New Beginnings: A Garden Uncovered, A Cover Revealed.

Snowdrops at Llanerchaeron

No winter lasts forever… and nor, thank goodness, does every lurgy. After ten weeks of wondering if I’ll stop coughing, the infection loses its grip and I’m well enough to tackle my first Park Run with Helen in the beautiful grounds at Llanerchaeron. Park Run, of course, is not a race but it doesn’t stop Helen and I blatting along each week in pursuit of new PBs.

Tom and I have both been busy at work. One week there’s a strange juxtaposition when I proofread my novella and then check Tom’s draft thesis! I begin ‘Cyborg Music:A Future Musicotechnographic Aesthetic’ with some trepidation about how I’ll cope with the deep philosophical concepts but by the end I’m fully on board and bursting with pride. Tom makes his final amendments and takes three copies to the post office where he pays a whopping £15 to send it on its way. Now ‘all’ he has to do is sit back and wait for the date of his Viva Voce…

Lily’s second baby is due… ooh… tomorrow, so excitement’s running high here and we both jump every time the phone rings. Trying to channel our nervous energy into something positive, we’ve started to tackle our neglected, overgrown garden. It’s hard work, but we’re already making some unexpected discoveries like the extent of this garden path.

Some news I can share is that my publisher, Choc Lit is releasing my novella, Moonbeams in a Jar in May. It’s available for pre-order from today and book blogger Karen Mace has kindly revealed my gorgeous cover which I can now show you. I’ll be talking more about the story in coming weeks (you knew I’d say that!) but here’s a flavour of it for now.

When Chloe Potter wishes on a star that she’ll find a man who’ll accept her and her noisy dachshund Wilma, she doesn’t think that she’ll bump into one quite so soon …

But almost immediately she meets Ryan Green and his boisterous basset hound, Fred. Ryan is larger than life, ruggedly handsome and, most importantly, a dog lover – surely a match made in heaven?

But Chloe soon finds that trying to tie a man like Ryan down is like trying to catch moonbeams in a jar. Ryan’s job as a photographer means that when he’s not in the middle of a war zone, he’s trying to catch just the right light at the top of Mount Snowdon.

Chloe wants stability and when it becomes clear that Ryan will always put his job first, she knows she has to move on. But then a once-in-a-lifetime trip unexpectedly brings them together once again …

Isn't this pretty?

Heading for the Rocks

Blue Nun and the rocks! Aaaah! The joy of having a boat again! Blue Nun’s so much more responsive than our wooden boat, lovely as she was, and so nippy too! We enjoy a brisk sail from Neyland to Dale where we spend a couple of restful days, reading, writing and generally watching the world go by. On the third morning we decide on a change of scenery and potter round to a sheltered bay where we can pick up a mooring buoy. Well, we would have, if I’d been quicker. Now, I’m pretty good at picking up buoys, but make a right dog’s dinner of it this time. ‘Never mind,’ says Tom, ‘we’ll give it another go!’ He puts the engine in reverse and Blue Nun obediently travels backwards (something no previous boat of ours has ever done!) … and a rope which trails the dingy behind the boat whirls round the propeller. Yikes! Tom manages to free enough to regain control of the engine, but he’s pretty sure that some of the rope is still tangled up. Whilst I would quite like to preten...

A Winter's Tale

Thursday 2 December Feeling confined in her snow-muffled flat, Ma takes a walk up her front path to take the morning air. As she returns a cat jumps over the wall and startles her. She slips on the icy path and lands heavily on her shoulder. When her injury doesn’t spontaneously heal, she eventually gives in and calls her local GP surgery. In the evening a GP visits and summons an ambulance ‘sooner rather than later’. Around 10.30 pm Ma is admitted to her local hospital. X-rays suggest she has a fractured scapula which will require emergency surgery. She is put on a nil by mouth regime that night and transferred to a larger hospital for an emergency operation. However, she’s picked a busy period for her accident so the operation doesn’t take place. Saturday 4 December The operation is rescheduled for this morning, so Ma’s had a second night of nil by mouth. A CT scan shows that Ma’s humerus is broken in four places. Despite her obviously smashed-up arm, which is in a sling and...

Proceed With Care

The Blogosphere is heaving with writers many of whom are aching to be novelists. A few days ago, over at Purple Coo, I was asked a couple of questions about making submissions. This may possibly have raised a few eyebrows as I’m not exactly bursting with novels but I have plenty of writing experience and a few cautionary tales which may help anyone about to embark on this path. 1. It helps if you can write. I’ve spent most of my working life as a professional writer. That hasn’t always been my job title, of course, which has been Research Officer or Local Government Officer (of various descriptions) but writing has always been essential to the job description. I’ve written research papers, policy notes, briefing papers and press releases and if you want someone to turn your hesitant speech or venomous rows into concise elegant prose, well, it ain’t me, babe, because I don’t do that anymore. In addition I’ve been placed in national essay and poetry competitions, I’ve been published in m...

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