Welcome to Literary Friction. I'm Octavia Bright, coming to you from mid-summery London. The roses are blooming,

the skies are grey. Hi, Carrie. How you doing? Hi, Octavia. Yeah, I'm, my skies are grey too, but I'm currently just really enjoying being able to see friends, including you.

Yeah.

You saw last weekend, and it was the best, and it was sunny too on that day.

It was a beautiful day.

But I'm feeling very grateful for our partial return to socializing that's been allowed. In the last

week and a bit, I have met two one-year-old children of friends for the first time. I went to a wonderful

publishing lunch with an editor, which I haven't been able to do in a long time. And I've seen people

who I haven't seen before the pandemic started. And there was a

piece of my life missing. And I feel like it's so good to have it back. So that's how I'm feeling right

now. How about you? Yeah, same. Totally the same, basically. I mean, that afternoon we spent together,

oh my God, in the hot sun, eating soft serve ice cream on that pretend highline in Kings Cross.

It was so restorative. Yeah, and I've also been meeting babies, lots of babies, seeing friends. I know, but all the babies, I've, yesterday, actually, met another very lovely baby for the first time.

And it made me feel a bit like a visiting dignitary.

Like, here comes the mayor.

Ready your babies for the photo op.

Because I just, I have this like repetitive memory of just being handed babies a lot at the moment.

Like, here's the baby here's

another baby they all look like Winston Churchill but no I mean it's it's it's amazing just to feel

less anxious about physical contact isn't it and to hug freely and with abandon and and like

hold these new lives without freaking out about the risks so much. I mean,

I got to hold my goddaughter Xanthi for the first times I've met her a few times since she's

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