Dr. Who – Alison Runham

Jaunty: Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk; crisp and dapper in appearance; lively in manner or appearance; having or suggesting a lively and confident quality.

Jaunty, I pondered. This was a tough one. David Tennant and Matt Smith were both quite jaunty as Dr.Who. I don’t think Peter Capaldi’s going to be. That’s not to say I don’t think he’s going to be any good; I’m suspending judgement on that until he’s made himself at home in the Tardis. I just don’t think he’s a jaunty kind of guy. Do you?

Hmm…I thought I’d look for jaunty things in Google. That might help. Photo: Friday's Chalk Board...

Some were very boring, but I did come across The Jaunty Goat: ‘Chester’s Best Coffee’, which I may have to visit when I go to Chester again purely because of the name. And because it seems like the staff have got a sense of humour. Though surely they should serve a coffee called the Anti-Depresso that claims to cheer you up? For me, it would need to be frothy with caramel and hazelnut syrup, plus chocolate sprinkles on top. I’m not hard to please.

I also came across The Sisterhood of Jaunty Quills.

Who's Jaunty? No, it isn’t a strange cult. It’s a group of ten authors blogging about ‘writing, life and love’. Jaunty Quills, I hear you ask? Pourquoi? Jaunty Quills is their blog mascot (pictured left) and you can find out more about him by visiting Who’s Jaunty? (while suspending your disbelief 😉 ). They haven’t got an About page unfortunately, or any info on their Home Page, so I struggled to find out how they know each other, why they set up the Sisterhood or why they share a blog. I had to search their blog posts until I found a 2011 post by Shana Galen, ‘The History of the Jaunty Quills’:

The Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills was the brainchild of Kimberly Logan. She used to write for Avon, as did all of the founding members, and asked some of the debut Avon authors if they’d be interested in starting a blog with her. This was in the days of Squawk Radio (remember that?) and everyone was looking for new ways to reach readers. I guess some things never change!

The original Jaunty Quills were Kimberly Logan, Margo Maguire, Cindy Kirk, Robyn DeHart, Anne Mallory, Shirley Karr, and me.

And that’s quite enough jauntiness from me *tips hat*.

On Friday there was a meeting – not of minds, but of both my jobs. We took our preschoolers for a session at ‘big school’, where I also work. It was Old MacDonald Day so everyone dutifully dressed in jeans, boots and checked shirts!

Even though it’s only a few minutes walk from one to the other, we were drowned by the time we got there. Of all the days for the heavens to decide to open with a whoosh! But the children had a lovely time – they made animal masks, went on a farm animal treasure hunt in the hall, dressed up as animals, made funky horse masks, coloured in farm pictures, and of course they played with the toy farm as well. Oh, and sang Old MacDonald whilst learning the Makaton symbols for the animals. Lots of enthusiasm!

In a rare moment of relaxation (although it kind of crossed over to writing work as well) I finished the Writer’s Tale 2: The Final Chapter by Russell T Davis and Benjamin Cook. Great entertainment, lots of laughs, a behind the scenes look at Dr.Who and an insight into Russell’s writing – who could ask for more?

Personally I think he served an OBE just for the book, never mind ‘services to drama’! Reading it was like sitting ion the midst of a cosy chat – it’s all emails, save for the ocassional text message, so it really feels like you’ve just pulled up a chair…
The downside is, I had that really bereft feeling you get when you come out of a ‘book world’ you’ve been so comfy in.

Never mind. Thanks to my lovely husband, supplier of all things Christmas-booky, I have already betrayed the memory of Russell and Benjamin, and floated into Mr.Fry’s Chronicles. Armchair, anyone?

I have a horribly busy week ahead, and the playscript is still not finished. But I’ve made progress today, and the back is feeling a bit better. So there’s hope for me yet!