25 days in my life from 14th November to 8th December. Dawn to dusk. On 14th I perform Something Dark at the new venue Storyhouse in Chester.On 15thI travel to Manchester for Celebrity Mastermind at BBC. (Broadcast on 28th ) A video of yours truly helps launch Co-op Member Pioneers via video Same day as Apples and Snakes launch this interview which I did a year ago .then at 7pm I co-host a dinner at The Gorton Monastery for The Green Gown Awards.Still in Manchester the next day on 16th at 9.30am I give keynote speech at The Museums Association conference at Manchester Central. then at 6pm launch the Manchester Histories festival at Manchester Art Gallerythen 17th I perform at Norwich Arts Centre Something Dark. Sold Out 20th Monday 9am At I’m interviewed at The House of St Barnabus in Soho for Hope For Homes and the YouTube conference. then at 7pm I’m in Liverpool for an evening masterclass with 20 Stories High Theatre.This photograph tells me everything about the masterclassEvery single day I hear astounding news about The Christmas Dinners. On 21st I Travel to London for a Soho meeting with tv writer Sally Abbott then at 6pm I’m in an in-conversation called "Off The Record" for the Year Here alumni in Hackney. 22nd The day after I’m in an interview on Hard Talk with Phillip Sackur at BBC Studios After a coffee with Philip I catch a train to Brighton to The Art of Attachment project in at Brighton Oasis working with children and adults affected by drug use.23rd travel to Exeter and on 24th at The Royal Albert Museum for a really enjoyabe talk and then onstage interview with Fiona Graham Mackay the BP Portrait Award artist. And then a full reading from Gold From he Stone. It was a full on night. on 25th Itravel from Exeter to Sheffield and perform Something Dark at Sheffield Crucible. Sold out. This is what it looks like before the eventAnd this is what it was like at the end in the question and answer session My favourite photo of the event is this one On 27th i travel to London to do a BBC Radio recording for a show to be broadcast on Boxing Day. On 28th I meet The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Midleton at noon in The Foundling Museum then at 3pm I catch a tube and walk past parliament to read poems to to five hundred GCSE students in Westminster. 30th November. This is the day I travel to Ethiopia but first to Sheffield to speak at The Festival of Social Work And then I hop in to a taxi and onto a traiin to Manchester Airport. I have to leave from Manchester (Thursday 30th) to get to Ethiopia via Dubai for my book launch on Friday 1st.But the plane is late arriving in Dubai and my connecting flight to Ethiopia has already gone. To rub it in this popped up on the airport TV screenSo my book launch in Ethiopia is cancelled and rescheduled for the day after I find myself stuck in a hotel in Dubai overnight. I arrive on Saturday 2nd. The event has skillfully been rescheduled. I step off the plane and onto the stage.Beautiful Hilton Hotel. The day after I on 3rd I Perform for Jupiter Book Club at Jupiter hotelthen on 4th I Perform at the hilton hotel for American school in Addis and then catch the plane to Heathrow. Mid flight Hard Talk is broadcast around the world. on 5th the plane arrives in London and I travel straight to Canterbury to perform Something Dark at Marlowe Theatre I do an interview for a Christmas Dinner for care leavers which is taking place in Canterbury as part of my residency as Canterbury Laureate then on 6th An interview with Sophie Willan on stage at Marlowe Studio then onThe day I after (7th Dec) I travel to Manchester from Canterbury via London and finally Old Trafford. Shrewsbury Street. Here I launch Limelight with Diane Modhal. I wake at malmaison in Manchester. It's gonna be a long day. 8th December. Start filming at 9.30am Interview with BBC TV at The Co-op. It's for The Christmas Dinnersthen a pop over to a photoshoot at University of Manchester. This is me and Professor Danielle George taking a sneaky pic before the official photo - she's ace. The University collects money for The Lemn Sissay Foundation Then I travel to London to speak at The Oxo Tower for the Frontline Fellows, brilliant social workers from around the country.The BBC TV package which was filmed in Manchester this morning is broadcast while I speak about The Christmsa DInenrs on stage. Why do I do this, this blog? I guess I do it so I can see what I've done, the highs and the lows, the strengths and the weaknesses . Next year I am going to make a plan and concentrate on getting a home, a place to feel comfortable and at ease. A place to relax: a place I own. Merry Christmas.

25 days in my life. The low down.