Ch-ch-ch-changes

And so a brand new year, and a brand new decade has begun, complete with a winter wardrobe of white. I have also decided to change the scenery, and have agreed to house and cat sit for a friend’s parents for a month while they are away. Luckily I got settled in before the snow, and am now blissfully enjoying my own space. No longer will I feel like a crazy person if I want to write in the middle of the night, or from 6am, or anytime I want!

I have been left with enough food and drink to stock a small but sturdy army, there is chocolate to be found most everywhere I look, and am already old friends with the cat. I have also worked out the various heaters, although my slight OCD is in full force with the bar fire in the main room – is it off? Is it? Shall I check again 10 minutes later? And again? I also brought my hard drive and printer across (I really should get a lap top one of these days!), and now have a little home office sorted. It is really nice here, a time to breathe, and to step out of the normal routine.

The plan now is of course full speed on the writing. Through various reasons, I haven’t managed any more on the novel since December 29th, so now I have to pick it back up again, keep calm, and carry on. There is still normal work to fit in around that, but now I can come home and write all the time without my mum’s suspicions of what I am doing. In her world, (think Daily Mail, sadly), the Internet is where people go to talk seedy in chat rooms, arrange to meet killers, download porn, or give away bank details. Hence her fear every time she hears me tapping away upstairs! I tell her I am writing a novel, but this goes down the same as it would if I said I was planning to be an astronaut. She’ll try and get excited about it, for example if I use the same analogy she would ask about my space outfit, wonder if I should go for a nice green instead of white, but warn me not to spend all my time researching stars. If I then tried to talk seriously about space and shuttles, she’d nod, her eyes would glaze, and she’d point out that Eastenders is on. So being here neatly skips all that, and gives me the space I need to crack on. I am loving it already!