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Buen Camino: Learning to trust my abilities!
“It’s mostly flat,” he said. He lied. In September, my fiancé led a group of ten, including me, along the last 100-ish kilometres of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I had a lot going on in my life (retiring and getting my house ready to sell among them) and had taken him at his word that no “training” was required for this six-day adventure. Then, on one of the group Zoom calls, I started hearing about personal trainers and practise walks of 20 km and started to get a little nervous, even though I like a good walk. No… Read more…
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When plans go awry
I have a plan, I told anyone who would listen, when talking about the early days of my retirement. After 19 years of working for a series of companies, one bought by another, and rebrand after rebrand, my days in the communications/public relations/public affairs were over. I had it all worked out. I’d work part way through the summer, have a birthday and then hang up my hat – there’d still have half the summer to enjoy. August was for sleeping, recovering from years of overwork, whether due to the job demands or simply my own workaholic tendencies. September was… Read more…
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Reflecting on Skipping Stones’ launch
What a whirlwind of activity it’s been in the lead up to the launch of Skipping Stones, and the actual launch week itself! Six weeks ago I was signing off on cover art and interior layouts, buying ISBN numbers, finalizing pricing and uploading files to publishers. At the same time, I was frantically building my marketing plan and trying to entice potential readers to see Skipping Stones as a book they wanted to read this summer. It’s funny. When I published Another Glass of Tea back in 2022, I was equally excited and terrified. It was my first book. What if I wasn’t… Read more…
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Taking care of me
Recently, I was very selfish. I work too hard. Pretty much anyone who knows me will tell you that. And in recent years, with kids all flown, between the day job and my writing, I burn the midnight oil more than I’d like to admit. I know I need to fix my handed-down trait of “you only need to see the doctor if you’re sick.” I actually went to see my doctor late last summer, and as expected, after an extended absence, she sent me away with a raft of paperwork for all the usual things a woman “of a… Read more…
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Celebrate International Tea Day with me
I’ve got the kettle on becaues today is International Tea Day, celebrated by many tea-producing countries. Etymology and linguistics have always intrigued me. I like knowing where words come from, how they transformed into words in my language, and why some words are almost identical across many languages and cultures. I was fascinated, when I started learning about tea that around the world, what we call it can be traced back almost entirely to one thing – how it arrived in different countries, starting over 2,000 years ago. There are really only two variations. Both originate from Chinese, but one is more coastal,… Read more…
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A lament for grammar
It’s not National Grammar Day (that’s March 4), but I can’t wait. When did people stop being able to write properly? My inbox is awash with writing containing misplaced commas, apostrophes and hyphens where they shouldn’t be, and missing where they should appear. Comma splices abound and if I have to explain the subjunctive tense (If I were…) or the difference between ‘that’ and ‘who’ (and ‘whom’ for that matter) one more time, I think I might scream. Don’t get me wrong – I know that language evolves, and situational usage means different rules. There are places where it’s absolutely right… Read more…
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My author journey – one year later
I still can’t believe it’s been almost exactly a year since I held Another Glass of Tea in my hands for the first time. It had already been uploaded to various bookseller platforms – Amazon, Kobo, AppleBooks and my publisher’s own bookstore – and it was there for people to buy it. But now it was in my hands. I was alternately filled with excitement and terror. Would people actually buy it? Woud they read it? And the even harder question -would they review it? The answer, to my delight, to the first two was a resounding “yes”. The third? It’s… Read more…
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The Sound of Silence
When did we get so uncomfortable with silence? I remember as a kid, my parents remarking – not without some degree of judgement – about a neighbour who always had the television on in the background. I was always a chatterbox, with the nickname Chatty Kathy to go along with it. It took four years of journalism school to learn how to bite my tongue and not feel the need to fill the silence. The best interview quotes always came when you let the subject do that instead! Raising three kids meant there was never any silence and I remember days when I absolutely… Read more…
