Hello there,

after 7 months of being in the writing wilderness, I have returned. An updated look, and a fresh perspective.  I deliberately stopped writing for a while. I felt dry and empty of words, and so concentrated on my health and fitness. Walking, running, gymming (I’m not sure ‘to gym’ is a verb but more here on that one, and it’s -5 stone now). Also spent time working, reading, singing and praying..

I’ve felt for a while that I was making my way back to writing. This week a couple of things happened that sealed the deal. One of them was a trip to hear Lucy Worsley talk about Jane Austen. It was a great event. She was entertaining, engaging, and stylish with it. Had it been the payday and not the day before payday, I’d have bought her book and got her to sign it, but I’ll get my hands on it at some stage.

It was a joy to sit in a room of avid fans. All avid fans of Worsley, if not of Austen. One thing that struck me was that she didn’t dwell on Austen’s books, or even her as a writer, but of Austen as a woman. I kept having to remind myself we weren’t talking about Lizzy Bennett or Emma Woodhouse – we were talking about their creator (small ‘c’ 😀 ). She debunked the myth of the cold and bitter spinster and described a passionate woman, whose writing was fighting talk, in a society that sat women down; with elegance and modesty of course.

It reminded me how much I love Jane Austen’s writing; how much I love to write, and how much I miss it. So here I am, back at the laptop; delighted to see so many of you still around.

More soon x