Blue Hawaii

The only time I've been arrested was in Hawaii. After a long flight, we arrived to find our hotel was not ready. We were travelling around the world with hand luggage (yes, *obviously* in the days BC - before children). It was a few months since we had left London, I was red-eyed, all I could think about was sleep. We staggered along the main drag in Honolulu, each jetlagged step an effort. 'Excuse me Ma'am,' someone said. I looked blearily up to see a policeman taking out his notepad. 'I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a ticket.' What? What had I done? Where was the carefree Hawaii of Elvis and Magnum, or the friendly cops of Hawaii 5-0? 'Ma,am ...' he went on, scribbling something down. 'You're in Hawaii. It's a felony to wear head to toe black and not smile ...' I had been hauled up by the Hare Krishna Smile Police.

It all got a lot more enjoyable after that - Hawaii was every bit as beautiful as I'd hoped, from the Banzai Pipeline on the north coast, to hills that smelt of sandalwood and frangipani. One of my favourite blogs now is Pseudo's Spot over in Hawaii - Pseudo also does the work/family/writing juggling act, and her work as a High School teacher is an inspiration. That's what we are talking about today over on the blog tour - the amazing teachers who inspire us to become the best we can be. Hope you enjoy your visit with Pseudo - just wait til you see her banner photo ... I know, makes you long to book a ticket to Hawaii right now.

Meanwhile, there's a few days left of the Kindle Spring Spectacular - thank you to all of you who have downloaded or bought The Beauty Chorus. There are signed bookplates on the way to several of you - anyone who would like a dedication, you can send me an email via the 'profile' page on the left, and I'll post them to you anywhere in the world. The Beauty Chorus is currently the #1 bestselling War Fiction book - and it's amazing (not to say humbling), to top Tolstoy, Faulks and many other writers I've admired my whole life. So, thank you.