Sports mad

I took the train to Bristol last Saturday afternoon as I was speaking at the Jon Lewis Testimonial dinner at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City Football Club. I was the guest speaker, and Ian Bell, Liam Plunkett and Jon Lewis were on the panel for a Q&A session. Ian Bell told me during dinner that any of the top 8 nations could win the World Cup and although he has great respoect for Australia, he rated Pakistan and of course the home team, the West Indies. He went on to tell me that he'd had a few days off, but had been in the nets that morning and was hitting the ball sweetly. Good luck to the team.

I'd caught an early afternoon train so that I could sit in my hotel room and watch England play Ireland at Dublin's Croke Park. I have little to add to the obituaries on most of the sports pages this week, other than to say that the Irish are the last nation on earth who still have the courtesy to remain silent during a penalty kick - even when it's the visiting team's. It's hard to believe the English will be able to defend the cup, and I suspect now that only the French or the Irish will be a real challenge to the All Blacks.

Rome

I travelled to Rome on Thursday to prepare for the launch of The Gospel According to Judas on March 20th. It was very pleasant to have lunch in a pavement cafe in the Piazza Apostoli in between meetings with the Catholic church hierarchy.

I saw for the first time the German and Italian versions of the Gospel, and was assured that the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and of course the English editions, will all be available on the same day. Mondadori, my Italian publishers, pointed out that to have seven languages published on the same day was probably a first; they told me that the foreign editions of Harry Potter are published three to four months after the English edition. I can't tell you too much about what took place in Rome as I'm meant to be keeping it secret until March 20th.

Highlights of my week

On Wednesday evening I went to see Boeing Boeing at the Comedy Theatre, and I recommend it if you want to laugh until you cry. It's the best comedy I've seen in years so grab tickets while Roger Allam, Frances de la Tour and Mark Rylance are still in the cast - and no, I'm not an angel in this production - only wish I was.

I've just done an interview with Neil Denny, editor-in-chief of The Bookseller. This is the bible for those in the trade, giving details of everything that's happening in the book world, and frankly is indispensible for a full time author. Mr Denny was interviewing me about The Gospel According to Judas, in particular how I met up with Professor Francis J Moloney, and what it's like to collaborate with such a distinguished and respected academic. It is a pleasant change to be interviewed by someone who talks about the books and ones work, rather than simply asking a series of sterotypical questions about the past.

On Saturday I watched my rugby team, Cambridge, beat Manchester 28-27. Our brilliant fly half kicked a penalty from 42 yards with 60 seconds to go, making it one of the most thrilling matches I've ever seen in my life, as well as securing our position in national league two for another season.

Ready for launch

Now that the television shows are out of the way, I'm concentrating my energies on the build-up for the launch of The Gospel According to Judas, which will be published worldwide on March 20th. This is already causing some controversy as people are trying to find out what Judas felt about certain events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. All manuscripts have been shredded and the first copies of the book - due in next week - are being kept firmly under lock and key and will only be sent out to the bookshops on the day of publication. Among the other things that came up in the Judas team meeting, was the possibility of a launch either at Westminster Abbey or the Cathedral. I'll keep you briefed on this, in case any of you would like to attend. The main launch itself will be on March 19th in Rome, where I am flying to on Thursday with a view to looking at three venues for an international press conference.

Welcome home

We have just learned that our stolen statues have been found, and Mary has put out the following statement:
"We are absolutely delighted that our stolen works of art have been safely recovered. We would like to thank the Cambridgeshire Police, who made the recovery, and the local and national media for the publicity they gave to the theft."

May I also thank all those who wrote and emailed their best wishes while I was away writing.

Art Heist

I had a phone call from Mary last night to tell me that thieves had stolen two statues from our garden in Cambridge - our wonderful bronze of 'Shepherd and Sheep' which is actually five separate pieces, and was commissioned from local sculptor Christopher Marvell. They also stole a bronze of a girl doing a handstand by the late Sydney Harpley RA.

Here is a picture of the statues - 'Handstand' is just visible in the background - anyone who spots them, please let me know!

I'm nearing the end of my first draft of 'A Prisoner of Birth' and by tomorrow will have written around 170,000 words. I'll be back in London next week, but I just wanted to thank all of you who have written and posted comments, about both the ITV programme Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway on Tuesday evenings, and also on my forthcoming book, 'The Gospel According to Judas', which will be published on March 20th - this is much appreciated.

The new BBC 2 show, The Verdict, on which I am a member of the jury, begins on Sunday evening at 9.00pm. Hope you enjoy it.