 ‘The Universe had a moment of alignment when all was right with the situation, but then … boom!’ My readers may recognise this line from my latest book ‘Reunited at the Lakeside Cottage’ when my character, Paisley reflects upon a difficult situation that was nearly resolved to work in everyone’s favour. Sadly, it didn’t as the unexpected arrived causing further disarray.
I’ve used similar lines about the Universe in previous books, usually when a character is feeling isolated and looking up at the stars for comfort or guidance. One of my habits in life is to search for the brightest stars in the sky, to admire the shape of the moon and at times, wish that the Universe would align - a ‘moment of me’ woven into the plotlines of my characters. The truth is the planets are usually in alignment as the revolve around the sun, they simply aren’t visible from our position on Earth. Though on Saturday, 25th January 2025 until early February our night sky will show seven planets: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, Saturn and Mercury - most appearing bright and two somewhat faded in the night sky. I’ll take that, I’m not too fussy. I’ll accept the Universe doing the necessary as long as I’m allowed to enjoy the effects.
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14/1/2025 0 Comments Bucket List 2025/26! I haven't had an official 'Bucket list' for several years, since I was 40 in fact - that's just a year or two ago now! But since I've self-proclaimed 2025 as my year - no lockdown, no ill-health and no life-lessons. I've drawn up a list of several things, big and small, that I'd like to achieve before 31st December 2026. I won't manage all of them in the two years but a gal can dream!
You'll probably remember that last year, I passed my piano exam - twice! A mini goal that I'd set myself during lockdown and I finally managed to claim a 'merit' grade. I embarked on a journey of volunteering in the community - a desire I'd had swimming around my head for a decade or so - tick. I even managed to visit one or two sightseeing trips which I'd meant to complete before now but they were waylaid by ill-health. So 2025/26 has an official bucket list. Big, small and seemingly insignificant things are listed but each means the world to me! I'll let you know as I tick each of them off the list - please don't think big, jaw dropping moments - some are the smallest pleasures in life! 14/1/2025 0 Comments GoodReads Reading Challenge 2024Call me nerdy but one of my delights at New Year is seeing the stats on my year's reading via GoodReads. I always sign up for their annual reading challenge, aiming to read 25 books. I always start a New Year with a strong reading routine which usually lasts until April time. Afterwhich, it tends to dwindle until the heights of summer arrives - when I get to sit in the garden for entire days, with a good book, enjoying the sunshine. Autumn tends to be a 'refresh and refocus' time regarding my reading habit and I'll plough through to the end of the year but I'm usually behind with the Goodreads challenge and need to play catch-up to reach my goal of 25 books! I'll admit it - as my year develops my reading books get slimmer to ensure I achieve my goal. Every year, it makes me laugh and still I allow it to happen, but not this year! There I've said it, this girl is turning over a new leaf! 7/1/2025 0 Comments Thank you! Can I say 'thank you' for the kind messages regarding my drawing of a rose. It appears that many of you have enjoyed my updates - which is truly heart warming. I literally do as I do because it brings me joy. I share because I like to keep my blog content as varied as possible providing a true reflection of my creative journey. This is the current drawing - it has taken longer than I expected but I am hoping it complete it in the coming week or so.
My next drawing will be ballet shoes - you know my brain, always one step ahead! 7/1/2025 0 Comments Happy New Year!I’ve spent the first week of 2025 organsing and planning for the writing year ahead. I’ve had a muck out of my writing room, I’ve shredded a load of old papers and created a new system for completing smaller projects relating to writing groups. I’ve even scribbled on numerous white boards with colour pens and refreshed my bucket list. It was lovely getting back to my weekly routine after the Christmas holidays – the break leaves me feeling so disorientated, not even knowing what day it is! Last Thursday, I attended the first of my virtual writers’ group – which was a gentle experience of listening while others read aloud and received vital feedback. I was inspired by one particular poem and began jotting down ideas for my own version – which has become a mini-project for the week. I woke early on Monday with a fragment of a line whirring around my mind – thankfully the language and imagery have continued since then. Last Saturday, I attended my first in-person writing group of the year which was a delight as only three of us attended but wow, did we have a cracking session! That probably sounds a little selfish but the three of us wrote, chatted all things bookish and unravelled lots of mini-issues that were niggling each of us – a seriously productive meet-up. It certainly boosted my resolution to ‘connect’ over this coming year. I left with a spring in my step eager to return home and crack on with my writing. I’m hoping to have my current project finished by the 31st January – which needs to happen as my brain is already nagging me to start something brand-new and sparkly. Over the years, I’ve learnt to accept this as my natural creative process but one that can trip me up if I fall foul of my brain’s constant nagging to switch projects. The thoughts such as ‘it won’t hurt’ or ‘just an hour or two’ have fooled me in the past and have proven to be the undoing of the ‘current project’ as the deadline only drifts. I don’t want it to drift. I want focus. I want a finished project by 31st January hence, I’m ignoring my brain as it throws up small details to tempt my muse. My final task of 2024 was to have my name engraved upon the large plaque belonging to a local writing group, as I’d won the annual short story competition. The plaque dates back to 1971 which is ironic, as so do I! On collection, I found a safe spot at home in which it can reside for the next twelve months, until the annual competition comes around. It makes me quite sentimental when I see the other writers’ names beside who I now sit. Sadly, many have passed on in life, some have given up writing or attending the local group. Though undoubtedly it was cracking start to my new year seeing my small contribution added to the history of this plaque.  If you’ve followed me for a fair amount of time, you’ll know - I’m a New Year’s resolutions kind of gal. Every year, I attempt to master certain skills, improve knowledge, achieve specific goals in relation to my writing, my reading, my activity and hobbies. Most years, I succeed.
This coming year, I have just one resolution which I’ve borrowed from E.M. Forster - ‘Only connect’ which fits beautifully with my current mindset. The epigraph is a quote from his novel of 1910, ‘Howards End’ in which its main character Margaret Wilcox ponders whether humans can truly align and ‘connect’ their inner world ‘passion’ with their outer world ‘prose’. Forster’s belief was ‘Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its highest’ – which covers all aspects of life, me thinks. Forster’s other quote of ‘Choose a place where you won’t do harm – yes, choose a place where you won’t do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine’ – hasn’t gone amiss in my life, so fingers crossed for 2025! 17/12/2024 0 Comments Play it again, Erin! You might remember back in March 2024, that I sat my grade one piano exam and was chuffed when I actually ‘passed’ having taught myself since the Lockdown experience. I was delighted at the time, and had no intention of ever repeating the experience – I’d proved to myself that I had understood the basics.
I recognise that I’m never going to have the finesse or grounded understanding that a pupil will gain from a regular music teacher. Let’s be honest, I didn’t truly know what to expect when attending the actual exam other than the basic requirements from the official ABRSM website - which I studied, as necessary. I attended without the ‘hints and tips’ that a music teacher would have prepared their student with beforehand. Thankfully, experience counts for everything in my world. You won’t be surprised to hear, that having 'passed', I continued to practice my pieces and retook my grade one, in early December. This time, I achieved a ‘merit’. Woohoo, now I’m officially done with grade one piano! 13/12/2024 0 Comments Christmas and Jolabokaflod 2024 For me, Christmas officially begins at home on Christmas Eve. All preparations such as gift wrapping, delivery drop-offs to friends, food shopping or last-minute bulk buying of big bottles of Bailey’s liqueur has to be completed by the 23rd. If it hasn’t crossed the doorstep by that date - I can live without it!
Such measures came into play after ‘lockdown’, when I admitted that my love of Christmas was being ruined by the corporate marketing teams and their seasonal guilt-tripping. I refused to buy into their reinvention of my Christmas. I was happy with my tried and trusted family traditions, so I made a stance! I stole back my Christmas from the corporate Grinches – along with one additional tradition especially for Christmas Eve! Three years ago, I’d learnt about the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod (meaning the Christmas Book Flood) where families present each other with a festive book and spend the evening embracing the ‘togetherness’ of reading whilst cosy and warm, accompanied by lashings of hot chocolate! I have whole heartedly nabbed and extended this tradition to fill the entire day! Christmas Eve in my house is now a snuggly reading day, of self-care and seasonal pampering, in preparation for the big day. It’s no coincidence that I feast entirely on mince pies, stollen, Turkish delight and the big Bailey’s gets cracked open! Let’s be honest, some Christmas books are simply ‘December books’ where the setting coincides with Christmas time, and nothing more. I like genuine Christmas books where the story starts a day or two before December 25th and ends near New Year. I need to ‘meet and greet’ a cast of characters who remind me of love ones, with their quirky mannerisms, their bizarre yet unfunny jokes and their numerous allergies to turkey, plum pudding or Brussel sprouts. When I dive into the pages of festive mayhem, I wish for a cosy, idyllic setting, waist-high snow drifts and unfinished arguments from yesteryear simmering beneath the festive smiles and threatening to erupt during the King’s speech. I need secret desires, mountains of chocolate treats and characters who plan to return and exchange their unwanted gifts for store vouchers. I want to read about complicated heart break, New year fears and witness gut-wrenching tears beneath or beside a real Norwegian spruce. This festive reading confession probably explains the reasoning behind the plot twists and seasonal ingredients crafted within my own Christmas books. My aim is to provide my readers with a traditional family Christmas, as outlined above. Sadly, I always ruin my characters’ festive break by crafting numerous trials and tribulations that ignite conflict and calamities that aren’t welcome anywhere near my own doorstep during my twelve days. Call me ‘festive-selfish’ but I want the best of both worlds! To indulge in a great Christmas book filled with chaos, mayhem and possible romance whilst experiencing a memorable yet peaceful Christmas of the Dickens variety, whilst counting my blessings, albeit with a festive coffee or three! This year, I’ve selected two classic Christmas books ready for my ‘Jolabokaflod’ reading fest. Wishing each and every reader the Christmas of your dreams overflowing with festive ingredients and traditions of your choosing! 5/12/2024 0 Comments Publication day! Today 5th December is publication day for my fourteenth book, which is book four in the Lakeside Cottage series. The story is a standalone tale, set within the beautiful Cumbrian landscape so it doesn't have to be read alongside the other Lakeside books - though some readers like to read in publication order.
Remember you can sample the opening chapters by visiting Amazon and selecting the 'sample tabs' beneath the book cover. The reading sample gives you access to the first 38 pages of the book ... enough pages to try before you buy! The audio sample gives you a five minute section - so grab a coffee and enjoy! Book blurb: Welcome back to the Lakeside Cottage . . . a place to come together, or be driven further apart? It's that week between Christmas and New Year, and sisters Kate and Selena, and their friend Paisley, are meeting for an all-girls mini-break - no men allowed. But Affie, Carlos and Joseph have a similar idea, involving a sports channel, plenty of beer, and absolutely no women. Somehow, there's been a double booking. Paisley just wants to escape her worries, to recharge and reset for the coming year. The last thing she needs is complications. Kate, the elder sister, is a people pleaser, used to making things run smoothly for her CEO boss, but even she can't fix this, can she? Selena, meanwhile, may have a hugely successful career and be about to turn thirty, but she's her own worst enemy, and, as per usual, this mess may well be her fault... To make matters worse, Paisley and Joseph have history. Can the six of them find a way to navigate nearly a week together? Can the past be left behind and a new future found? The Amazon link: www.amazon.co.uk/Reunited-Lakeside-Cottage-heart-warming-uplifting-ebook/dp/B0D5QQPL8J |
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