Summer 2026.

Storms and rain and dark clouds above.

What it looks like not far from where I live.

I’ve always said that my wish for the perfect Summer is 18 degree C temperatures, dark clouds and rain. Well the horrible 29 degree C days have gone with their clear blue skies and high UV index that will fry the skin off you in seconds. - and good bloody riddance too. It’s been thunderstorms, strong winds and rain for the past week and more of the same likely for a while yet. Yay!

I’m still sleepy, but nothing as bad as when the heat was knocking me out all the time. I have got a portable air con unit in my room (the Dalek), but once the temps start climbing past 26 degrees the poor thing doesn’t cope very well at all. So beggar all writing of any worth has been lately. Plenty of creative dreaming going on in the dreamworld though with an urban fantasy tale that sits and waits for me to fall asleep so it can drag me away again. Perhaps something will come of that since the main characters are certainly fascinating enough. Small time café owner and her best friend who helps out as a waitress save the world. You know, - the usual kind of thing.

My left eye hurts like someone stuck a nail in it. Even with my special monitor and Dark Reader software I can’t work for more than 15 minutes or read anything before I have to patch it up again. Things are a little better if I use my Chromebook for writing, but not by much. Fecking amblyopia.

A friend of mine who owns an Indie publishing company got in touch with me last week. They used help me out with beta reading some of my m/s back before COVID-19 screwed up everything and knocked us both about. I said I was working on ‘The Book of Ashes’ again and they said they would like to publish it once I have it done and dusted.

Once I picked myself off the floor, got my breathing steady again, checked that I wasn’t dreaming and etc I managed to say yes I would really like that, - or something similar.

To be completely honest I’m terrified. Everytime I start thinking about the next chapter of Ashes and try to make a start on it my mind goes blank or else my narcolepsy gets triggered. I know from past experience what I need to do is stop frightening myself with all the words I still need to write and look at it through the 500 good words a day window instead which got me back into writing again after suffering the aftermath of COVID-19.

So lady, - get your Chromebook out, - keep breathing and stop being a wimp.