Plant Your Trees

You get all kinds of advice from old-hand expats when you move to a place like this, (remind me to tell you about the bucket theory once I've left and had a chance to test it out). One of the simplest was: plant your trees. I think what she meant was - literally - put down roots. Instead of longing for the place where you want to be, commit to where you are. As you can see from today's pic, I'm still living out of the horticultural equivalent of a suitcase. There are Malaysian palms, banana, frangipani and olive trees in the garden - all in pots. Milo and Oscar's favourite spot on the terrace is this - relatively shady, jammed in behind a freshly watered planter like some strange 'catpug'.

This is the time of year when you end up saying goodbye to a lot of friends who are shipping out for good at the end of the school year. There's already a demob happy feeling - last brunches and barbecues with those leaving, and work-wise the new book is done, and gone. The next one I'll start writing come September, so during the, (whisper it - two and a half month long school holidays), it will be finishing up research which is eclectic reading to say the least - priceless jewels, war, angels, and finalising the plot, all set in the part of the UK I love the best. Maybe that's one of the best things about being a writer - you can create a world where you would love to plant your trees. Or is that just me?

TODAY'S PROMPT: Hope you are enjoying the blog tour, and it's helping your writing. If you like historical fiction, do visit Colin Falconer's blog where we are talking about fiction vs fact. If you could do with some inspiration, head to Creative Penn. Novelicious has my five top tips for writers, and on the Corvus Atlantic site we are talking about how books shape our lives. All the links are here. Meanwhile, if you've experienced expat life or have any advice to pass along about the pots vs planting conundrum, you know where the comments box is. x