I promised you some news last week and it’s happened. By Friday night down at the (Scorchio) writing retreat in France, I was announcing that – after more years than I care to remember – I had got all of my ‘French or Dutch’ novel into one first draft. They call it a sh***y first draft, or SFD, in the writing world, and my goodness this is very ‘S’!
But nonetheless they were all very proud of me and it was a great moment, so Janie and Mickey, who run Chez Castillon, made piña coladas all round (well, a version of them!) and we celebrated on the final day at my annual writing retreat.
I’m just trying to work out if I’m gonna be able to go again in September, it’s a big ask but I feel like I need to continue to make all the changes that will help take me in the right direction.
Then it was back to work for one night on Sunday, and straight off to Devon, and the heat followed us!
So nice to be inside with the air-conditioning, and seeing my mates including Andrew Collins, producer and friend of 42 years, in the background!
At least it wasn’t 39° on Tuesday like it was in France! By Wednesday in Devon it was several degrees less than in London. And Rebecca Horsfall was back for her Develop your Novel writing course.
And what a lovely group I had! With some smashing meals this week. I ended up going to see my friend Alex and talking about how I will cope now the mortgage is going up again and whether I want to sell it or not, and I realised how relaxed I was on one of the days, when everyone was settled into their rooms, and I did a bit of grocery shopping. With another lovely group and a great tutor, Rebecca Horsfall, all I needed to think about is looking after some people. And it makes such a change to my other life in London – using a completely different part of my brain and skillset, and loving being in an area of the country where I live basically a different life. Where it’s my business and what happens is up to me. I realised I’m not ready to sell it yet. Unless somebody comes along who makes a great offer and wants to carry it on the way I’ve been running it with all the stuff that’s in it. So, I’m having a chat with Jenny, my lovely yoga friend who teaches English as a foreign language and is a great caterer, about alternative solutions. Watch this space.
Meanwhile here’s a selection of lovely meals I made this week!
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SNIPPETS
Went Walking by the Wivver!!
When Cait came over in the week I also took my first stroll down to the meadow on the edge of the village, in ages! It was still sunny but not too hot in Devon this week thank goodness! And it was really lovely to chew the fat with my old friend. I hope we catch the cinema next week, there’s a couple I want to see!
Better Balcony
Every time I go away my balcony and flowers are better than when I’m at home looking after them myself! This time thank you to my sister Linda and her hubby Dave for doing it especially on the sunny days, our balconies are usually about 5 to 10° hotter than elsewhere! You can usually find me inside with the blinds down LOL
Clara’s Clangers
An AutoCorrect fail involving one of our brands, and what a funny one! More about Clara Batten who posts stuff like this every Friday, on this week’s newsletter!
Exclusive – And an extra on this week’s newsletter (sign up to get yours in the inbox every weekend), more exclusive content – the stuff of every romance novel/readers wives’ dreams… LOL!
Watch – hoping to see ‘Salt Path’, still on at the cinema in some places, but not had much time for telly. What I won’t watch any more EVER is a Joseph Michael webinar for a piece of writing software called Scrivener, that helps you write a novel. But the webinar was rubbish! The guy called Joe spent the first 45 minutes telling you how to change your font and put a colour on a background or an icon. Who cares? That’s like telling you how to use the heated seats when you don’t even know how to drive the car. Stupid people. So don’t bother if you ever see it advertised as ‘learn Scrivener fast…’, writers! LOL. You know that feeling when you can’t get half an hour of your life back… Anyway, I’ve just asked for a refund of the £37, and I wanted to have a quick rant.
We were also talking about things we buy from the web and they end up being nothing like you expected. And one of my friends Penny who was down this week, said that she bought herself a smart watch and then when it arrived and she managed to work out how to plug it in and charge it, it started talking to her… in Chinese. The instructions on how to set it up were spoken to her, so she didn’t know how to change it! So typical. This is why you should buy things from QVC and not strange places online… LOL
This was Penny, and the “girls” (and Ryan next door who has done an outstanding job with my plants!) Came over to have a catch up and a cuppa and a cake!
In other news, watch this (here) and see if you can do it! Can you see what he’s doing wrong when he tries to copy his girlfriend? Funny!
And I love this one (here)! Funny fact! Must try to remember those four words for the future and I’m trying to tell someone about this little quirk in a northern Irish accent!
Blooper/Funny
There is some swearing involved in a funny I want to share with you this week, so as mentioned above, look out for the exclusive on this week’s newsletter, from the genius that is Clara Batten. Autocorrect fails that had tears in my eyes! (Subscribe to my newsletter and you’ll get it every Friday in your inbox or over the weekend as the deliveries come through!)
Or you can watch this one (here)!
Vlog – From the garden in Devon! (See it here).
Book of the Week – Well as mentioned last week, I really enjoyed the ‘Lost Letters of Evelyn Wright’, by fellow retreat guest in France, Clare Swatson. Really cleverly, put together threads running through it, and good narrative drive that kept me wanting to find out what happened next. An interesting premise about some letters that were found in the bottom of the wardrobe and the people that they lead the newly single mum of two, to meet. Well done Clare! Will try another one from this author.
Meanwhile, my other mentor, Rowan Coleman’s new one is just out. ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ is a tale of fate and destiny set in World War II. Rowan is an expert, a master, at imperfect heroes and heroines, and in this instance it’s a girl in Malta sent there to save someone, but who? Will time tear them apart? Looking forward to it!
And by the way if you like Lee Child, as I do, I spent many a happy hour in the swimming pool in France, listening to his collection of short stories – all in one place instead of having to buy them in singles or doubles. No Middle Name has 11 hours or more of the fabulous shorts, and mini novellas, reaching back to when Reacher was a teenager, through to more recent times. Standalone short stories sometimes over an hour in length. Really enjoyable! I do love me a Jack Reacher!
QVC TOP DEALS FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS
Friday (today) – go to qvcuk.com and search ‘today’s special value’ to see and buy what’s left of the Stylpro wavelengths LED face mask.
Saturday – Curtis Stone, the very watchable chef and baker, returns with his griddle, grill and bake set, already online. And join me at 9 pm and midnight Saturday, for the launch of…
Sunday – …. Oooo, another big one and a good one from Liz Earle, featuring the glow range, looking forward to launching it on Saturday night at nine and midnight; join me and Caroline and see me take my make-up off at the end of the show! You can get yours now though, here’s Caroline explaining more. (See it here).
Big deals ending Sunday night
Go to this section of our website each week to discover the current ones which often end on Sunday nights if there are any stocks left!
Big deals are available on air for usually a week, they may be longer online if stocks last. Occasionally they last a couple of weeks but there are new ones every Sunday night so come back again and see them on the link above.
Next week should include:
– style – denim and co stripe linen blend blouse
– garden – My Garden Stories large Buddha
– extra – monsoon Cassie printed blouse
– beauty – OPI seven-piece summer lacquer collection at an incredibly low price
– main – Joseph Joseph Viva large organiser with Myra
– digital tbc
Now back to the today’s special values for the rest of the week –
PLEASE NOTE – these are correct at time of writing but maybe subject to change.
Monday –Tili wrap around cosmetic bag, great budget gift price
Tuesday – Moda in Pelle Ariia Trainer
Wednesday – Garden reflections set of four acrylic fibre effect flower solar lights
Thursday – Tommie Copper is back with a women’s lower back tank top in a choice of colours
Friday – JPE fit over slim fit sunglasses
Friday 9 pm – Kim and Co crinkle Poplin tunic
And a very very special day on Sunday the 13th! It’s gonna be really busy, watch out for the news of what it is nearer the time!
Next week – another Devon week! Lucky me! It’s memoirs week down in Devon with lovely Marnie from Your Memoir. So nice to meet so many people who are interested in writing. If you ever want to come, treat yourself and look at retreatsfor you.co.uk. We have spaces on this one in August (details here) which is also a micro memoir where you take your first baby steps towards recording the story of your life, why don’t you come or recommend it to someone who needs to get theirs done? It would be nice to see you.
Mention that you saw it on my website!
Best wishes
Debs
X
Ps I support medical detection dogs. We raised over £2,300 in our June ‘25 event. There will be something very special coming in the late autumn / early winter! Join my newsletter, sign up by clicking the word newsletter at the bottom of this blog page, to keep informed. Find out more about the charity and donate on this link.
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