This time last week I didn't win the James Tait Black Fiction Prize- but what a buzz losing was. Rosalind Belben's 'Our Horses in Egypt' did win and she read beautifully from the first part of the story following Philomena, the horse requisitioned and shipped off to be used in the First World War. (That's Rosalind herself, on the left in the pink hat, at the post-prize book signing. I'm coping with what seems like a forceful fan of fiction on the right- really though she was a delight). I have no complaints. Both Ms Belben's writing and subject matter were especially pleasing to someone whose twin manias are horses and fiction. But give her a try even if they're not yours. Philomena's is a story you probably won't know and it's strange and needed telling. (AND visit http://www.ilph.org/makeanoise/ if you have the inclination- nothing changes, huh?)
And the Edinburgh Book Festival was bliss if your business is books: readers and writers filling Charlotte Square from morning till night plus the academic squad from the University: the professors, librarians, graduate students et al. They gave such a great party - especially welcome to an undeserving fictioneer who finds research a real trial. So much easier to invent and inhabit your own universe where standards of accuracy are up for continual renegotiation.
The champagne and head-patting aside, a visit to Edinburgh certainly tops up the reserve of something always threatening to run dry in my case: the belief that what I do on writing days is a decent way of spending my life.
So I discover another Stevenson fan and his wife- nice to meet you and Erin!- get my reading done despite the hangover and wander up and down Princes Street in the sun with husband and friends to take in the the acapella singers, bands and magicians (sic). Not QUITE perfect. Because not only didn't I win, the BBC4 crew fail to arrive in time to film my being brave and performing with enthusiasm despite the disappointment. So the country will never get to see just what a good loser I was. So I'm telling you.
