It's back!
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| My brain, entering the chat. |
Yes, the routine, the excitement over a new project, and the work ethic that's been MIA for months. It's back, baby! Leeza McAuliffe Book 4 has begun to be planned. I'm writing these words, thinking back over the past week, and feeling a sense of productivity and accomplishment. Not, I should add, that I've written a complete sentence yet. Nope, all that is still to come. But... I've had thoughts, noted down ideas, and arranged those ideas into bullet points. It's a definite start.
I also love, now that I'm busy again, eating sensible food at meal times instead of snacking on crisps whenever the mood strikes. I like that I'm getting organised with batch cooking, clearing out my wardrobe, and keeping my desk tidy. There're all sorts of life-laundry endeavours that can be completed now I'm back in the zone. As lovely as an extended break can be, there comes a point when doing bugger all work for a couple of months has a knock-on effect on the rest of your life. It's been interesting to see, over the last few days, how having a clear writing purpose has made me energetic and organised in other areas too.
So I'm back! Back to getting up when the alarm goes off, back to getting my five-a-day, and back to being the competent, capable person I can sometimes be. Will anyone notice the difference? Probably not. I think I hide the worst of my slobbiness. But if you dig deeper, you'll find a new planner on my desk, a bunch of organising apps downloaded on my phone, and the fridge contains more veg than it did before. A new start has begun and I couldn't be happier.
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| The desk is still tidy! For now. |
Ideas gathering! That's the news. I've been reading back through my notes from the summer. That's been good for gathering thoughts about next steps. I've got some vague plot ideas for the next book, but I need loads more to make it a book. That's what I've been thinking about at my desk. And because my brain is switched on again, I've enjoyed letting it do its thing - make connections, spark ideas, ponder the what ifs. It's such an indulgent part of the process but completely necessary.
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| Agnes Van Rhijn |
Remember I told you I was watching The Gilded Age? It's the 'Imagine Downton Abbey set in 1880s New York but done better' show I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. In it, there's a character called Agnes Van Rhijn who's played by Christine Baranski. She's stuffy, thinks she's right about everything, and expects people around her to behave with discipline and decorum. She does show a kinder side as the plot develops but she's quite the character.
The thing is, after I'd finished watching that, I happened to start a new book. Recommended by a friend, The Correspondent is set in Maine in 2012. Made up solely of the correspondence of the main character to the people in her life, it tells the story of her final years as she mades good some of the troubles she's experienced. It's great but here's the interesting thing. Her name is Sybil Van Antwerp. From the second I read that on the opening pages, I pictured Christine Baranski's Agnes Van Rhijn. The names are kind of similar, right? What's mad is that the character of modern day Sybil is pretty similar to nineteenth century Agnes. The same initially austere personality and conviction in the right way to do things, later thawed by circumstance and able to connect with others. I was utterly charmed by the novel but found the connection between it and the TV show, utterly mad. Either way, I loved it and enjoyed the random connection my brain made. Damn, my brain was on FIRE last week!
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| My attempt at Stovies |
I read another book last week, too. After The Correspondents, I wanted something completely escapist and more befitting my newly seasonal mindset. Obviously I went with Saving Christmas at the Highland Repair Shop. It was gorgeous, Christmassy, snowy fun. It also included regular mention of stovies. Essentially a stew, I've seen this before on menus in Scotland. In the novel, it's used to nurture and warm a sad character who's far from home at Christmas. So when I got to the end of the story and saw a recipe included, I didn't hesitate. I made stovies the very next day.
It's not crazily niche. Most regions have a traditional stew that uses potatoes, veg, and meat. I searched online for a few versions and ultimately merged them together. Using chunkily cut onions, carrots, and potatoes, I sautéed the lot with garlic and seasoning, before adding beef and chicken oxo cubes in a litre of water. Then, I diced a small tin of corned beef and stirred it through. It simmered for an hour and it was done.
The corned beef* melted into the stock to make a thick meaty sauce, and the veg and potatoes were soft and tender. The best bit was that I made it ahead of time, and warmed it up on Sunday. Read below to see where I was for the day, but after a long drive home, being revived by tasty warming food, was epic.
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| Not my hair do of choice, it was a very windy day. |
As well as getting my routine back and being alert once more, I did a couple of road trips. Friday saw me head two hours up north for 'last-day-of-the-holidays' bants with the niece and neph. We walked to a castle, had lunch by the river, and had the last ice cream of the season. Then on Sunday, I headed two hours down south to see the other niece, in her new gaff that she's just moved into. Another marvellous day of aunt bants (auntie bantie?) to see out the week.
The cool thing about getting older is you reach a deeper understanding about how you personally tick. Like, I actually KNEW I'd feel good this week. I knew I was ready to get back in the zone. My hazy brain of the summer has gone and I'm back on track once more. The thing is, I know this too will pass. That's the phrase, isn't it? This too will pass and I'll be crap and unmotivated once again. The other thing I've learned is that that's OK. I just need to go with the moods, the vibes, and the season. For now, however, just know... I'm back! Woohoo.
Have a lovely week, folks.
*I know I don't NEED to explain myself but I'm going to regardless. My vegetarianism (pescatarian to be honest) is not ideologically led. It should be, and I recognise the impressive nature of people who eschew animal products for the greater good, but my own avoidance of meat is based on the fact that most meat grosses me out. I don't ever want to feel like I'm chewing on the arse of a cow, or the leg of a sheep. It makes me gag. A tin of corned beef, however, has nothing about it that makes me think of an animal. It's in a tin. It's not shaped like a leg. My brain doesn't think about it, especially when it's simmered for an hour and become part of a sauce. I apologise for letting down proper veggies everywhere, and I will continue to mostly choose the vegetarian option in almost all situations from hereon in.
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