offers for some of my other books flitter across social media. I really do need to make some space.

Firstly, the new book is all set for its cover/title reveal on 15 June. Watch this space and my Facebook and Twitter accounts to join in the fun. I shall also be guesting on some other blogs and will be sharing the links to these. If I can work out how to do it, there will be Facebook Live stuff on the day, so look out for that if you are one of my Facebook friends – and if you aren’t, why not? 😊. Hopefully, if I can work out how to turn myself into a social media influencer (whatever that is), I will be telling you about the book and I may even be reading some teeny tiny extracts. So far, the cover looks like this. And, no, the title is not ‘Redacted’, as one of my friends suggested, although it would have been a cool marketing ploy.

On the subject of the cover, it has been designed by the incredibly talented Robin Paul from The Branch Line. Robin created an amazing cover from my vague suggestions and scribbles that were the first ‘art’ I had produced since failing art O level not once but twice.

Hopefully, by 15 June, I will have set up a pre-ordering system (another learning curve), even if it only consists of ‘email me and I’ll send details of how to pre-order’. The first 200 people who pay for a copy of **** ** *** ** ******* (see there’s a clue) by midnight on 28 August 2020 (British Summer Time) will get a free copy of Coffers, Clysters, Comfrey and Coifs: the lives of our seventeenth century ancestors (RRP £12.95). These will be sent postage free to a UK address. Please note that this offer is only open to those who pre-order directly from me, or from my publishers Blue Poppy Publishing. Both books will be signed. I am sorry that it is difficult to provide an attractive offer for my overseas readers. In all honesty, I can’t pretend that it is financially sensible for you to order directly from me. If you are outside the UK and really want a signed copy from me I am happy to provide details of postage costs. All purchasers of **** ** *** ** ******* will be able to buy the CD of the same redacted name, at the reduced price of £3 (RRP £4), providing that the CD is pre-ordered at the same time as the book. The CD includes Dan Britton’s evocative companion song to the novel and two other tracks by Dan, on a similar theme. I am working on another goody for all pre-orderers but I need to make sure that what I have in mind is something that I can deliver first.

What else am I able to offer you? Well, if you are very quick, there is still time to register for the free talks at tomorrow’s (6 June) Crediton Literary Festival. See my previous blog post for details. During my talk, I will be revealing out a code, giving UK listeners an opportunity to obtain a discount on my book Remember Then; memories of 1946-1969 and how to write your own, the subject of my talk.

But wait, as my friend Michelle would say, there’s more. I now have my own supply of my new booklet 10 Steps to a One-Place Study. So, if you want a signed copy and to avoid putting money into the hands of the multi-nationals, you know where to come. £5.90 including UK postage.

And yet more. In honour of Mayflower400, whose commemorations are sadly but inevitably, having to be postponed, I have another offer available on Coffers, Clysters, Comfrey and Coifs: the lives of our seventeenth century ancestors. This book is a reflection of life in Britain at the time that the Mayflower left our shores. A copy of this book can be purchased for £2 plus postage and packing. That is a total of just £5 for this book to be sent to a UK address, please get in touch for estimates for postage elsewhere. Alternatively, if you order either Remember Then or Enquire Within directly from me at full price, you can order a copy of Coffers Clysters for just £1 more. These offers are open from 15 June up to and including 3 October 2020, or while stock last. I stress that these offers are only available to those ordering directly from me. Contact me for details of how to pay.

Sorry that this is a bit of an advert. Normal service will be resumed soon.

 

It is (not quite) all About the Books – Isolation Day 79

Isolation continues for me. I was just thinking that I might feel like going for a socially distanced walk when the idiocy factor ramped up and folk flocked westward in their droves. I’ll sit tight as the second wave tsunamis in; unfortunately I think it is inevitable. I do know that I am lucky to have this option. I am pleased for those who can now meet family in parks and gardens. It does make it hit harder that the gardens I’d want to socially distance in are 300 miles away though. So, I’ll continue to #staysafe, grit my teeth and enjoy my own garden. Suddenly, the facts that the single baby blue tit has fledged and the poppies are blooming seem hugely significant.

This latest update is mostly about books though. I am gearing up for the cover/title reveal for novel #2. It is now in the hands of the publishers. There really are only so many times you can delete a comma and then put it back again on the eleventy billionth read through. I am looking at today’s appalling worldwide news stories and sadly, the book’s theme of intolerance is all too relevant. I am excited to report that the talented Dan Britton has written a companion song for this book too. Recording it under lockdown conditions was challenging but the end result is perfect. The plan is that it will be available, along with two other tracks on a similar theme, on 29 August, along with the book. Ninety days to go! Don’t forget that I am gradually leaking hints about its contents.

In other writing news, I’ve been commissioned to write a school textbook and that is finally making progress. My online One-Place Studies course for Pharos is ready for presentation in September (bookings are already coming in and more than a third of the places are filled). I am looking forward to speaking about writing your memories for Crediton Literary Festival on 6 June. There are some excellent talks, you can attend from anywhere in the world and better still it is free. All you have to do is apply for the link to join the audience.

I am getting some exciting invitations for online presentations so watch this space. Thoughts are turning to ‘what next?’ I am playing with an idea that is set in the seventeenth century again but not Devon related. I am wondering if I can write ‘at a distance’, as I normally work by immersing myself in the locations. I am also thinking of reviving my collection of North Devon emigrant stories and I may work these two alongside each other. Then again, I might just sit and do nothing!

I have been working on ‘writing-up’ the accounts of a few more branches of the family that have been neglected over the years. These are not beautifully crafted stories crammed with context, that’s just what I advise my students to produce! At least if I can get the broad outline done, I can add the flavouring later. Some of these offerings do appear on my website. Woolgar, Bulley, Dawson and Hogg are amongst the more substantial accounts, if you are thinking of taking a look. Currently, I am working on the sorry tale of a shipwreck that took place during the Napoleonic Wars, when the vessel went aground off the Dutch Coast but the crew thought they were in the Humber Estuary.

By the way, if anyone is wondering abut the fate of the parcels mentioned in my previous post, they arrived relatively unscathed.

Faint Passports Never Won – well, anything really – Isolation Day 65

One of the downsides of lockdown for me has been that I am unable to get out and about to share my love of all things historical with many wonderful people. It has been inevitable but sad, to watch one speaking engagement after another tumble like a domino rally. Fortunately, I am starting to replace some of these talks with online versions. A consequence of not meeting audiences in person is that I have lost one of my main book-selling opportunities. This is not just financially significant. In a couple of months, a pallet containing a very large number of boxes of novel number two will hopefully be landing on my driveway. I need to shift existing stock to make space. Oh, you want another clue? Happy to oblige, novel two includes little known facts about what is a fairly well-known local incident. Very soon there will be a title/cover reveal. The cover is amazing – thank you Robin of The Branch Line.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, selling books, or in this case, not selling as many books as I need to in the next three months in order to have any room whatsoever in my tiny cottage. In the past, I have added myself as a potential book seller on Amazon. I stopped doing this because it was a pain removing myself again on the many occasions when I was away from home. You can’t just leave the items up for sale as you have to be able to send out purchases within 48 hours. As it doesn’t look as if I will be going anywhere anytime soon, I thought I’d reactive my Amazon seller status. Well dear reader, how long have you got?

I suspect because the dreaded GDPR has loomed its ugly head since I was last a seller, I am required to jump through the hoop of proving I am a person and that I am actually me. I assure you I am me, although when I look in the mirror, I do wonder why I am my mother. ‘Send a copy of your passport’. Thankfully, I do have one. I photograph my passport. Maybe I didn’t get its best side or something but back comes the message ‘your details do not match, change your surname to FEWB’. Well the whole deed poll thing seems a bit unnecessary, especially as FEWB is not my name. Was three letters too short or something? My passport didn’t have a superfluous B on it. I heave myself off the chair and go to scan the passport instead, on the highest possible resolution. It takes ages, whirring merrily away. I now have a jpg (acceptable format) of two pages of passport when I require only one. It is also 11MB and the maximum I can upload is 10MB. Fine, I will edit it. I edit jpgs all the time. For some reason, which ever programme I choose, it will not let me edit the file. Eventually, I use my snipping tool to take a screen shot. Ok so the instructions do say ‘we cannot accept a screen shot’ but how will they know? I send it off. Back comes the message ‘your passport is too faint’. Too faint? Well that’s hardly my fault. I haven’t irresponsibly been leaving it to fade in high sunlight or anything. I click on the link for ‘if you are having trouble’ and compose a message expressing my frustration and seeking advice.

Time passes. The process has already been spread over two days and taken me a couple of hours to not sort. An email arrives. It sets out a carbon copy of what to do, exactly as it appears on the webpage where you upload faint passports. ‘Does this answer your question?’ they jovially ask. Well, errr, no. Then it occurs to a fisherman of my acquaintance that, although passports are mentioned, my driving licence contains similar information. Worth a shot. By this time, I really can’t face another journey upstairs to the scanner. In my defence, this is not the height of lockdown laziness (well not entirely) but my back does still prefer it if I don’t move from sitting to standing too often. No immediate rejection message. I cross my fingers. No ‘this has worked’ email either though. I wait. Finally, when lamenting my plight to a friend, she checks and discovers that there my books are there, happily listed, so it must have worked! Now all I need is people to buy them in droves and if that happens, people to donate recycled bubble wrap! Actually, if you are reading this, please don’t buy my books on Amazon at all, just contact me. It will cost you the same but it saves me a few pennies (actually quite a lot of pennies). A thousand sales before the end of July isn’t too much to hope for is it? Ok, so it is but I can dream.

What with this and the shopping order that mysteriously disappeared (long and really not very interesting story – even less interesting than the one you’ve just read), I am reluctant to face the next learning curve, which is finally giving in to entreaties to do my tax return online. I have no problem at all with completing it on paper and it would normally be done by now. This year however I have had a letter saying they are not going to send me a paper form. I do know, that if I ring up and wait on hold for a couple of hours (because my call is important to them), they will send a form but I am fairly proficient with online, I should be able to do it. Shouldn’t I?