Champagne

I handed in my MA dissertation on Wednesday. I must admit to feeling rather bereft. This won't last as I have now started to get to grips with the PhD. Last Sunday was rather stressful. All I had to do was print the novel extract and essay but the printer jammed and I got through a brand new ink cartridge. My other half had to drive me to Staples in my comfy clothes and my hair all over the place, shouting "ink". The lovely thing was that we didn't just hand it in and then drift away. Fay Weldon invited us all for champagne in her office and we all shared stories of the last few months of writing. I am so glad to be going back to continue my studies.

The Third Degree

In my post on 3 January, I mentioned that the novel outline I was working on for my coursework was for a novel that I now knew would be written. I can now reveal that the reason is that it formed part of the MPhil/PhD proposal that I started pulling together before Christmas. I have just had the exciting news that I have an unconditional offer. I am really looking forward to cutting my teeth on the present novel and then focussing on one project for two to three years. All I need now is for work to agree to my application for two years unpaid leave.