We've never really gone big on Pancake/Shrove Tuesday, but any excuse to make something yummy and I love pancakes. I probably will make some for the family and try not to overindulge. (Christmas weight gain, anybody?) I'm actually down about 2.5 kilograms since late January so that's not too bad, although its torturously slow, and up and down, and oh my gosh, really? On the plus, the tight pants aren't so tight any more. I was beginning to panic there. I rather like the clothes I've got and have no inclination to go out and buy new ones. What's the fun of undressing in a changing room anyway?  But thankfully, oh one thousand calories a day, that won't need to happen.  I've got the flour and the eggs, so on with the pancakes on Tuesday for supper. I used to make big fluffy ones but I'll try for the crepe-style this time. I've got syrup in the cupboard so that will go nicely. And I'll dream about it tonight when I cook the tofu and vegetable st...

I've almost settled on this cover with the pink door. I like it a lot. I also liked the blue door in the previous posts but I just couldn't seem to get it to work. There is no significance in the doors. They're just pretty and I feel fit in with the theme which is sort of homely in that the women of Bluebell Road, Julia, Katie and Lydia live there, and have found friendship and love there. The launch of From This Day is a few weeks away yet but at the moment, inbetween proofing and editing, I'll ponder this cover and if I still like it in a week - it's a winner! ~ Maddie.

Today is one of those days I don't have to go out and I can do anything I want. Anything. Actually, I should go out because I've barely done any exercise for the past week, just one walk up the road to the shops, 20 minutes there and back. There is the normal walking in the course of the day which usually gets me to around four or five thousand steps but I have to plan in a walk to get higher than that and to be honest, I just haven't been bothered. But maybe this afternoon I'll head out, whatever the weather. I'm an all seasons gal.  But I will probably work on my writing, even though today isn't in my schedule. I just feel like it and I'll take advantage. I just love a day when you don't have to be anywhere or do anything and today is one of those days. I might watch a movie later. I should probably do some gardening as its overgrown but I might not. There's a good movie on the telly tonight that I've seen before so maybe I'll watch that ag...

  I don't have social media and there are some good reasons for it. It is just too invasive. Addictive. Takes too much time if I'm not careful.  And for what purpose? Do I really need to know what everyone is doing? To watch the cute gifs of puppies and cats? To find new recipes when I have dozens of cookbooks?  Namely these are the things that are, dare I say, all about me and my inability to reign in the curiousity. I've had social media in the past and what I loved is the way to keep in touch with family and friends. But during Covid, some of my family created a WhatsAp group so we message on that and do video calls, and that's a lot of fun. Plus some of my kids still live at home,  and we're not that kind of family that are in each other's pockets all the time, anyway. I know that as a writer I'm supposed to have social media and I've toyed with it but I also know how stressful it can be as well, and why add stress into life when you don't need t...

I've been playing around with writing schedules. What is the best time to write? Is there such a thing as a night owl? How do you know? By years of experience, my friends! When my children were really little it was in the evening. They got off to bed at a good time which left me a good solid two hours to write. I'd go to my desk in the lounge, stick on some music, and get stuck in. At the time I was writing and submitting to Mills and Boon, but I never realised that dream of publication, although not for lack of trying. But I got into a good rhythm and could work until eleven o'clock and still get a decent seven or so hours sleep. But with different work and life situations, the late night stuff stopped working. I just couldn't stay awake. At other times I'd get up early to write, but I'd be going to the loo, getting a coffee, sneaking around to not wake anyone up but sometimes one of the kids would wake up (at six o'clock in the morning when they didn't...

Book Two in the Bluebell Road series is titled... From This Day . Here is the cover although I may tweak it a bit. I love the illustrated look with the lovely fonts, however. So what's From This Day all about? Katie O'Connor lives in the flat on Bluebell Road with Julia ( These Magic Moments ) and Lydia. Her fiance left her for her best friend so she's starting over. She works for Danny Frampton at Frampton's Coffee, a coffee importer and roaster in London, and she happens to think that James Rutherford, her boss's lawyer and friend, is pretty hot. Even more she said as much one evening at work drinks, Jonathan heard, and to say she is mortified is putting it mildly. Jonathan is representing Danny in his divorce but it is tough going. Danny is besotted with his new (and pregnant) love, while his wife and partner in the firm, Bethany, isn't making the divorce settlement easy. Jonathan is torn between what is morally right (Danny's behaviour is wrong on all l...

I love baking and I made some delicious cupcakes using chocolate truffles. They were just plain vanilla cupcakes but I carefully put in some chocolates right in the centre of the batter. I used some of the Monty Bojangles brand of dusted chocolate truffles. We'd got some boxes in a sale after Christmas but you could use any chocolates, I just happened to have these. Then I covered the choccies with the batter, baked them as per usual and ... voila! I dusted them with icing sugar and when you bite into them, they have this lovely, gooey chocolate in the middle, just scrumptious. I'd made them before as chocolate cupcakes and I suppose they were like lava cakes. But I thought I'd make them vanilla instead of chocolate so I could actually see the chocolate in the middle. Warm out of the oven, so delicious! I just used a standard cupcake recipe. Next time I'm going to try a whole cake with the chocolate truffles in the middle and see how that goes. I'm saving the last t...