Musings on coronavirus

How quickly life can change. Last weekend, I was eating lunch with family, and now I'm in self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms. All the things we take for granted have been suddenly stripped away from us - family gatherings, sport fixtures, evenings out, a quick coffee with a friend, a gym session.

It's both comforting and overwhelming that the entire world is under these same conditions. I don't have to explain what's happening to someone in the US or Greece or Budapest, because they're experiencing it for themselves.

I haven't got my head around it at all. In a way, being ill has helped because I haven't wanted to go out, but my complete isolation will end on Friday, and after that I'll be navigating social distancing instead.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a recluse. I may have mentioned it before, if you catch up with me on social media. But I now know I would be really bad at it! I need people, I need conversation with random people in the street. I need hugs.

As it stands at the moment, the launch of Grace & Serenity is still on schedule, but the signings I was planning to organise have been stalled. The places I wanted to approach are all closed, for one thing!

So far, this week:

• I've written some more for my new novel, and considered writing a couple of short stories
• Watched the entire two seasons of Life on Mars, and started on Ashes to Ashes
• Distanced myself from the news, and especially from the government's daily press conferences - I know it's essential to know what's happening, but it was really doing nothing for my mental health
• Channelled my inner Samuel Pepys and started a specific coronavirus journal, so that all my severe angst can be expelled before I open my laptop and splurge my internal panic all over the internet
• When I feel better, I'll be spring cleaning and enjoying some time in my garden

What are you doing with all this extra time? Whatever it is, I hope you're staying safe, following the guidelines for whichever country you're in, and that we all come out of this stronger, calmer, and more peaceful. This might be the reset we need x

Yep, only 20 weeks until Grace & Serenity is out in the world. The manuscript is currently with the copy-editor, and I'm starting to work on a new book - something I've had hanging around for the last year which had to be set aside when all the work on Grace started.

Obviously, with a book due out and another in the early stages, I've got plenty of time on my hands 😉, So it was serendipitous that an email plonked itself into my in-box last week from Crisis, a charity which aims to end homelessness here in the UK. They were advertising their latest fundraising event, and I signed up.

I will be walking 620,000 steps during March! 

It seemed like a good solid number, until I started telling friends and they looked upon me with horror. But I think I can do it. I walk a lot, because I don't drive, so I chose a number that would be an actual challenge. Plus, I work in a gym, so if I'm struggling, I can walk on the treadmill or simply round in circles. A friend sent me this article about how walking helps you think, so it might even aid me in the writing of the next book!​

​My new short story, Click, has just been published on the fantastic Fictive Dream website - a girl watches her family disintegrate through the lens of her camera.

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It's a family business, and everything is done by hand - from filling the moulds for the bars to sprinkling on the different toppings. It's fascinating to watch the small number of employees - only three when I was there - knowing how far and wide their product is sold.

​Photos: my Bakewell Tart Brownie and huge vats of chocolate. I could have watched that chocolate swirling around all day!

​After a flurry of excitement over the past couple of days, I'm finally settled - and coherent - enough to share my latest news...

My novel, Grace and Serenity, is going to be published in July 2020 by Vine Leaves Press!

This is me signing the actual contract!! I look a lot more calm and composed than I felt.

Vine Leaves published my short story collection, You. I. Us., and I'm delighted to be working with them again - and especially to acquire another of Jessica Bell's amazing covers.

If you want to keep updated on the book's progress, use the box at the top right of this page to sign up for my newsletter - I'll be sharing snippets from the book, offering early review copies, and having a celebratory giveaway in the near future (chocolate, it'll be chocolate 😋) The next newsletter will be out on the 12th August.