Catch!

So, this week was supposed to be brilliant because I’m on leave from the day job, the summer has finally, after six years of getting here, arrived, I was ready to start my next book, dreams of sitting out under an umbrella with iced coffee to hand and fingers flying over the keyboard. And what happened? The sun vanished and it rained – don’t even get me started on the forecast for next week - I had to go to the dentist with a problem and I came down with a virus that has meant more time lying on the sofa waiting for painkillers to kick in than sitting at my desk at the screen face, watching my word count rise. Frustrated.com.

Our American cousins have a fabulous saying for this – this is life throwing you a curveball. A curveball doesn’t sound so bad, does it? But its dictionary definition is downright nasty – something that is unexpected or designed to trick or deceive. For me this week it’s only been a little curveball but one that has totally wrecked my plans and made me feel utterly miserable and quite cheesed off. Exactly the same thing happened to me at Christmas when I stopped work for a few days. It seems to be a common thing that we run on high stress as the norm so when the stress temporarily disappears, our bodies nosedive into recovery mode and things we may have been fighting at a low level for some time have the space to rear up front and centre. Hello, virus.

So by now you’ll be expecting one of those platitudes about when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, but right now, I’d be much more inclined to chuck the pitcher. What I have realised though, tossing and turning for half the night, is that me being angry and uptight in full diva mode, really isn’t helping me feel any better. I had other plans for my holiday but at least I can sleep on the sofa without the pressure of having to be anywhere else and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about scenes while trying not to watch the clock tick round to morning. I’m just finishing reading a book I really haven’t enjoyed that much so now I get to read one I will, without feeling guilty about not doing something else. I’m going to try giving myself a break and boosting up my immune system with lovely things like reflexology and massage ;)

But I’m still annoyed about the weather forecast . . .

A strange gift

I had to go to a funeral last week – one of my writing friends, Colin Webb, had sadly passed away. It was a glorious day, all at odds with how it should be on such a sad occasion, which made me think of a clever story he’d had published about a funeral at midnight in atrocious weather. So many people came to pay their respects that the service was late starting while as many chairs as could be were found and still the mourners spilled out into the gardens.

And during the service and afterwards chatting with friends, I realised that a funeral can actually be a gift. Colin’s service was entitled a service of thanksgiving and, sad as it was to reflect that he’s no longer with us on this plane, we could all be thankful that he had touched our lives. And, of course, there’s that reminder, knocking us a bit more insistently on the shoulder that day, that yesterday has gone, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, but today, that’s a gift, which is why it’s called the present. During my kids’ childhoods, I used to stop sometimes and just watch them, thinking I needed to imprint that time in my mind as it wouldn’t come again and, if I didn’t do so, it would be lost.

Colin’s funeral also got me thinking how often I can get distracted with ‘busy’ work which, in the great scheme of things, if I were looking back at my life, I wouldn’t want to have spent so much time on. It seems my ‘to-do’ list would be much better entitled ‘things I’m glad to do’. Yes, the mundane has to fit in there somewhere but ‘things I’m glad to do’ feels so much more inspiring it might even make washing the car seem like something fun . . .

I'm still here!

So, what have I been up to since my last blog entry? Clearly not writing my blog!

I single-mindedly finished my edits on the book I’ve been working on for the last year and sent it off to my agent – cartwheels, fireworks, huge sigh of satisfaction :)

I gave myself a couple of weeks off in the evenings and it was quite a revelation to me (as it always is at this point) that people go out and do things in the weekday evenings! Taking youngest son to his boating, hubby and I went for a leisurely coffee, instead of me sitting editing, writing, or planning in the car, wonderful stuff. I’ve also done a lot of reading, and have read some excellent books which you can see on my ‘what I’ve read’ list.

After about three days my muse had enough of watching TV and generally relaxing and began waving story ideas at me, trying to seduce me back to my desk . . . And that’s where I am right now, except for desk read table in the garden, under an umbrella, enjoying this fantastically un-British like weather, busy plotting. I now have an outline for the sequel to The Only, which I’ll be fleshing out during the next week, and then I’m aiming to start writing in about seven days. And I’m really excited about what’s coming Maya’s way. Good things or bad things? That’ll be for you to decide.