The schools have gone back and the sun has finally come out!

but it meant that I could have a long walk along by the Harbour, stopping to talk to all sorts of people, including the sculptor Les Lees who lives round the corner from us and is currenrtly sculpting a lizard for a sculpture trail. He’s struggling with lizard feet, but my paleo-artist daughter can help him with that, so guess where she’s heading this afternoon! And yes, this is what happens where I live, so my books really aren’t far fetched. Here’s his website and he makes the most gorgeous cormorants. https://dorsetvisualarts.org/artist-details/les-lees

It was one of those days when you’re too cold if you go out without a coat or too hot when you come back if you do wear one, but it was so, so lovely to have sunshine on my face and the wind in my hair, so I loved every second of it. I loved watching the boats on the harbour and the incredibly noisy oyster catchers enjoying low tide by doing exactly what an oyster catcher should do! No wonder our birds don’t nick chips. It’d be a come down for them!

So here's today's moment of pure happiness

My washing is caught up, my mood is high and happy so now it’s back down to work with a smile on my face and a cup of frothy coffee close at hand.

Which brings me neatly to this week's promotions at 99p in the UK and 99c in the US, and this week these are the first 6 books in the Windy Bay series. These are A fresh start, Starting Over, Second Chances, Endings and beginnings, Building a future and A Healing Time. They’re set on the Studland side of Poole Harbour, which is very different from the Poole side, which is part of a large conurbation.

It is a place where time goes more slowly, people are kind and there’s a welcome for anyone who needs it, and the stories are unashamedly gentle, family orientated and with guaranteed happy endings. The main characters pop up in other books as minor ones and I’ve been thrilled by how many people contacted me when there was a longer gap than usual between books.

The next one, for anyone who was wondering, will be out in July, then there’ll be two more in September and October and a Christmas one as well as stories in the Christmas and summer specials. I like writing them because I live in a community where people overwhelmingly are kind and interested in what people are doing and I think that this sort of place is all too often forgotten or dismissed as idealised or for people who can’t face reality, which I know we all can. We just don’t want to face it all the time!

So with that in mind, have a good week and see you on Sunday.