Lunch with a friend and a walk by the sea in the sunshine added up to a wonderful day off yesterday. And I wrote 250 words because, apparently, I just can't stop writing! Back to my writing desk today. #writingcommunity #dayoff #seascape

Today is exactly the sort of autumn day I love. Cold, crisp and sunny. Dad and I decided to make the most of the glorious weather. We went out for a coffee before I started writing at a tea room on a working farm. As you can see from the picture, autumn is well underway. #autumn #pumpkins

It's been a v productive afternoon at my keyboard. I've written 1,716 words & broken the 30,000 word barrier. The 1st rewrite of my #wip is going well. I'm v pleased. But my brain has ground to a halt now, so I'm going to stop writing for today. How is your day going? #writingcommunity #wordcount

Watch this space 👀

I was too early, then too late to capture the #LunarEclipse2025 on my camera. I ended up with some lovely photos of the clouds at sunset and what might be the end of the eclipse. I'll just have to watch it online, I guess. 😀🌑

Why does the UK #media give #NigelFarage so much air time, but have failed to cover Jamie Raskin holding a mirror up to him and showing that he is, really, Trump 2.0? Please share. 31% of the UK population wants to vote for him. A vote for him is a vote for loss of rights & fundamental freedoms.

United States Representative, Jamie Baskin, spoke truth to #NigelFarage this week about his proposed assault on #freedomofspeech, should he get into UK power. I haven't seen this on any news programme, yet they all give him air time. It's time to hear the other side www.facebook.com/share/p/19NV...

I'm thrilled to have earnt a shout out in this month's ##WriteCBC. Thank you to @rowancoleman.bsky.social for a fun and inspiring prompt. And many congratulations to my fellow shout out authors! Looking forward to next month's prompt. 😀

#WriteCBC task from @rowancoleman.bsky.social: One way to imbue authenticity into a character is to discover their secrets. What memento do they keep in their beside drawer? Write a scene involving this memento. What subtle secret does this reveal? What does this tell you about the character?

Yay! It's Bake Off time. 🧁🥮🥞🍰🎂🍥 #GBBO

Another productive writing session. Chapter 16 is finished and I enjoyed writing every word! New word count: 26,986 #amwriting #writingcommunity

The Measure by Nikki Erlick has been on my tbr pile for ages. Tonight, I'm finally going to stary reading. #excited #amreading #readingcommunity

Despite being interrupted by a thunderstorm & torrential rain, I finished the rewrite of Chapter 15 today. Tomorrow I can start work on the chapter which is the most entertaining & fun to work on in the whole novel. I anticipate a lively day at my keyboard. New word count: 25,507! #writingcommunity

Having had a wonderful week off last week I got back to my desk today and did some writing! I finished a chapter and started another. Then I went to read in the conservatory where I promptly fell asleep! When I woke up, I finished reading 'Assembly' and then went 1/2

The BBC have axed #BetweenTheCovers, one of the few programmes about books.We need to start a campaign: #BringBackBetweenTheCovers & let the BBC know we need a regular fix of Sara Cox's TV book club. Axing this brilliant show when they broadcast so much expensive trash TV seems bizarre.

Some family came to visit for a couple of days and my aunt brought me some books. It's always thrilling to be given books. I started reading 'Assembly' by Natasha Brown about an hour ago and I can't put it down. Has anyone read it? #books #reading #amreading #readingcommunity

More inconsistencies. #TheSaltPath observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It infuriates me that science-denying psychologizers like Paul Garner and "Sir" Simon Wessely are allowed to harm patients, not only in their own country, but their biases and abuse extend to patients in other countries as well. These men do not deserve to influence medical care anywhere.

I really think that "Sir" Simon Wessely should be stripped of his knighthood for the decades of harm he has done to the #MECFS community by claiming that it was psychosomatic. Thanks to @decodemestudy.bsky.social we can now prove that there is a genetic basis to an organic immunological...

I've wondered about this for years. #SimonWessely #MECFS

Proud to be on the Science Advisory Board for DecodeME, a peripheral role but a fantastic vantage point from which to witness such outstanding work by Chris Ponting @cgatist.bsky.social and colleagues #MECFS #pwME www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

#MECFS #DecodeMEStudy

This is the most exciting breakthrough in #ME research ever. Thank you so much to @cgatist.bsky.social Sonya Chowdhury and the rest of the @decodemestudy.bsky.social team for all of your hard work. I'm so proud to have contributed to the study and so grateful to you for achieving this breakthrough.

I feel so vindicated. I've lost almost 37 years of my life to #ME. I've been treated so badly by so many doctors over the years who thought I was making up my symptoms. Now we have definitive proof it's a physical illness to which we're genetically predisposed & I participated in the study. #proud

Guess who's been shopping for eyeliners! I'm having a much-needed day off. So far I've been for lunch and shopping with my sister and a dear friend of ours. Now we've stopped for a coffee. Bliss! #DayOff #ladieswotlunch #shopping #girlslunch

I was thrilled to receive a rejection yesterday. I realise that's odd, but with most of the #queries I've sent out since February I've been ghosted. A rejection is so much better than silence. At least I was deemed worthy of a response. #grateful #writingcommunity ##amquerying

This article in yesterday's @theobserveruk.bsky.social, which is a rebuttal of Raynor Winn's rebuttal, is an interesting read. I think I will continue to think about ##TheSaltPath as I have all along...

This is a thoughtful article about memoir writing and truth. Especially the dangers of reframing the facts to fit a specific narrative arc. #TheSaltPath

I was very upset by the Observer's article about #TheSaltPath, particularly the doubts expressed about whether Moth has CBS. Raynor Winn's response shows Moth has an atypically slow-moving form of corticobasal syndrome and that walking helps him. You can read her response here. www.raynorwinn.co.uk

After an epic day of writing I am now just over quarter of the way through the rewrite of my latest #wip. I'm really pleased. The new word count is in the photo! How has your Tuesday gone? #amwriting #writingcommunity

From the outset, I thought something was off about this story. I nursed my Mum until corticobasal disease ended her life too early. What angers me about this 'story' is that it will have given false hope to people diagnosed with this dreadful disease, which is both unkind & unscrupulous #thesaltpath

I love the film Black Narcissus, but I never knew it was adapted from a novel. So when I saw this beautiful Virago Modern Classics version, I had to buy it. I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm really enjoying it. Which film have you loved only to discover it was based on a novel? #readingcommunity

I was touched to receive these from 2 of my flute students today. I just hope I can keep them alive! I'm going to try, but my track record isn't great. In my final year at uni, my mum gave me a cyclamen at the beginning of the academic year. I had killed it within the 1st 10 weeks. 🤦🏼‍♀️ #houseplants

#WriteCBC task from @joannamillerauthor.bsky.social: Your character is wandering around a museum looking for a person or an object. Use specific detail and surprising imagery to reflect their state of mind. Perhaps they are hiding something from others – or even from themselves?

Today, I read through the first 45 pages of my #wip which I have spent the last two days reorganising. The new version is so much better. I'm so relieved. I have some exam marking to do tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to continuing the 2nd draft rewrite on Friday. #amwriting #writingcommunity

On Sunday I was given a bag of morello cherries. I spent some time stewing them & have frozen them so for a cherry crumble. There was some liquor left over, so I decanted it. My Dad & I had some of it with vanilla ice cream for dessert this evening. It was delicious! #morellocherries #gardenproduce

I've had a productive writing day partly due to inspiration (hurrah) and partly due to this fab buy. For anyone not in the know - which was me 3 days ago - this is a rechargeable neck fan. It's wonderful. It's kept me cool all afternoon while I reordered the scenes in the first 45 pages of my #wip!

Glad to know there's a word for this experience. Now, when I'm tossing and turning all night, I can think, 'You must get some sleep or you'll be forwallowed tomorrow.' That'll improve matters. 😉🤣

More sweet peas from the garden. This time I've put them in the hall. I'm really enjoying being able to cut flowers that I've grown for the house. And they smell so lovely. 😀 Does anyone know how long sweet peas plants flower? #sweetpeas #sweetpeaseason

I've just got home from a rehearsal of the Franz Lachner Nonet in F Major. It's my favourite of the ones we've played. After rehearsal we went to a Vietnamese restaurant. I've never had Vietnamese food before. I had Chargrilled Pork Vermicelli. It was delicious. #chambermusic #goodfoodgoodtimes

I need to get to my desk & start work, but I have the mother of all headaches. I'd much rather go to sleep! This is not the best start to my writing day. I gave a flute lesson earlier and I was fine then, BAM! Let's hope the painkillers kick in soon. 🤞🏻 #headaches #writingcommunity #shouldbeworking

My first sweet peas of the year. I'm very pleased! The living room already smells amazing and I only picked them fifteen minutes ago. 😀 #sweetpeas #sweetpeaseason

I loved the Alcaraz v Lehecka final at Queens. Then I roasted a chicken & some new potatoes which I served with various salads & a lovely, garlicky salad dressing. It's been another relaxed day ahead of another week of writing. What have you done with yr Sunday? #tennis #tennisatqueens #sundayroast

And now for the Alcaraz v Agut semi-final at Queens. I've poured myself a glass of wine and relaxed into this entertaining Saturday afternoon! I needed a day off. Cheers! 🥂 #tennis #tennisatqueens #dayoff #pinotgrigio

Who else is gripped by the semi-finals at Queens? Come on Jack!! #tennis #tennisatqueens

Susie is a brilliant author and a lovely person, and this writing workshop is bound to be fab. #PsychicDistance is an essential tool in your writers tool kit, so go sign up!

I'm really enjoying rewriting my 4th novel. I added 2,562 words to the second draft today, despite spending 40 minutes on one paragraph! The main character has such a sardonic voice. She's great fun to write. #writingcommunity #redrafting #wip #author

I have six scenes to write and my 4th novel will be finished. But this has been the case for months. Every time I sit down to write the words won't flow. I've mapped out the scenes, I know what I need them to do and where I want to go, but I can't write! #writingcommunity

I made a @nigella.bsky.social Lemon and Elderflower Pudding Cake for dessert yesterday and it was delicious. I saw Nigella make it on an episode of Cook, Eat, Repeat on Tuesday. As an extra bonus, when I looked up the recipe, it was gluten free! The family loved it. #gfbaking #baking

Our new blackboard finally arrived! Look how shiny and new it is..! Reposting one of my favourite earworms to celebrate.