As well as my ski writing and books, I also do a daily news feed for a business travel website. Doing news is a double-edged sword. The thrill of finding out a big story before any of your rivals is sweet although the annoyance at being scooped by them is equally bitter. There’s also the knowledge that you have to perform every day, come what may.

When you’re writing about a specialist area, finding a couple of good stories a day is a challenge too. It means not relying on press releases and following your own leads and hunches. Something that too few journalists seem to do these days.

Unlike in the world of blogging, it sometimes takes time before someone sends you a comment about the printed word. Email has made it easier of course and I’m all for interaction with readers.

Today, however, I received an email from Random House, who published my first book Codebreaker. Attached to the email was a scan of a letter they had received from an pensioner in Beverley who has read the book and is working through a series of code challenges at the end of the book. He has worked out the first four but is stumped on five and six. I sweated for ages over those challenges so I’m glad someone is bothering to do them.  He even calls the book “fascinating”.

He doesn’t have a computer but notes that I have a “Web sight” and the letter looks typed. I’m quite excited about sending him a hand-written letter in return.