Honestly, when I think it took me 18 months to write my first book

And this next book has to be in on Monday – How was I to know someone was going to set the barn on fire?

Yes, yes, a little mad, that’s me. And did you know that if you want to avoid being bitten by horseflies you must wear pale clothes – I love that bug man on the One show.

Being bitten for the sake of art? (which is what he does on a regular basis) now that’s something that would never happen in one of my books

Oh, for goodness sake, why am I pretending?! What would life be without a little nibble of this and that from time to time…

And, btw, why didn’t one of my children warn me that there’s a gizmo you’re supposed to touch on the iPhone camera to make sure you’re taking pictures *away* from you???
Took these fabulous images of the glorious Yorkshire countryside to show you – and ended up with some red-headed hoyden pulling a very strange face indeed!

Sxx

There is something magical about the British seaside. I think its because when we get that odd sunny day we all feel a little giddy with excitement. It’s such a treat, you see.

And then there are the characters – the good old English eccentrics that give this land its personality. The Morris men, in this instance; a tradition unchanged for many hundreds of years that can still draw a crowd. And thank goodness for it – I love things like this.

And what would a day at the seaside be like without the Classic car show, and the carousel…?

Whitby harbour on a sunny day… beautiful

And if you think you can only find heather like this in Scotland – the North Yorkshire moors in all their glory…

Sxx

On the one sunny day of the year, my son hammered on the front door. ‘Get away from that desk, mother,’ he commanded. ‘I’m taking you to the seaside.’

‘Okay, I said meekly’ Or something similar.

‘No, I’m serious,’ he said, pulling the plug *literally*

So off to Whitby we went…

For sand pies…

and fish and chips…

And…
If you don’t do what you’re told in this family…

No, it wasn’t me heading seawards, thank goodness, but my DIL

Sxx

I have never been able to understand ‘empty nest’ syndrome.
As minimus checked out – again – this morning, I waited and waited until it just burst out of me – ‘Can I crack open the champagne now?’

‘Champagne!’ she squealed. ‘Oh – thanks so much for reminding me,’ she added on her way to the fridge. Plucking a bottle of my best pink fizz from the rack, she waved cheerily on her way through the door – ‘See ya!’

Yes, dear reader – we certainly deserve each other in this family.

Sxx (Whitby coming up – I just feel a bit down about it at the moment – a young boy was drowned there after our visit, and now it turns out he was on a day out from a secure unit in the care of 4 professionals.)

Holding Whitby – which was fabulous- one of those truly magical days when the sun shone and the ice cream didn’t melt – for this cover.

A little disappointed that my heroine doesn’t sport the spiky, alternative hairstyle to complement her spiky, alternative personality, but I’m guessing that an eye patch and short, red streaked hair was an ask too far

Sxx

Look out all next week for photographs of the fabulous British seaside – umbrellas, scarves, woolly hats, donkey rides on the beach, ice cream, and most importantly… fish and chips The whole nine yards!

Sxx

Whitby, here we come. Yay!!!!!!!!!!

Lies, apart, (fantasies, Susan, PLEASE!) I’m wondering if authors feel things more than they should

There I was, having lunch with friends who decided they were going to celebrate my USA Today moment with champagne, when my iphone trilled.
Better answer it, one friend suggested – might be Hollywood.

Yes, dear friends, we all laughed.

Do you feel okay? she pressed. Did you eat something?

A rather large slice of humble pie, I replied.
Yes. My revisions had just come in. And on my new phone they registered as 12 pages

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??????????????????????

I left them to go and do some serious shopping to dull the pain – ending up at Marks and Spencers – where it occurred to me, when I had passed the same smiling assistant ten times, that I had better *put* something in my trolley.
I grabbed things down from the shelves, wondering if they would notice if I was sick in their freezer.

My baby – my beloved baby *sniff sniff* had gone out into the world only to be rejected -
How could I cope *gulp*

By making a list, I concluded, adding some steel to my drooping gaze.

Having propped up my eyelids with girders, I paid and marched out to the car. Only to find a ticket stuck to the windscreen. Hey ho.

On arriving home and loading the revisions onto a ‘proper’ computer they had miraculously shrunk to 2 pages. Bigger screen, you see.

All that fuss – and a ticket – for nothing.

Courage, mes braves!

Though quite what the family is going to think of a birthday cake, three jars of strawberry jam and a giant-sized bag of chicken dippers for supper is anyone’s guess

Sxx

In the interests of speeding up I have promised my editor that I will not write, then rewrite ten thousand times before sending in the manuscript – I will write. Once. Just that. Then send.

Aaaargh! Waaaaaaaaaaaah! I’ve just done that and am feeling intensely vulnerable. Goodness knows what will have slipped through –

But it couldn’t be as bad as the time minimus thought it would be fun to add a few bits and pieces to a finished manuscript, not realising I’d just gone to make a coffee before sending it off – I came back to my desk – ‘Click’ ‘Send’ ‘Gone’

Bet that caused a few raised eyebrows in Richmond

Sxx

You have to allow me a proud mum/mom moment!

Courtesy of Clipper News
Another major stepping stone has been crossed in the preparations for the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race. The first Level 2 training courses for new crew members began last week and the crews returned to Clipper HQ with bags of excitement along with a few tired legs.

“Amazing, intense, hard work, challenging and permanently tiring but it is so worth it with the feeling you get at the end of the day when you get in your bunk and you just think, this is so cool,” explained Leonie, 23, from Leeds.

The next stage in Clipper’s intense training programme saw crew members progress from the Clipper 60s onto the Clipper 68s for their week long course. “It was more than I expected. I hadn’t actually ever been on a Clipper 68, obviously I’d been on the 60s but getting on these was a whole different experience – the amount of space you’ve got, the layout etc, you can do so much more with it and it’s just so much fun.” continued Leonie who has signed up for both Legs 1 and 2.

Sxx

The Betster rules supreme –

Paolo tearing his hair out – proving my point that every alpha needs a woman to float his boat.

Who fell out of his bunk at 2 in the morning?
Who got their life jacket inflated when she got mouthy on board?
How do Italian stallions teach the rest of the crew to tie a bowline?
Press-ups on deck in a force 5?
You know who you are.
I’m not even getting started on the acronyms – just let’s agree that sailors are a plain-spoken lot

Sxx