Spaceport: Courtesan and Englishness

The next Spaceport book is done! Well, finally. I only figured out the ending this weekend. It's the story of Sayana, Jal's sister from Incognito. She was originally a throwaway character, until I realised I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write about a courtesan who lives in a spaceship. It should be out in November (yes, it's very late being turned in!).

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Yesterday I found myself on the way to Cambridge with the family, on an expedition to help my dad spend his money on a new TV. On the way, someone foolishly suggested we go to the tearooms at Granchester for lunch. Well, since this involved turning the car around and retracing about a hundred yards, we said yes. Of course, it being a Saturday, and Cambridge hating the car, it took about twenty minutes. And the car park had a queue down the road. And the queue to be served was even longer. And there were no tables.

But I still had a nice time anyway. I can't think of anywhere else where people might queue up to sit outside in deckchairs, in an orchard, with actual apples and everything, drinking tea and eating scones, in October. It was all so English. So English, in fact, that it was full of tourists. Well, that's Cambridge for you.


(Incidentally, anyone from the Cambridge area, please check out the Rupert Brooke poem on the Orchard's website. I especially like how Cambridge people rarely smile, Being urban, squat, and packed with guile. And the less said about Shelford, the better!)