Last Thursday (March 6th) was World Book Day and I celebrated by treating myself to three new books: ‘The American’ by Martin Booth, ‘Killing the Shadows’ by Val McDermid’ and ‘Ghost Light’ by Joseph O’Connor.

This is the kind of bookshelf I need!joiseyshowaa / Foter / CC BY-SA

‘The American’ inspired the 2010 George Clooney film of the same title, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching.  Personally, I think it was his best acting performance to date.  The film has a notable old fashioned and sensitive quality about it.  So, I have high expectations for the book.

The only Val McDermid novel I have previously read is ‘The Mermaids Singing’.  I wrote an assignment on it for my English Literature degree, comparing and contrasting it with Thomas Harris’ ‘Silence of the Lambs’.  I remember it being well written, if a little gory.  I could be in for a gruesome read!

As for ‘Ghost Light’, I’m anticipating an atmospheric tale.  It begins in a Dublin Theatre in 1907 and explores a romantic entanglement between outspoken theatre worker, Molly Allgood and troubled playwright, John Synge.

When I’m tired of reading, I’ll be heading to a few events at Waterford Writers’ Weekend.  The winners of the Sean Dunne Young Writers’ Awards will be announced at Greyfriars Municpal Art Gallery at 6.30pm on Thursday, 20th of March.  I might also head to the Open Mic night on Saturday, 22nd March.  This opens with a performance by Stephen James Smith at 8.30 pm and takes place at Henry Downes Pub.

On a side note, I’ve got an admission to make.  I’m a little bit obsessed with my new phone, purchased a couple of weeks ago.  It’s not the most expensive on the market, but it’s a huge leap up from the antique specimen I’ve been dragging around for years.  I can use the Internet on it, it has a funky pink back and is currently modelling a very smart leather case.  The fact that I bought the phone out of money I earned teaching workshops and writing newspaper pages adds extra satisfaction and meaning to my pride and joy 🙂 .

Thanks to my new phone, I hardly ever need to leave the sofa (and, yes, I’m aware of the health risks).  My husband asks me what’s on TV – I refer to my TV Guide App.  He asks me for directions – I go straight to Google Maps.  He’s looking for the latest film release – ditto, racking his brains to identify the actor / actress currently on screen? Ditto with a capital D.  With a flip of my fancy cover, all these tricky questions are smoothly dealt with.  There’s nothing that can’t be solved by scrolling!

Now, in case you were worried about me mouldering away on the sofa, let me reassure you that I have been leaving the house.  I went for a walk by the riverside in Carrick-on-Suir the other day, and spotted my old friend, the heron.  He’s as handsome and as stealthy as ever, so the fish had better watch out.  Incidentally, my husband and I caught our first glimpse of flitting minnows, that same day.

I’m just cursing the fact that I left my phone in the car, as it has a pretty good camera on it.  Saying that, I’m still getting used to it.  I recently tried taking a picture of some spangly looking buds at the side of the road.  They wouldn’t have looked out of place on a necklace.  However, the natural bling effect proved difficult to capture on camera.

Rest assured, I’ll keep practicing and hope to be able to up the photo content in my blog posts.  After all, spring is here and everything looks brighter!