Well, here I am a whole year after my last post! What on earth have I been doing? That is a great question!
In January and February 2025, I joined P&O's Iona for a couple of short speaking trips. The January trip was fun as I missed the ship courtesy of a late flight from Gatwick. I had to stay overnight on Gran Canaria and catch a ferry to Tenerife to meet Iona the next day.
In February, out of the blue as I had been waiting for two and a half years, I found myself offered a derelict allotment plot close to my home. All of a sudden, I became a serious gardener! Since then, I have been trying to bring it up to scratch, which is an ongoing process. I discovered Charles Dowding's No-Dig and I am now hooked!
In March, I was an exhibitor at the London Book Fair with Ian Bayley and our company Sabrestorm Stories. This event is always a high spot I enjoy every much.
In April, I joined Queen Anne for Cunard, flying out to Tenerife to meet the ship. If you have not travelled on her, Queen Anne is simply a lovely ship. It is such a privilege to be asked to speak on her and the other Cunard and P&O ships.
In July, I flew to New York to join Queen Mary 2 for Cunard. I truly love this ship! I have spoken on her six times and always enjoy the transatlantic crossing, even when I have sailed in January when the weather at sea is truly bad!
This month, too, I broke my toe when cleaning my dining room carpet. I skidded on a puddle at the border between my dining room and kitchen floors (it's a kitchen/diner). I don't recommend doing this as trying to put a shoe on was difficult, tending to my allotment was jolly hard and it hurt - a lot!
August saw me in Portugal, speaking on Ventura for P&O. I have become a big fan of Oporto, the lovely Medieval town on both banks of the Pretty River Douro.
September saw me on holiday in Somerset with my family, prior to joining Queen Mary 2 again for a short trip to Germany and back. Sadly, I had to cancel this trip as I was taken ill while away and ended up having to have emergency surgery at Yeovil Hospital. I have not been a happy Penny since then. As I write, I am on waiting lists for two further surgeries and so my trips away for the rest of 2025 had to be cancelled. If you look at my diary page, you will see some trips pencilled in there but they are subject to my being fit to travel. My allotment has suffered as I have not been well enough to do much and my university has not seen much of me since September. The lovely NHS staff in Yeovil patched me up but could not fix me. I have to wait for that. Fingers crossed the six to twelve month waiting list will move swiftly. In the meantime, I am taking it easy when I can.
In the meantime, some of you may know that I care for a family member who has a rare blood cancer. As their needs increase, caring gives me personal insight into the plight of unpaid carers, many of whom have no nursing training but who are expected to attend to nursing tasks. No matter how much you love the person, caring takes up much time and has a detrimental effect on careers, mental health, relationships and personal health. It has been suggested to me that I write a book about being a carer, in the hope that my insight will help others in a similar position. I am currently thinking about this.
In January 2026, my latest book came out, quietly as I had little stamina to promote it. It's a departure from my usual history books as it is a book of tips for authors. I have worked with beginners and more experienced writers for many years. What I noticed was that I was often asked the same questions over and again, no matter what the genre being written. So, I remembered my old MA Publishing assignment, to devise a publishing product, looked up my notes and so my book, Top Tips for Authors came into being. It's meant to be a starting point for authors who have questions and I hope that it is well received.
I wish you all a very happy 2026!
