…As the song by my favorite gods-among-men Led Zeppelin goes, but it’s great to be back in cyberspace. And just to confuse everyone (although hopefully not for long), I’ve turned into a split personality. Not in a mwahahahahaha *rubs hands together to plot world domination* kind of way, but in a writerly kind of way.
With the forthcoming launch of my first Young Adult book, Almost Fabulous, later this month, I am now Michelle Radford. As well as being Michelle Cunnah for my adult romantic comedies. Which can be very confusing!
But what have you been up to since you and the literarychicks disbanded, I hear you cry?
Well…
- I’ve managed not to lose my purse…
- I’ve not had any problems with trams, trains or planes…
- And I’ve managed not to get conned by any telemarketers…
All in all, a good start to 2008!
Well, I have had one little kind of maybe mishap, and a train was involved…
Recently, a friend of mine from America was planning a whistle-stop visit to Amsterdam on her way back from visiting family in England, and she got in touch to say did I want to meet up. To which my reply was, of course, don’t think you can sneak into the Netherlands and not see me!
So we sorted out a date, and a couple of weeks later off I trotted to Rotterdam Central Station, got my ticket, got to the platform and…the train was delayed by nearly an hour. Of course, I didn’t have my cell phone with me because I’d forgotten it, or else I could have phoned ahead to Anna’s hotel.
Anyways, I arrived (finally) in Amsterdam, got on a tram, followed the instructions to the hotel, went into the lobby and Anna was nowhere to be seen. Oh no! She got fed up of waiting for me and went out, thought I. And then I thought, no, Anna’s probably popped up to her hotel room so I’ll just sit right here and watch out for her.
Thirty minutes later I was still sitting there…
Then I had the bright idea of checking with the reception desk.
“We do not have anyone of that name staying with us,” the very helpful receptionist told me.
“Um, well maybe the reservation is in her husband’s name?” said I, starting to panic.
“Sorry, nobody of that name is staying with us,” Very Helpful Receptionist said, after checking her computer screen. “Perhaps you have a cell phone number for your friend?”
Great idea! Fabulous idea! Very Kind Receptionist let me call her, even though Anna has an American cell phone and I warned Very Kind Receptionist that the call might cost quite a bit.
“No problem, I’m here to help,” she said, as I dialed the number.
I got Anna’s voicemail. But it sounded a bit odd, because her message said that neither she nor her husband could come to the phone right now, and why would her cell phone message include her husband? I left her a breathless message to let her know that I was in the hotel lobby, and about my trouble with the train, and how sorry I was to be late…
And then I had a thought. What if I’d gotten the date wrong?
In the corner of the hotel lobby I spotted a computer, so before you could say Michelle’s-a-bit-of-an-idiot-for-not-thinking-of-this-sooner, I logged on, opened up her last email to me and…
I was a week early. It’s true!
The following week off I trundled to Amsterdam, met Anna, had a lovely, lovely time, and all was well. 
One Comment
All certainly was well, Michelle! It was great to see you!
And if it’s any consolation, I was worried that I’d somehow given you the wrong date when I got your voicemail message!