Skip to main content

Life update


I’m finding January a little draining. I don’t feel especially full of ideas, and I’m trying to let that be okay.
I keep thinking we’re pressured to treat January like a 'new chapter,' but sometimes it’s just a continuation of tiredness  only with colder weather and higher expectations.

For now I’m focusing on small comforts and steadier rhythms, rather than goals. If you’re feeling like this too, you’re not alone.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

From revelations to red herrings - what makes a good clue in a crime novel?!

A good clue might seem minor or unrelated at first, but later, when the twist is revealed, it becomes  obviously significant . Example : A dog that didn’t bark during a break-in later reveals the intruder was someone known to it. The best clues aren’t hidden, they’re right there,   buried among distractions  or filtered through character assumptions. T echnique : Use red herrings or multiple interpretations to mask the true meaning. The clue should emerge naturally from character behaviour or choices and not be dropped in arbitrarily. Example : A suspect unconsciously straightening a crooked picture frame may link them to a ransacked room later. Make clues reflect the larger emotional truth or moral question of the story. Example : A discarded child’s toy at the crime scene isn’t just a clue, it hints at the victim’s broken home life. No clue should exist in isolation. It should tie into at least one other clue, forming a web that readers can eventually untangle. What Fee...

Good news for 2026!

Good News Wednesday: I’ve had a really positive message from a client, that another contact has offered to help move a joint project forward. Encouraging momentum on both fronts.

Old houses and atmosphere

The  Green Knowe  books have such a distinctive atmosphere. The old house sits at the centre of everything, and time there never feels fixed. Instead of dramatic time travel, the past seems to slip quietly into the present. In  The Children of Green Knowe , when Tolly stays with his grandmother, he encounters the children who lived there centuries earlier; Toby, Alexander and Linnet: as if the house itself allows different periods to overlap. In  The River at Green Knowe , Tolly experiences the house in the Middle Ages in the same gentle way. There’s no explanation or mechanism; the house simply seems to hold those earlier lives within it. That sense of time folding softly back on itself gives the stories their quiet enchantment. Inspired by Hemingford Grey Manor where the author lived, the house feels ancient, calm and full of memory; a place where the garden, river and rooms all carry traces of the past. It’s the kind of atmosphere that stays with readers for decad...