The Silly Season

It's the silly season again - not only the school holidays but holidays for many others too. Now I've returned back to my roots in the Midlands I've been reminded that many industries shut down for the whole month of August for 'Work's holiday'. With most of my work being in the academic area of publishing the same can be said for my clients too - they have no deliveries, or the ones that are promised are delayed until September and if you are lucky enough to obtain work then you can't get hold of the author to answer queries as they are in some remote corner of the South of France for the entire month. This is the first year I've had to cope with a child 'off school' (though only nursery school in this case I'm acutely aware that I need to have some arrangement in place next summer when he's in full time school).

However with our fairly unplanned and unscheduled visit to my sister-in-law in Australia (who was only going to be there for a year and we'd never get the opportunity again etc., etc.) in February, and the rise in cost of absolutely everything, I can't afford to take the month off and was pretty pleased with myself in that I'd managed to secure some work for the whole of August - guess what, the author hasn't delivered yet as he's decided to extend his stay in the South of France. grrr