Sarah's writing journal

Interesting poll in yesterday's Observer newspaper of the most powerful people in British publishing here. I actually think the Richard and Judy woman deserves a place near the top - those are some good books she's picked, and varied, but is she really the most powerful person in British publishing today? There have been an awful lot of decisions made before she gets the books. I'd also love to know if those authors in the poll actually feel that powerful still when they're submitting their latest manuscript to the publishing houses.

OK, I'm obviously getting too cynical but things are getting tough here chez Salway in that I'm starting to have arguments with the page-a-day calendar I keep by my bed. Yesterday, I felt good all day and one of the reasons was Sunday's quote from Betty Friedan, 'I'm my age and I feel glorious.' It just made me want to laugh with how ridiculous the whole age thing was, but also the positivity of it all was silly enough to make me smile. Particularly as a friend of mine asked last week whether I'd take part in a feature in one of the Sunday newspapers. Although very flattered, I couldn't make it, but when I opened the paper yesterday, I found that the feature I should have been in was headlined 'Older and Wider.' A lucky escape. Today, however, I did what many men must dream about and woke up to the fabulous Mae West, 'Getting down to your last man must be as bad as getting down to your last dollar.' Why is the assumption always that we need men in our lives and can't survive without them? But more than that, there's a sense of using men somehow - both monetary and emotionally - that comes through these quotes. 'Humorist' Merill Markoe is quoted as saying 'THere is a definite correlation between a man's gift-giving and the longevity of a relationship.' God, I can feel another rant coming on, so now I'm off to search for my sense of humour - or another cup of coffee. Or maybe I'll just crawl back to bed!

My writing prompt for today comes from the first line of 'Infestation', from Catherine Smith's The Butcher's Hands and is, 'You hear them before you see or smell them-'