Some news and faqs

In the summer, James and I decided that we were going to go and live in France. We let our house, saved up some money, said a fond farewell to our friends, distributed our furniture among our relations, and headed off to France.

James has been getting on very well. He speaks very good French now and has started getting work from illustrators and publishers. He has a beautiful studio with a drawing table and a fast computer and the company of other cartoonists when he wants it.

I haven't been doing quite so well. I haven't been able to find a job and it doesn't seem likely that I will get one without moving to a larger city.

So I have decided to come back to England. I am going to live in Bristol probably, near some friends of ours, neither of whom has a web presence or a silly nickname. James and I will visit each other every six weeks or so. I want to study music in some way, possibly by doing an MA in British Music at the University of Bristol (they take local historians)

I realise that this will raise some questions, so here is my list of faqs.

Q Do you still love James?
A Yes.

Q Does James still love you?
A That's a yes too.

Q So why aren't you living together?
A I was getting really bored in France and I didn't want to stop James from doing what he wants to do. If it gets too difficult, we can easily move back in together.

Q Where has this music idea come from? You haven't mentioned that before.
A Well, it's been at the back of my mind for some time. I had some singing lessons last summer and the results were so extraordinary that I felt I must try and pursue this now before I get too old. I've been wanting to do something a bit more creative for a long time and this is it.

Q Are you sad to leave France? Do you feel disappointed?
A I don't feel disappointed. I'd probably have better luck looking for jobs in France in a bigger city. I acclimatised quite a lot and improved my French and did some research on the job market in France which might be useful later on. I actually feel really excited to have an ambition again after drifting along for a few years doing things that are convenient and pay the mortgage.

Q Where is all this leading?
A I don't know and that's good. It's open-ended.

Q Has this put you off France?
A No, France is great. But living anywhere with no job and no money gets tedious after a while.

Q It's a bit of a bonkers idea, isn't it? Not very well thought through really.
A Yes.