I was incredibly busy from February to April; lots of school visits, World Book Day week events, four fab sessions at Paisley Book Festival and a lovely school assembly for Helensburgh Book Festival. As well as the school and festival events, I did six readings in the Great Hall at the wonderful Unicorn Weekend at Stirling Castle and  signed and chatted about Titanic all weekend at the Titanic Exhibition in Leeds

.Most thrilling of all, Ice Cream Boy was shortlisted for the Alexandra Palace Children’s Book Award and I had a whirlwind trip down to London for the award ceremony with the other shortlisted authors and 800 excited children.

I loved all of these happenings, but all the travelling was tiring and by the time the Easter holidays arrived I felt I’d lost my work/life/writing balance completely, and my overwhelming feelings were exhaustion and guilt. My dad’s dementia is worsening, his care needs are increasing and I felt I couldn’t continue being unavailable to help whenever I was needed.

So, I’ve made the decision that going forward, from June onwards, I’ll do school events on Wednesdays and Thursdays only, unless there are exceptional circumstances. On Tuesdays I’ll continue to look after my gorgeous granddaughter all day and on Fridays I’ll go to yoga (I missed nearly every class last term) and see friends for coffee and lunch. I’ll make Dad’s dinner and sit with him until his bedtime on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, plus take him out for lunch at the weekend and try and fit the gym in when I can. Last term was a total exercise fail and I need to do better!

You might have spotted a tiny issue by now. I’ve organised the events part and the family/friends part of my life. Where am I going to fit writing time into my life? It’s an excellent question, because I do need to prioritise writing.

Thankfully, Linnet and the Periwinkle Flyer is finished and is heading for the printers, and I am delighted with the way she looks. So grateful to Elise Carmichael who has created a stunning cover and to Tiny Tree Books for being so supportive.

Linnet and the Periwinkle Flyer is coming out on August the 21st this summer and I can’t wait to see it in print. I’ve been busy in May writing four short stories for a lovely environmental project with a local council…more about that soon hopefully!

So, some writing has been done.

But despite whizzing ahead with a brand new novel idea while on a writing retreat in Austria back in January, and getting mid-way through a first draft, I have been procrastinating since,  or maybe just genuinely haven’t had time!

To be honest, I think the answer to the question of “when will I get this book written?”  is the same as when I worked full-time as a primary teacher. The summer holidays will soon be here. School events will stop and I will get my head down and have a first draft written by the end of August. It WILL happen.

So, that’s me organised, in theory at least.

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas break. I overdid the decorations as usual, but loved having a twinkly house and really miss all the sparkly lights now that they are back in the cupboard.

The freezing weather and long dark nights mean I often succumb to the January Blues but not this year. I am skin cancer-free, at least for now, and I have so much to look forward in the first months of 2025.

My second school reading book, The Last Zeppelin, another real-life story of survival after Terror on Titanic, is coming out with Badger Learning in January.

My story for 6-8 year olds, The Stargazers, is coming out as part of BBC Scotland’s Time for a Story series early this year and I am so looking forward to seeing the illustrations and listening to the added sound effects! Recording the story at the BBC Studios in Glasgow was great fun.

Phoebe misses out on playing in the snow, but a cloudless night sky is perfect for stargazing. Phoebe and her Gran decide to try and see the stars from her dark garden.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07jntrp/episodes/guide

In March I’m going to London to take part in the Alexandra Palace Children’s Book Awards, as Ice Cream Boy has been shortlisted and I’ve been invited to the big award ceremony. Ice Cream Boy has also been shortlisted for Peters Books Children’s Book of the Year and longlisted for the James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award which is totally thrilling. The novel is now also available as an audiobook, narrated by Angus King and is currently being reprinted. I am so proud of how well the book has been received.

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I’m looking forward to taking part in a couple of lovely book festivals in the spring too so it is shaping up to be an excellent few months.

Writing-wise, I took procrastination very seriously in 2024 and know that I need to get my head down and write a first draft of a new novel between January and April 2025, so it is back to the serious business of daily word counts and Written? Kitten! (You can choose puppies if you prefer -whatever positive reinforcement works)

https://writtenkitten.co/

There is also some very exciting book news hopefully coming soon, which I am bursting to talk about.

On a final, personal note, I am loving looking after my little granddaughter every Tuesday. We visit the library in Kirkintilloch often and this week had a fab afternoon out to the Riverside Museum in Glasgow where we spotted the perfect transport to take us home. Looking forward to lots more days out this spring!