There’s the dream and there’s the reality.

I’ve been away from home in NZ for over six weeks now, languishing in Kefalonia Island in Greece and Italy – Sicily to be more specific. 

It’s been both maddening and stimulating. Where to start?

I completely underestimated the HEAT and endured temperatures in the 36F to 38F degrees, nearly baking what’s left of my brain. Thankfully things are more liveable and ten degrees lower now.

The other thing I was ignorant about was the huge number of tourists at the ‘end’ of the season. Even though I’m one too, the hordes, the queues for nearly everything are a huge frustration. It’s great for the economy of these countries, so don’t get me wrong, but somehow I imagined peaceful, quiet little backwaters, trees and clear water with endless silence apart from the waves lapping the sea shore. 

In fact, if I think about it more deeply, I was inspired by the British television series, The Durrell’s living on Corfu Island. Sigh. Blissful escapism. Or course that was television! A small factor overlooked when planning to live the life for three months and write copious amounts while basking in the Mediterranean Sea.

It’s been fun, mostly, apart from nine days lost to Covid. Yes fully vaccinated and caught it. Now 90% back at the coal face. Lots more to see and do. I’ll never ever get used to the grandeur and opulence of the magnificent ancient architecture, art and sculpture while wondering about the city. 

The good news is my new romantic suspense book, Night Lark, is now live on Amazon. If you want to read a review copy or see an excerpt it would help me get readers to try my books. Anyway something productive did click into place while eating pizza and swimming in the crystal clear Med. Now to turn all my scribbles and voice recordings into more new plots!

I must confess, I am actually looking forward to getting back home where blissful peace and quiet is the norm. Funny that!!