Change~ Maressa Mortimer

We’re on holiday in France and it’s been lovely. Of course. That’s what holidays are supposed to be, right? A lovely, relaxing time away. The problem is, several of my children don’t like change. I don’t like change, but that’s more about big changes. Like the death of the Queen, people singing God Save the King, and changes in the family around us. Or the fact that French coffee tastes different.

My children, however, are rather optimistic as well as unable to remember unhappy moments, which makes them embrace change until the change actually arrives. They love going on holiday until we start packing. They love French pizzas until the pizzas arrive.

We still go on holidays and they all ate their pizzas, but it leaves them feeling exhausted and I drink more coffee than I should. I also end up doing more crowd control than has been needed for the last few years, which is sad.  I get tired from simply wandering around the shop, trying to locate the cheese. This isn’t very hard to find in a French shop unless you are looking for a particular type of cheese. One that the kids will recognise and declare to be proper cheese. They even asked for burger cheese. Can you imagine sitting in France, eating individually wrapped yellow slices of ‘cheese’...?

Holidays are meant for reading as well, although I have taken the same book to the pool twice and haven’t even gotten as far as opening it. Maybe when my kids feel that this beautiful place is normal, I will get to read my books, write several chapters a day of Book 3 in the Elabi Chronicles and even get a tan. Who knows.

Holidays are often opportunities to read a book that you might not normally read. The change of scenery, and different ways of spending your day, all make it easier to find a new favourite genre. Change takes up headspace and energy, but sometimes holidays can give you that. There is something typical holiday-ish about lounging near a pool, getting warm and disappearing in a book, with outdoorsy pool noises just about registering.

I would love to know how many writers start a new project during the holidays or based on their holidays. Just having more time in a different environment can bring that about, I’m sure. Or seeing the monumental change in the Royal Family could spark a story, just to process change and all the feels that come along with that.

So, who has started a new series this summer?