My Diary – Archive

I definitely did a diary entry on the second of this month but for some reason it vanished and didn’t appear on the website. I can’t remember what I wrote but I’ll try again. I apologise for the delay – not that I think anybody reads it – but for those that do here is a roundup of last month.

On the writing front everything is going well and there will be exciting news in next month’s diary and blog, but I can’t say anything at the moment. A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House is on pre-order and will be published on March 1st. The sixth book is being edited and I’m two thirds of the way through writing the seventh and final book in this very popular series. I might return to Goodwill House in a couple of years but that’s not quite decided yet. It rather depends on reader demand.

I’ve booked for the Romantic Novelists Association conference and this will the first time I’ve been for five years. It’s being held at Imperial College in Kensington, London, excellent accommodation, first-class catering and a terrific program – worth the extra money not to have to stay in miserable student rooms in out of the way provincial universities, endure horrible catering and inconvenient arrangements.

My garden is looking very brown and gravelly still even though there are literally hundreds of plants in it – until the weather warms up they won’t start to grow so I’ve just got to control my impatience until next month. Two of my raised beds are packed full of daffodils and tulips and they should be glorious when they come out, but again it’s been so cold nothing very much is growing.

On the domestic front I’m doing what most people do after Christmas which is trying to lose the weight they put on then. I’ve got a big family wedding in June and those photographs will be around for many decades and I want to look presentable in them. My health is as good as it’s going to be – I still do half an hour of yogalates and meditate every day and try and go for a half an hour walk with my neighbour and her little dog as well.

I am going to Paros In July with my niece and great-niece to see my cousin who now lives there – I’ve not been for four years and I’m so looking forward to it; it’s good to be going somewhere familiar and be able to show other members of my family all the things that I enjoyed last time. I know it’s going to be blindingly hot but then it was even hotter in England last summer and I survived – both places that we’re staying have air conditioning anyway.

Until next month

best wishes

Fenella J Miller

How can it be another year? Despite everything I can look back on last year with a great degree of satisfaction as far as my writing is concerned. My decorations are now down – I never liked them into the New Year – I loved having them for the month that they were there. I do go a bit over the top when it comes to Christmas.

My fourth book with Boldwood was published in November, The Land Girls of Goodwill House, and has been a bestseller. The fifth book, A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House, is on preorder and due out on March 2. The sixth book, A Wedding at Goodwill House, was handed in but has yet to be edited and should be out in May. I’m writing the seventh and final book in the first series with this title and this will be given in next month some time.

Healthwise I’ve been better than November but unfortunately owing to the amount of food and delicious chocolates in the house I’ve managed to put on 5 lbs. It took me weeks to lose that and it went back on in a fraction of the time. I’ve now gone back on my sensible eating plan and am determined to go down a dress size by the summer when we’ve got a big family wedding.

I hope this year is better for all of us than the previous one.

Best wishes

Fenella J Miller

Christmas is on the way and I’ve already put up my decorations. Nothing outside this year as the landscapers have got a skip, portaloo and van where my reindeers and penguins would usually go. My big expense this year is to have my back garden redesigned and the landscapers are here now. I’m having a Beth Chatto inspired, sustainable, environmentally friendly, drought resistant gravel garden put in. Should be taking 2-3 weeks but will take double that because of the rain. Good thing I’m not writing as using my Dragon would be impossible. I dictate my books and the noise from the machine passing the study window every five minutes is horrendous.

I was a bit down a week ago as it will be the second anniversary of my husband’s death on 26th December. Am fine now, but I do still miss him so much. Another sadness is that my daughter and her family are on longer a part of my life. They moved to America five years ago and I have no contact with any of them. I hope I do see my daughter and grandchildren again one day.

On the writing front I’ve finished and handed in the sixth book in my bestselling Goodwill House series and the fifth book is on pre-order. I’ve also signed another eight book contract which will keep me busy until 2025. There will be a seventh book in this set of Goodwill House books, then a new four book series set in London, and then back to Goodwill House. I so love being part of the Boldwood team. It was the best decision, writing wise, I’ve ever made.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, festive break, and a peaceful and happy New Year.

best wishes

Fenella J MIller

Here we are again. The older you are the quicker the days race by. I can recall sitting at my desk when a schoolgirl thinking I wasn’t going to be able to survive until half-term  as it was so far away. Now months flash by and I often don’t even know the date. If things weren’t written in my desk diary I’d miss them.

I’ve just heard my garden landscapers are starting next week. It’s going to be a gravel garden, sustainable, drought proof and environmentally and wild life friendly. That’s a lot for a little garden but they are sure it will work The design is great, let’s hope I’m as happy with the end result. It’s going to take almost three weeks and I’ll be videoing, photographing the progress and posting every day.

Don’t mention our appalling government or I’ll explode. Hopefully they will be removed from office sooner than they think.

On the work front I’m about to to the video for the next book, the fourth for Boldwood, The Land Girls at Goodwill House, and this comes out tomorrow. The fifth book is with the copy editor and will be out next year and I’m writing the sixth book now. This will be handed in by the end of this month giving me all of December free from writing. THe seventh and last book in thiss eris will a Christmas book. Then I’m starting a new series but it’s top secret for now.

Three days late this month – I had a double jab on Saturday and, as always with any injections I was completely floored until today. Having long Covid, I’m sure, hasn’t helped with my reaction to the flu and Covid booster.

On the domestic front I was beginning to feel better after three months of long Covid and I hope this reaction to my booster hasn’t set me back. I’m just about to have a new garden installed. I’ve got the design, and the landscaper has been and I’m expecting his quote any day. They should do it at the end of this month. I’m having a Beth Chatto inspired gravel garden – one that is sustainable, environmentally and wildlife friendly and drought resistant. It will also be a lot easier for me to maintain as I become even more decrepit.

On the writing front I’m keeping busy – as always. My fourth book comes out on November 2, fifth book is with with my editor and I’m writing the sixth. I need to speak to my editor about what I’m going to do next as I’ve come to a bit of an impasse with this series. If I continue to write books which only span three months it’s going to take me another three years and fifteen books to finish the series! I’m hoping they’ll agree to let me write a different, shorter series and then return to Goodwill House.

Things are bleak everywhere but especially so in the United Kingdom. I’m so fortunate to be cushioned against all the horrendous price rises in energy and food and am doing what I can to help those who need it. I try not to be political but things are only going to get worse as long as we have this extreme right-wing government – they don’t have a mandate and weren’t voted for by more than a hundred and sixty thousand people –and now they’re in charge of the country. I never thought I’d say this – but even Boris Johnson and Richie Sunak are preferable to those in charge now.

Until next time

best wishes

Fenella J Miller