Merry Christmas, everyone

Another interesting year is coming to an end. I started it with three months of furlough, returned to work, finished a novel, published a novel (you might have heard?), had a lockdown-themed short story published (All the Magpies Come Out to Play @ Fairlight Books), worried I might lose my job, heard my job was …

Look for the sunshine

This photo was taken on a beautiful day. Cold, blue skies, sunny - wrapped up in my hat and gloves, it was glorious. Then I turned 180O and saw these doom-laden clouds. They didn't remain long, they didn't unleash a torrential downpour; I turned away, and the rest of the walk remained perfect. I avoid …

Making it up as I go along

The observant among you will note that I've changed my blogging day to Monday. When I decided I'd post a series of interviews, I was going to do them on the third Monday of each month but continue posting around the Thursday/Friday as well. I realised that was a little unfair on my interviewees because …

Holding my breath

Bear with me, because I have no idea what I'm going to write today. I know I want to write something - the whole point of returning to my blog was to do it regularly - but... oh my god, I did not sleep well last night. I watched 1:15 disappear into the darkness, and …

Spring is springing

After some very cold and snowy weather, today felt properly Spring-like. This is what a happy dog looks like, once he's run around and exhausted himself! The awesome thing about this time of the year is waking up when it's light, strolling rather than rushing to get through errands, and being able to sit outside …

The end, the end, the very very end…

My novel is complete. It's been sent for editing - the lovely Karen Sanders removed a million extraneous commas - and I've looked over the notes, and now it's done. Completely and utterly done! Next, I have to decide what I want to do with it. I'd like to submit it, either to an agent …

Slip-sliding away

Good morning, lovely people! What a great day. The sun is shining, and it's just above freezing. On our walk this morning, the grass was solid with thick frost, the river was mirror-still, and there was a beautiful river mist clinging to the valley and edge of Plymouth. There are no photos, because it was …