Unbelievable breaking news: my story has come first in the www.strictlyshakespeare.com April competition! All because you wonderful people took the trouble (in some cases, time and time again), to vote for me. It's my first ever outright competition win, and gimmicky though the process is, I'm bouncing with happiness. Thank you all SO MUCH. I owe everyone big time!

… I also solemnly promise NEVER to enter another such rigmarole again, to have to bug my friends (who all have much better things to be doing) to vote, especially over and over again. Have to admit I didn't realise the precise nature of the competition when I lobbed off an entry.

Gimmicky though it was, in retrospect there was one educational gain from the experience. It forced me to market myself. I asked people I would never normally discuss my writing with to vote for me. I begged my daughter's friends' parents, and my husband's colleagues. I asked old school friends. Chums from the pub. It was probably the first time I've stepped up and yelled out 'I am a writer' to anyone who could hear. Found it felt surprisingly good. Motivational, too. Writing perhaps isn't something one has to apologise about indulging in, after all.

Thank you, all, for being so wonderful and supporting me.