The party's over, let the fun begin!

That's it. Day job is OVER. A huge thanks to everyone who came to Mary Janes bar last night to celebrate my retirement.
It was great to touch base with my agent, the inexhaustable Sarah Davies, fresh off a plane from the US and bag stuffed with manuscripts. The woman does not stop and I count my lucky stars she signed me up. Then there's the Scott Wilson crowd and all associated chums from the wide world of engineering: THANK YOU! I've worked in a lot of different places and the people at the City office have been a delight. I'm going to miss you all but especially Rory's crew: Jerome, Sean, John, Marius, Felix, Nicol, Peter, Bill and my boss (at least for the next five hours) Rory. The South London posse was there in force, especially pleased we're all still friends after last weekend's camping.

So, here we are.

It's very weird sitting here at my empty desk with all the hurly-burly ended. I'm packed, I've stolen as much stationary as my bag will carry (hey, I'll need all these pens to write my epic!). Right, the next two weeks are rewriting THE DEVIL'S KISS, which I'm really enjoying all over again. Trying hard not to branch off in any new directions, it's too late in the day for that as it's got to be with the Copy Editor early September.

I'm got a fairly rigid routine set, mainly revolving around child care , school runs and writing. I think it's the best way to maintain the self-discipline which, I believe, is the biggest danger to my new lifestyle. I don't know how long my career as a writer will last, and I am discarding the usual 'don't give up the day job' advice but time is short and once in your life you've just got leap in and worry about the depth later.