2023 – the year that was…

It’s been a busy year here in N.E. Switzerland, both in my writing and more generally too. And it’s been an odd one, because this is the first year since 2012 that I haven’t had a new suspense book published. On the other hand, it’s the first year ever where I’ve self-published four books (the Lakeside Hotel series). Okay, they were all written before the year started, but getting them edited, covered, formatted and promoted as well as finishing the fifth, has more than filled the time and no, I won’t ever do that again…
Here are a few high and lowlights of my book and non-book year:

Most nostalgic bus ride: In June, the Anglo-Swiss group I’m a member of hired a London bus and went from St Gallen in Switzerland to the German island of Mainau on Lake Constance. It was a fabulous day!

Latest writing projects: I finished the fifth and (for the moment) final book in the Lakeside series – Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel will be out in the New Year. Additionally, I have suspense and women’s fiction wips on the go – a book for every mood, almost.

Biggest losses: Two of these. The first could change, but the second is gone for good.
1. The beavers have deserted us this winter, which is good news for the farmer whose field they were flooding and bad for those of us who were interested in watching the dam grow (photo from last Christmas).
2. Worse still, the ash tree wood by my flat is being ‘rejuvenated’. It was necessary; the trees were ill and rotten, and there’ll be new trees planted soon, but at the moment it’s a bit sad to see.

Favourite books read in 2023: Two of these as well. The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans and The Moon Gate by Amanda Geard are the kind of books that had me stuck to the sofa for hours on end.

Best lion: see below. He’s made of coffee beans. For more lion pics, have a look HERE.

Biggest surprise: We seem to have been complaining about the low level of Lake Constance since the start of the pandemic. Never in a million years would I have bet that our lake would rise enough to out-do the historical record high level for December, held since records began in 1896 – but it did. A very wet autumn with lots of snow on the mountains was followed by an equally wet but mild spell, and down the snow came again. No danger of flooding at the moment, but we’ll see what happens in springtime when the new snow comes down.

Best writers’ meet-up: That was on a chilly November day, when I met up with writing friends Louise Mangos, Alison Baillie and Christa Polkinhorn in Zürich. As usual, we put the writing world to rights over lunch (and fizz…)

I’ll close by wishing you all a happy, healthy and successful 2024 – as we say in Scotland, ‘Here’s tae us!’ And Prost!