Back from the Baltic

I’ve finally made it back from a truly enjoyable holiday cruising around the capitals of the Baltic. It’s been a period of relaxation and, to some extent, recuperation, and now it’s time to start catching up on the real world. My thanks in particular to those who commented on posts in my absence, and my apologies for not being better at publishing and responding to them – it proved trickier than expected to remain in contact via the internet for someone as technologically challenged as I am, and in the end I gave up and just enjoyed the sunshine.

The great thing was that I had a chance to think out the final part of my current novel in progress, as well as coming up with some ideas for future stories – short and long. I can’t imagine any better way for a writer to recharge the batteries than to get away for it all for a few days, and allow imagination, rather than technology, to take charge. I visited some fascinating places and the research I did will, I’m sure, be very useful. One of the most agreeable holidays I ever had, to Venice, resulted in ‘The Bookbinder’s Apprentice’, my most successful short story, so it would be nice if something similar were to result from this trip.

I’ve also done plenty of reading – even though I’ve not really made much of a dent in that massive to be read pile. The books I’ve devoured will be featured in this blog over the coming days. Suffice to say at this stage that the new Kate Atkinson is hugely entertaining, and the best book I’ve read in a while.