Lake Como to Kerry to Mayo to London

What are your future travel plans?

I can tell you what my immediate future plans are.

Rewind one day. We arrived in Bergamo (from Ireland) last night and landed in the early stages of a storm. Lucky our flight wasn’t delayed landing, as many were, because of the storm.

We were flying with Ryanair and, well, I’m sure the pilot said “Feck it, we’ll be grand” and he kept on going!

We landed fine!

Coming from Ireland, the first thing you notice when you step off the plane is the heat. Even during an Irish heatwave, the warmth from the sun is so different from the Mediterranean sun. (Same sun, yes, but you know what I mean)

Today, we are in the midst of the storm: thunder, lightening, and heavy rain. As we boarded our plane in Ireland, it was raining.

Am I annoyed? Not at all, because from experience I know that it won’t last longer than a few hours — at home it rains for days or weeks at a time.

It’s warm rain here. It’s refreshing because the climate is so hot. It’s forecast to end in less than an hour, and I hope it will take with it some of the dead heat.

Tomorrow we travel to Lake Como and we’ll stay there for five nights. I think it will be a little cooler there.

We love some heat and sunshine, but our Irish bodies are not equipped to cope with too much of it. It takes longer than a few days to become climatised.

Next week we’ll be back in Ireland and we plan to spend a few days in Kerry.

After that, we’ll travel to Westport for a family camping trip; weather permitting.

Our final trip for this summer will be a few days in London.

Then it will be back to school and work and looking forward to autumn — my favourite month!


Thank you for reading.

Do you read fiction?

If a family saga set in a small Irish town is up your street, you might like to have a peek inside the pages of my novel, Secrets in the Babby House.

Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. It is a story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets.

Also available on Rakuten Kobo book.

MORE ABOUT ME, MY BOOKS AND MY CHARACTERS IN THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO!

Classical Music for Writing

What do you listen to while you work?

I don’t like hearing noises from outside or from other parts of the house while I’m writing.  It gets in the way of my concentration.

I usually have one of these playing on my laptop. Loud enough to block out unwanted noise but quiet enough not to disturb me.

Sometimes, I play songs to suit the setting of a scene or chapter I’m writing, to help me with inspiration. The problem with songs is that I often get distracted by the lyrics and end up singing along instead of writing.

When I was writing Secrets in the Babby House, I played a lot of Irish ballads. The song, Red is The Rose, is of huge significance in the story, so I played it a lot.

There’s nothing like songs and music to transport the mind to a different place or era.

Thank you for reading today!

Would you like a peek inside the pages of Secrets in the Babby House? You never know, it might just be your cup of tea!

Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. It is a story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets.

Also available on Rakuten Kobo book.

MORE ABOUT ME, MY BOOKS AND MY CHARACTERS IN THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO!

Chocolate – Raffaello to be Exact

Daily writing prompt
What’s your go-to comfort food?

Chocolate is my favourite comfort food. It makes me feel happy and safe and it’s possible the only food I eat mindfully.

I like to eat it slowly, savouring every mouthful, making it last as long as possible. I talk to it, telling it how much I love it, thanking it for choosing my mouth. ‘I love you.’

I like chocolate that has nuts in it, orange centred and coffee centred and strawberry centred. Dark and milk, mint flavoured… oh yes, I love mint flavoured chocolate.

I like white chocolate too but not all brands. Cheap white chocolate is awful.

My absolute favourite is Raffaello. If you’ve never had it, you’re missing out! If you like almonds and coconut you will LOVE Raffaello!

I have no ‘before’ photos but lots of ‘after’ photos! Here’s an ‘after’ photo!

I’ve recently discovered the Raffaello chocolate bar! Divine!

If you’re reading this and you know me, and you ever want to buy me a present, this is what you should buy me. A bottle of red wine to compliment it would be brilliant, but just the Raffaello would do, thanks!

Thank you for reading today!

Do you read fiction? Recent historical (50s/60s)?

Would you like a peek inside the pages of Secrets in the Babby House? You never know, it might just be your cup of tea!

Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. It is a story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets.

Also available on Rakuten Kobo book.

MORE ABOUT ME, MY BOOKS AND MY CHARACTERS IN THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO!

My Favourite Frustration

Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

We are big fans of board games in this family, and not only at Christmas. When my adult kids come to visit at weekends, we usually spend the evenings playing cards or board games.

These days the big favourite is FRUSTRATION. It’s so much fun and it really does live up to its name. The latest version has a new addition; a genie.

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