Last night my desire to have a dog sitting at my feet whilst writing, was very strong. Instead, I had to placate myself with my large soft toy dog, called Daphne – although I usually end up calling her Daphers – yes, I talk to her…

We don’t own a dog, but we board Guide Dogs in training, and have been holiday boarders of late. To my deep joy, we have one such dog coming to us on Monday for the week, so my writing hours will feel blissfully serene, thanks to him, as I tackle a tricky manuscript.

The reason I missed one greatly last night was because hubs was working a night shift, and I ended up writing until 3 am – I lost track of time! I was a bit stuck on the latest DI Eva Wednesday novel, but I had a breakthrough in the small hours – I just hope my brain doesn’t get into the habit of needing the darkest, quietest hours of the day to function at its best, otherwise I’m in trouble…

Writing in utter peace is delectable for me. My case in point is hubs has surfaced from his sleep and keeps chatting to me whilst I’m writing this. I invariably end up putting my headphones on and listening to Irish or classical music. I prefer instrumental music because I find that lyrics can be distracting. If I’m editing, I can listen to any genre of music. However, this doesn’t prevent him from still interrupting me – bless him. He has just poked his tongue out at me…

My eldest daughter, who has two years left at veterinary school, has agreed to me turning her bedroom into a study for me to write it, on the proviso that I hand it back to her when she comes home for the holidays – which is fair enough. Unfortunately, there’s a high bed to demolish, so it won’t happen until after Christmas, but I know it’s happening! After both daughters have finished university, we will move, and hopefully there will be a little hideaway for me – I can dream…

I really want a dog, but we’d have to stop boarding Guide Dogs if we did, so it’s another dream on hold…

So, dear reader, my dream for the future is to have a room solely devoted to my writing, with a small dog at my feet, and views over a garden and fields beyond. Whilst I’m dreaming, it would be lovely to have my crime series on TV – one is allowed to dream big…

Happy Word Flow One & All