BBC Radio Solent

I found myself as a guest on BBC Radio Solent's Julian Clegg Show recently. He was talking about Eastleigh doing so well in the football and asked for stories about the town. I, of course, have written a book about the town: Eastleigh Then and Now. I thought I would email Julian and mention it. I had a call from the show's producer and, hey presto! I was on air. I have not been on Julian's show before, so it was nice of him to have me on. We talked about some of the landmarks in the town and the origins of the town name, which was not standardised for centuries. Julian was good enough to give the book a quick plug on-air, too, which was nice of him. Thanks, Julian!

My First Blog of 2013

I have not blogged for ages.  There was no review of 2012 because it was a pretty grotty year in many respects.  I was tired and working too hard, which did not seem a problem at the time, but looking back on the year it was clear that things were not well.

True, I had some great highs.  My book Under the Queen's Colours came out and lots of friends, colleagues and supporters helped to make the launch successful.  This book is dear to my heart as it raises funds for UK military charities.  I also had a local history published, Eastleigh Then and Now, which was well received, even if the local newspaper, which kindly ran a double page spread on the book, misquoted from it.  I know now who has read the book and who has merely read the newspaper coverage, as the mistake often comes up!

The lows though were almost overwhelming. Suffice to say that professionally, the year was not good and privately, ill health in the family impacted on my working life to an extent I had not anticipated.  This last has carried over into 2013 and it is a sad Penny who sits writing this.

Today is the first time for a while I have felt like writing on this blog and I am sorry if I sound a little down.  My next post will be more spring-like, I promise!