Diary of a Good Day

1:21am Winston Reid heads home a goal in the final minute of extra time to secure New Zealand's first point ever in the football World Cup finals.

7.05am Wake up. Not too tired. Patches of blue sky visible.

8:20am Turn up at work and talk to colleagues about the football. Ease myself into another day of public service.

9.05am Take jersey off as it appears they have finally fixed the heating on my floor.

11.01am Random House publicist informs me Sunday Star Times are keen to run an excerpt from A Man Melting on 27 June.

11.08am Random House publicist asks if I'd like to be interviewed for National Radio's Arts on Sunday programme (interview to air 4 June).

11.51am Despite the distractions, finish updates to communications plan, project plan and Gantt chart that I've been meaning to do for several days.

12.35pm Get outside for some fresh air. Listen to Gilead as read by Tim Jerome while on my walk. Warm enough to unbutton my coat / get some colour in my cheeks.

4.46pm Take a moment to observe the beginnings of dramatic sunset from my desk.

5.16pm Manage to leave work at a reasonable hour.

5.49pm Arrive home to find a book-sized parcel in my letter box. Unwrap to reveal my advance copy of A Man Melting (the first time I’ve touched my book in “book” form / seen how the "aqua tint metallic foil" looks ion real life).

[Without flash: similar to on a computer monitor]

[With flash: foil-y]

6.10pm Settle down to watch football highlights / relive "the greatest draw in NZ sports history" on TVNZ 7.

7.13pm Devour dinner of kranskies and sauerkraut.

7.35pm Realise its Bloomsday. Fail to find a way to work this into my blog post.

7.57pm Finish uploading photos and ready to devote an hour to writing about a taxi driver...