Stressed, me? No. No. I'm fine. Really.

And my thumb will heal in no time.

What? Where was I? Oh yes. Stress. Why should I be stressed?

I only have a writing Course to give from the 3rd to the 10th of October, then I get to join Peter in Houston.

And alongside the writing Course, I only have press releases to send out for San Diego, Bethesda, Oakmont, New York and Cambridge.

And I only have follow up press and media calls to do for Chicago, Minneapolis, Boulder, and Denver.

No problem.

Texas I love you, we're all set there. The Texans have filled Peter's diary with radio and TV interviews already!

But that aside, okay, I admit it - I've been suffering from a few sleepless nights in the run up to sending Peter off on this tour. So when he left yesterday, I thought I would try a French herbal remedy for stress.

It certainly cured it! Here's how....

They sell it in little glass ampoules, you take one in the morning and the other at night. You crack off a little nipple at each end of the ampoule and pour the weird-smelling potion into a glass of water and drink it. So yesterday morning, the first one went okay. I didn't notice any significant effect on stress levels, though.

Then came the second one... I couldn't get the nipple to crack off. Eventually employing brute strength, I squeezed it tightly between my thumb and index finger and CRACK! It exploded into a thousand tiny pices and embedded itself in my thumb!!

With stress remedy and blood dripping all around me, I found that instantly... all my worries disappeared!

There's nothing like trying to focus on a bloody thumb with tweezers, picking out tiny shards of glass to take your mind of stupid things like a World Tour of Amercia and a few hundred press releases.

And Peter....? Just don't say a word, okay? It could happen to anyone. I'm fine. The bandage is holding.... My thumb is marinating in disinfectant cream.... And it's feeling strangely relaxed...