Sorry I've been AWOL for so long, life keeps getting in the way of what I really want to do... which is write. Having a young child, and one who needs me to be there for him even if it's just to drive the car, means I'm bound by motherly duties which are, by their very nature, fixed to set times of the day. You can't get breakfast at three in the afternoon, for example, and the schools take a dim view of 'My child won't be in today because I've had this great idea for the next chapter and have to get it down on paper'.
Then there was Christmas which takes up a huge chunk of time even if you do order most of it over the internet. My husband is great and does most of the cooking and washing up when he's at home and does it all over the Christmas period but I still have all the presents to buy, even two for myself this year. And when you have a family the size of a small state, a son born on Boxing Day and a grown up child who still insists on having a stocking, it works out to be quite a lot of things to organise.
So writing has taken a back seat, not that I haven't done any but blogging and everything non-novel has been dropped until now. One of the presents I got was an Italian leather journal which I started my new novel in and I've written 130 pages so far, not bad considering. Considering what? Considering my hands don't like the cold so they give out on me or refuse to work at all. I've had the odd day when my brain has given out on me and the journal has remained unopened on the bed next to me.
Now, I'm going to try harder to get things done... I've said that before though so don't hold your breath!