The question people ask me most frequently in relation to this project is “when do you find the time to sleep?”

This query is generally delivered with an air of shock or mild amusement, but I can assure you it is no laughing matter.  I am deeply and bitterly resentful of any sleep denied me, be it resultant of my own machinations or those of my enemies.  And these days, what with one thing and another, I miss out on a lot of sleep.

Obviously there are people who get less than me.  Insomniacs, for example, and probably tramps.  I get the impression tramps find it hard to get off to sleep, probably due to the stress of their lifestyle.  Huddling in doorways with old newspapers down your trousers ain’t no substitute for a warm bed.

Mothers, too, probably get less sleep than I do.  Small children on Christmas Eve.  Giraffes, according to a swift googling I just carried out – they only sleep for about 2 hours in 24.  Presumably they get the night terrors.  It’s a frightening thing to be a giraffe, knowing that one day the leaves might run out.

Essentially I very rarely get the prescribed 8 hours a night (although I covet it pretty extensively), but most of the time I get by OK on 6 or 7.  I haven’t turned to stimulants any more exciting than coffee and cake to help me get through, and I haven’t killed anyone for getting in my way of a morning.  But for the last couple of weeks I have been flagging a bit; not finding the time to blog, failing to start book 6, experiencing 8.30am start fails, and that sort of thing.

Last night this culminated in my retiring to bed at the ridiculous time of 7pm, where I read Case Histories (highly recommended, as is anything by Kate Atkinson really) almost from cover to cover, and had the light out by 10pm.  I had to be up at 6.30, so this isn’t the most exciting achievement, but you’ll notice I have had the energy to blog today.  That eighth hour genuinely makes the difference, when you can get it.

In other news, I am going to be on Leith FM on Friday afternoon between 2 and 3pm to talk about the project.

And you can read my latest post for Mslexia here.