Good luck to Ulrika's new baby...

Writing a book is just like giving birth to a baby - it takes a hell of a lot out of you and goes on demanding, even when you think you've finished all the hard work! Plus, everyone around you thinks it's all really easy and you're making a fuss over nothing...

That's certainly been my experience, and so it has been for an old friend of mine from breakfast TV days, Ulrika Jonsson. Her debut novel, "The Importance of Being Myrtle" is published tomorrow, the story of a 58 year old woman who is suddenly widowed, and is at last freed from the prison of an emotionless marriage.

Good luck, Ulrika. It's daunting trying something new, so muzeltov!