Lockdown was challenging, but in some ways life is even trickier now. We’re allowed out, but have to behave in ways which feel completely unnatural. Our smiles are hidden behind masks, our words are muffled and we must keep our distance from each other. Being unable to hug a close friend at her mum’s funeral was a real low point.

But despite all, there have been some lovely highlights in recent weeks and they have brought me moments of  joy. Being able to take the ferry to Millport again and enjoy being back on my favourite island was brilliant for reducing anxiety and stress. Look at that glorious,  tranquil view. Who wouldn’t feel better,  breathing that tangy sea air and listening to the distant cries of the gulls?

My writing mojo vanished during lockdown and didn’t come back at all until mid-June. It was a relief to be able to write again, or at least to edit the latest draft of my MS. I managed to complete the draft before the deadline and sent it off to my editor at Floris, with my fingers crossed that she enjoys it and that we’re approaching line edit stage at last. Although my creative writing output has really slowed in recent months, I’m confident it will return,  and have kept busy making teachers’ resources, including the Reflective Reading Task Maps for Stay at Home! Poems and Prose for Children in Lockdown,  a a free, illustrated anthology of poems and stories for children aged 8-12, comprising specially written lockdown-themed contributions by 40 writers based in Scotland.

https://www.cranachanpublishing.co.uk/stay-at-home-2/

In late August, we went to St Andrews for a week’s holiday and that was wonderful too. During lockdown, my eating habits had become hobbit-like; breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch and so on. Gardening was my only exercise. Determined to get fitter and healthier, the Fitbit is back on my wrist and  I have started walking every day. Being in the East Neuk of Fife was brilliant, because there are so many lovely coastal walks, including this section on the Hen Walk above gorgeous Crail harbour.

Now that the schools are back, life has changed again. As a Titanic study hook, I offered to send a letter to teachers about the real-life characters and the inspirations behind the plot of The Titanic Detective Agency. I was inundated by replies, and was busy for a fortnight posting cards and emailing letters.

In early September Katie McGrath, a lovely school librarian in Glasgow, invited me to visit two Glasgow high schools, and although I was worried that speaking in coherent sentences for two or three hours might be a challenge too far,  it was wonderful to be back, chatting about books and answering questions from budding writers. Thank you so much for having me, Whitehill and St Mungo’s!

Katie interviewed me for the first issue of Glasgow School Libraries’ fabulous new e-magazine and it was thrill to be on the cover of the magazine! You can read the interview here.

https://online.fliphtml5.com/kukmo/yfmu/#p=1

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