Schools are closed, buses aren’t running, the country will soon be out of gas and grit.  Everything has grind to a holt.

Except for Peirene and I. Back from the Christmas break bang on time Monday morning 9am. Refreshed, rejuvenated, full of beans for 2010. Our launch year! Peirene Title No 1 “Beside the Sea” will be published on 4th of February, the Catalan modern classic “Stone in a Landslide” comes in April, followed by the Germanic 120-page-long sentence that reads like a thriller “Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman” in June. I am worried (“Will they sell?”), I am excited (“Wow, they will actually come out”) and I can’t wait (“Will I earn a penny or two – or not?”).

The vibes are good, not only up here in the North but also down South. I received a phone call on Tuesday from Mark, the owner of Kew Bookshop. My sales rep had given him Beside the Sea before Christmas. He read it and told me how impressed he was, with the novel (he compared it to Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”), the cover, the personal statement at the beginning of the book, the whole Peirene idea. His compliments warmed my heart and so no surprise, I’m not going to fuss about the temperature outside.

Yep, of course I came back with a couple of beautiful lovely New Year’s resolutions. One actually. But it is – will be – live changing. Over the Christmas break I looked long and deep into my darling little nymph’s eyes. I love you dearly, I told her, I can’t live without you but… you are my job and not my life. Ordnung muss sein. I was tough with her but fair. I told her that I will care and nurture her during the day but at night she must sleep. However much she screams I will no longer return after bedtime. Because – after all – there is more to my life.

Heidegger for example. I’ve been neglecting him hugely, he stood out in the cold for months. But that’s all changed now. I’ve taken him back into the warmth, dusted the snow off his covers and dried his socks.

Happy New Year!