This was the final section of my last blog at the end of May:

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. 

Unfortunately, as Burns said in his famous poem,

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy.

Which is pretty much what has happened. My first draft hasn’t been touched this summer. When the holidays arrived my lovely dad, who hadn’t been in good health for months, began to deteriorate rapidly.  A scan showed that his colon cancer had returned. He died peacefully on the 24th of July.

My father was a special person, a genuinely lovely man. One of his greatest qualities was his ability to believe the best of people. He was a true gentleman; kindness personified and generous to a fault, who gave without expectation of praise or reward.

Dad had a firm moral compass, but he was also hugely compassionate. Whenever his kids or grandkids made mistakes or bad choices, he was always ready to forgive and keen to help us out of whatever pickle we were in.

A short poem by Robert Louis Stevenson sums up Bobby Gibson’s life.

That man is a success
who has lived well,
laughed often and loved much;
who has gained the respect of men and women
and the love of children;
who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
who leaves the world better than he found it,
who looked for the best in others,
and gave the best he had.

My dad’s life was an unqualified success.

He was the best of men, the salt of the earth. He laughed often and loved much. He gave the best he had.

He has left the world better than he found it, and I will love and miss him forever.

Robert Gibson March 30th 1929-24th July 2025

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.