Category: travel

  • (Sort of) Silent Sunday…

    This is the year of things we can’t do, places we can’t go. Some things you know you miss, others – like this – you only realise you miss them when you see them on a Facebook video and wonder, when will we see things like this in real life again? I hope it plays…

  • A visit to Tuscany…

    Writer Helen Pryke and I ‘met’ on social media quite recently, and I was interested to see she lives in the north of Italy – not a million miles from N.E. Switzerland. For obvious reasons, we didn’t manage a visit this summer, but one day… Here she is to tell us about her (wonderful; I’ve…

  • (Coronavirus) summer scenes…

    To say that springtime 2020 was different to other springs is an understatement, considering we spent most of it in full coronavirus lockdown. Now it’s summer, and while some restrictions have been relaxed, we are still in the middle of a pandemic, and the usual activities and conversations aren’t always possible. Here are a few…

  • Writing in Cornwall – Mandy James

    I’ve never forgotten those childhood holidays in Cornwall – one day I’ll go back. And when I do, I’ll be sure to visit fellow-writer Amanda James. Mandy not only lives in Cornwall, with a lovely sea view and the beach (almost) on her doorstep, she’s set all her books there too. Here she is to…

  • Yarn-bombed in Switzerland – part 2

    A couple of weeks ago I was on Sharon Booth’s lovely blog, with a selection of photos from this summer’s yarn-bomb trail in our town – click HERE to see the post and pics. Since then, I’ve walked round the rest of the trail.   Down at the harbour, we have a set of knitted…

  • Sweet ‘n’ Sour books from…Scotland

    I spent the first twenty-two years of my life in Scotland, so a sweet ‘n’ sour post from north of the border is a must. Mind you, it wasn’t until I came to Switzerland that I met Alison Baillie and Jo Bartlett, the two writers whose books feature today. Both books are really good reads…

  • Sweet ‘n’ sour books from… Yorkshire

    With both family and friends living in this lovely area, I’ve been to Yorkshire more often than any other part of England – so that’s where I’ve chosen for my second sweet ‘n’ sour books. In each S+S post, I’m featuring one romance or feel-good book, and one in a crime fiction genre, both set…

  • The Runaway, on location…

    I’ve never set a book in an area I haven’t visited. Having said that, most of The Runaway takes place in Cornwall, and it’s many a long day since I was there – but the impressions I had then have stuck in my brain. One day I’ll go back, but it won’t be this year……

  • A visit from Cass Grafton

    I first met Cass on social media, but given that we both live in – roughly speaking – the same area in lovely Switzerland, it wasn’t long before we met up in person. Since then, we’ve been meeting regularly to share the ups and downs of the writing life, and drink the odd prosecco (or…

  • Summer in Switzerland – Einsiedeln and Hoch-Ybrig

    It was my first visit to this area, right in the heart of Switzerland. I’d passed by Einsiedeln – best-known for its Benedictine Abbey with the black Madonna – but I’d never actually set foot in the place. It was a lovely day when my friend and I arrived, but clouds were gathering and we…