0 21  2 Comments on Wednesday 16 July 2025: It rained!
Posted in writer at work

Wednesday 16 July 2025: It rained!

The day started well again yesterday. Especially when we woke to see it had rained. Yay! I began the work day with revisiting the diary again and lumping jobs all…

0 44  2 Comments on Tuesday 15 July 2025: St Swithun’s Day
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Tuesday 15 July 2025: St Swithun’s Day

I think we’ll start with some good news today. Well, good news for me at least. We got back from Stratford a week ago on Saturday. Between then and yesterday,…

0 42  2 Comments on Monday 14 July 2025: Where did *that* weekend go?
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Monday 14 July 2025: Where did *that* weekend go?

Honestly, blink and you miss it these days. While Friday does seem a long time ago, I seem to have completely missed the weekend… I had a lot to do…

0 70  2 Comments on Friday 11 July 2025: Weekend again already
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Friday 11 July 2025: Weekend again already

And just like that…it’s Friday again! Crikey. I feel as though I’ve wasted an entire week, but actually, I should stop beating myself up. I spent several days working on…

0 75  2 Comments on Thursday 10 July 2025: More book covers
Posted in writer at work

Thursday 10 July 2025: More book covers

First job Wednesday morning, after feeding the dog and the birds, was Week 3 of the 50 crime mystery prompts workshop. This is the final workshop in this course. I…

0 83  2 Comments on Wednesday 9 July 2025: More faffing
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Wednesday 9 July 2025: More faffing

Before I went into hospital back at the beginning of March, I’d lost 8lb on the 16:8 ‘diet’. When I came out of hospital, I had to take it easy…

0 86  2 Comments on Tuesday 8 July 2025: Cover work
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Tuesday 8 July 2025: Cover work

After a lovely break in Stratford last week, yesterday was back to normal, apart from having grand-doggy #1 with us to get us up on time. We were both exhausted…

0 107  2 Comments on Friday 4 July 2025: Short break in Stratford
Posted in writer's life

Friday 4 July 2025: Short break in Stratford

On Thursday we were up bright and early and on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon. Some people I’d worked with 30 years ago were having a reunion, and they invited us…

0 131  2 Comments on Friday 4 July 2025: Still getting through stuff
Posted in writer at work

Friday 4 July 2025: Still getting through stuff

When I got up on Wednesday, my response to Assignment 3 for the 50 MURDER mystery prompts workshop hadn’t come back, although he did acknowledge my submission early Sunday evening….

0 129  2 Comments on Thursday 3 July 2025: Steady as she goes
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Thursday 3 July 2025: Steady as she goes

I had a good, clean shot at the day’s work yesterday. My planner was neatly filled in, with specific jobs against specific time slots, and with  two half-hour breaks throughout…

0 132  2 Comments on Wednesday 2 July 2025: Novella 8 in the bag
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Wednesday 2 July 2025: Novella 8 in the bag

We had a hot and busy weekend. With another heatwave on the go, it was starting to get quite unbearable. We kept as cool and hydrated as we could, but…

0 146  2 Comments on Tuesday 1 July 2025: Hello July!
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Tuesday 1 July 2025: Hello July!

I’ve been doing a lot of work on the schedule, but the list of things to do never seems to get any shorter. And so I just keep on plodding…

0 137
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Monday 30 June 2025: June wrap-up!

Well, June seems to have flown by in a flash, doesn’t it? I was really very, very busy for much of June, and for the past week in particular. I…

0 173  2 Comments on Friday 27 June 2025: Power failure
Posted in writer at work

Friday 27 June 2025: Power failure

So I was busily working away on Thursday, going through the regular jobs on auto-pilot, thinking I had the whole day ahead of me. Which, of course, I did. Just…

0 177  2 Comments on Thursday 26 June 2025: Managed some writing
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Thursday 26 June 2025: Managed some writing

Wednesday dawned and the first job of the day, after all the usual household stuff, was Week 2 of the previous start-date’s 50 crime mystery prompts workshop, which I was…

0 161  4 Comments on Wednesday 25 June 2025: Catching up…again
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Wednesday 25 June 2025: Catching up…again

Yesterday morning started well enough, certainly better than the previous 2 days. I was up on time and at my desk on time, but the first jobs I had to…

0 183  2 Comments on Tuesday 24 June 2025: Cooler 
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Tuesday 24 June 2025: Cooler 

Thank goodness the temperatures had dropped again by Monday morning. We’d had a few showers too, so the garden was looking greener in places. It’s far nicer working in a…

0 165  2 Comments on Monday 23 June 2025: Heatwave 
Posted in writer at work

Monday 23 June 2025: Heatwave 

Friday seems like such a long time ago and, of course, I didn’t write the blog post as I went along, so now I’m trying to recall it all from…

0 183  2 Comments on Friday 20 June 2025: Tech issues
Posted in writer at work

Friday 20 June 2025: Tech issues

Thursday started with me giving that story another go I’d abandoned halfway through. Yes, we’re supposed to read these stories for entertainment and if we’re not enjoying it we’re supposed…

0 177  2 Comments on Thursday 19 June 2025: Productive few days
Posted in writer at work

Thursday 19 June 2025: Productive few days

By the end of Tuesday, UK time, the new week’s videos still weren’t up for the 50 murder mystery prompts workshop. First thing Wednesday morning, I looked, and there they…

0 138  2 Comments on Wednesday 18 June 2025: Wallowing
Posted in writer at work

Wednesday 18 June 2025: Wallowing

After a really late night on Sunday I had an extra hour in bed on Monday, which put me an hour behind on the rest of the day too. I…

0 161  2 Comments on Tuesday 17 June 2025: Good work rhythm
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Tuesday 17 June 2025: Good work rhythm

I was up on time on Friday, and instead of reading a newspaper or playing a game, once I’d fed and watered the garden birds, I read a short story…

0 155
Posted in book review

Book Review: Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Storm Publishing for letting me see an advance reader’s copy of Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown. This is the first book in…

0 200  2 Comments on Friday 13 June 2025: Writing prompts
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Friday 13 June 2025: Writing prompts

I managed to get up on time on Thursday and feed and water the birds before settling down with my dirty cuppa. Instead of watching a video, though, I read…

0 185  2 Comments on Thursday 12 June 2025: Brainstorming
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Thursday 12 June 2025: Brainstorming

I slept in again on Wednesday. I don’t know why I’m so tired at the moment. It’s possible I have a cold coming, or I’m fighting a cold as the…

0 178  2 Comments on Wednesday 11 June 2025: Always learning
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Wednesday 11 June 2025: Always learning

Monday was a busy day. The day started with me catching up with jobs I hadn’t finished by the end of Friday. So while I ran a couple of backups,…

0 194  2 Comments on Tuesday 10 June 2025: Lazy-ish weekend
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Tuesday 10 June 2025: Lazy-ish weekend

I had a very busy week last week. Most days were 12-hour days, minus 3 x 1-hour breaks, so I suppose 9-hour days, but they were still long and busy….

0 175
Posted in book review

Book Review: Death at the Lychgate by T.A. Belshaw

Many thanks to the author for sending me an updated version of Death at the Lychgate. I liked it that much, I bought a copy. This second book in the…

0 195  2 Comments on Friday 6 June 2025: Friday already!
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Friday 6 June 2025: Friday already!

We noticed another casualty among our garden birds. One of the blackbirds, a male, but not sure how old he is, has lost his tail feathers. He looks a bit…

0 199  2 Comments on Thursday 5 June 2025: This is a long one!
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Thursday 5 June 2025: This is a long one!

Well, we had another holiday and I scheduled 7 posts to publish, both while we were away and right after we came back. They all seem to have worked, I…

0 181
Posted in writer at work

Book Review: The Devil’s Cut by Andrew James Grieg

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Storm Publishing for letting me see an advance reader’s copy of The Devil’s Cut by Andrew James Grieg. The Devil’s Cut is the second…

0 207  4 Comments on Tuesday 3 June 2025: We had another holiday
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Tuesday 3 June 2025: We had another holiday

On the Friday before the holiday weekend, I struggled to get up. We both did. But I had work to do and he had meetings to attend. We were so…

0 227  2 Comments on Monday 2 June 2025: Hello, June!
Posted in plan for the month

Monday 2 June 2025: Hello, June!

June this year is quite clear. We’re not going away anywhere, and there are only 3 appointments in my diary, and one of those the poet is supposed to be…