Things that made me laugh this week
I hope you are having a great week and if you celebrate Christmas, that you’re almost ready for the big day.
I’m writing this update on a bus from Wroclaw, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic. It’s a five-hour trip, but the bus route is through lots of snow-covered mountains and beautiful towns and villages, so the time is passing quickly.
Update on Lady Marigold book two
I’ve settled into a writing routine and I’m over my jet lag, thank goodness, so I’ve been making great progress on Lady Marigold book two this week.
Speaking of Marigold, I read an article yesterday and it was predicted to be one of the popular baby names in 2023! It’s such a pretty name, so I hope we see lots of little Marigold’s running around in a few years.
Thank you again for the love
A Roaring Murder continue to exceed my expectations and now has over two hundred ratings on Amazon! A high number of ratings and reviews mean it’s easier for readers to find the book on Amazon, so they’re like gold to authors. Every time I look at the ratings for my book, I feel like bursting with pride. I just want to say thank you again for your love and support for the book. I’m so excited to share book two with you in April (and a few sneak peaks before then).
A few travel stories
Travel is such a rich source of inspiration and ideas for a writer. There is one German airport officer who is definitely getting turned into a character in a future book. He was quite a good-looking young man, but his surely expression and humourless demeanour to everyone made me laugh (on the inside—it’s best not to annoy people in those positions while you’re waiting to enter the EU!).
There’s been quite a few laughs this trip. One day my family accidentally booked a walking tour that was in German (of which we speak a grand total of ten words). There were quite a few people in the group, so we figured it wouldn’t matter and we just enjoyed seeing the historic buildings and one incredible old library.
The only problem was, the tour guide was fond of making jokes and everyone would laugh, but we were always laughing a few seconds later than everyone else and then I’d get the giggles about it because I have a bad habit of laughing in awkward situations, which always embarrasses my kids 🙂
Then, a few days ago, the only thing we could do was laugh when we got stuck in a lift with our Polish Air BnB host. It was a very long fifteen-minute wait to be rescued, but he was a jolly man, and we made the best of it. The apartment was on the sixth floor, but we climbed the stairs for the rest of our stay!
My Christmas secret
We’ve been on the Christmas market circuit and have discovered the joys and pitfalls of deep snow during our time in Poland. It’s the first time my kids have seen snow, so it was lovely for it to be somewhere as special as Krakow.
I’ve been keeping a secret from my family for the past few weeks. I snuck a few Christmassy things in my suitcase to make our first Christmas away from our extended family and out of Australia a little more special.
It meant I had to sacrifice packing a few more of my clothes, but it’ll be worth it when they see the Christmas sweaters I’ve bought them. It’s always t-shirt weather on Christmas day at home, so it’ll be fun to wear a silly sweater this year. It’s been a bit stressful though, because my daughter keeps trying to buy one when we go shopping!
I’ve also packed a few twinkle lights and decoration to make our apartment more festive and I’m hoping to buy something resembling a Christmas tree in Prague.
In case you can’t tell, I really love Christmas. It’s my favourite time of the year 🙂
I hope the holidays bring you and your family lots of love and joy.
Until next week, may all the stories you read be great ones.