Woohoo! Pride & Prejudice is out today! It even got excellent reviews in both Empire and The Guardian, even though the Guardian’s reviewer noted critically that it was neither “daring” nor “revisionist”, as the screenwriter had chosen to retain “the conventions of bowing and bonnets and breeches and balls”. Good God, what was that lazy screenwriter thinking?! Why wasn’t she daring enough to eliminate those boring old accurate historical trappings of a Regency-era setting and change Jane Austen’s basic story? Sheesh.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to see the movie. We’re still debating about whether to go tonight or tomorrow, based on how we’re feeling. Sadly, I am still not 100% better and had to turn down an invitation for an afternoon out to Skipton Castle--my favorite day-trip ever!--because I had a mournful conviction that I would end up hiding out in the tea room feeling grotty and sick and woozy while everyone else explored the castle. And that would be even worse than not going at all.

It’s a beautiful autumn day here--crisp and chilly, but with a gorgeous blue sky and bright sunlight. My favorite kind of day. We have Scottish strawberries to eat with our yogurt, and I am determined to write at least two more pages of Chapter Eight today, breaking through the block I’ve been dealing with lately. (I’m fine once I get to the part of each scene that calls for snarky dialogue and double entendres. I’m just having a hard time forcing myself to write the set-up bits lately!)

Our best news is that Patrick just sold another story to Realms of Fantasy! Hurray! It’s in the same story-cycle as “The Western Front”, which was published in The Third Alternative earlier this year, but this one, “The Land of Reeds”, is set in ancient Egypt, and it’s just enormously yummy. (Think “Ghost” meets “Antony and Cleopatra”.) I can’t wait to see it in print!

And now back to Chapter Eight...