...the glories of autumn

(photo featuring my adorable autumnal notebook cover handmade by Designed by Lesley-Jane, who is now my official provider of handmade bookmarks - please check out her Facebook page!)

Though the weather hasn't quite settled on the fact, it is indeed Autumn!

If you've read any of my seasonal blogs, you may have cottoned onto the fact that I like to embrace the seasons by acknowledging all the activities associated with them. And if you've never read any of my blogs...well...let's just say  I can get a bit obsessive...

I go to Christmas Tree Farms and hang lights on the outside of the house in Winter, walk amongst the blossom in Spring, and go to lavender and sunflower fields in the Summer. But without doubt, my most anticipated season will always be Autumn!

Perhaps it's because I was born in Canada where Halloween was acknowledged with decorations and trick-or-treating in the proper fashion, or perhaps it's because I grew up in the theatre and therefore have maintained a child-like excitement for dressing up in costumes. Whatever the reason, from the moment the weather gets warm, I'm on a mental countdown to Autumn Equinox when it will start to get cool again and the leaves will turn 50 shades of orange above my head.

If, unlike me, you struggle to see the glories of Autumn, allow me to help you along with a bucket list of activities:

✅ Shop for Autumn scented candles

✅ Go Apple Picking
⬜ Visit a Pumpkin Patch

⬜ Watch Spooky Films

⬜ Read Horror Books and Twisted Tales

⬜ Make my own Halloween Costume with a bookish theme

✅ Drink many Pumpkin Spice Lattes

⬜ Bake Halloween Cookies

⬜ Decorate the doorstep with a Pumpkin display

⬜ Collect and wax some Autumn leaves and make a wreath or a garland

⬜ Go to a Fright Night

⬜ Host a Halloween Party with lots of treats, blankets and movies to enjoy

✅ Find a Theatre that's doing The Rocky Horror Picture Show

⬜ Visit a Corn Maze

I've already kick started my Autumn Bucket List. Let me know if you intend to do any of these activities, or if you've got any suggestions to add to my list! Always hungry for more Autumn!!!! 

Zuzu 🖋

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...winter solstice

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! 

There's a lot going on in the world at the moment, and I, like so many others am now bracing myself for Christmas in Tier 4 restrictions. For the sake of those who don't live in England, I'll briefly explain that our government has locked down the South East and London from the 20th-30th December. Meaning we can't see anyone beyond our own household at Christmas.

I personally put a lot of stock in the holidays. Perhaps more than I should. Not as a religious affair, but as a time to be with the ones you love and show them how much you treasure them. I feel like doing so leads us into the next year with festivity and positivity. 

It's not for myself that I'm sad, but for those members of my family who live alone. They seem to be more stoic about it than I am, so perhaps I shouldn't feel sad. We intend to smother them with gifts, love and food from afar. We're dropping books and Christmas films on their doorsteps since it would be so lovely to get lost in the covid-free worlds that authors and filmmakers so brilliantly create.

The world is certainly in a strange state, but that doesn't stop the universe from making miracles. As I mentioned, today is Winter Solstice, and this evening we're waiting around to see a star which feels a little bit like the first gift of Christmas. Jupiter and Saturn are going to perfectly align to create the Christmas Star - or the Star of Bethlehem, if you so choose - which only appears every 20 years or so.

Some of you might already be aware of this, and therefore be ignoring this blog and stargazing out of windows or from gardens. And if you we're aware, and you are reading this blog, what are you still doing here? Go take a look! Hope for a clear sky!

I can't wait to catch a glimpse of something so beautiful during a time that feels so dark and hopeless. I firmly believe things can only get better. Hang in there world. And stay busy, positive and festive everyone! Especially if you're on your own this Christmas. Just think, now is the perfect opportunity to re-enact the prime minister dance scene in Love Actually - ha!

Merry Christmas blogosphere! 

Zuzu 🖋

I've been getting really festive across my socials, so make sure you're following me @zuzuspages on Instagram and Facebook

...it's the most wonderful time of the year

Here it is again; the most wonderful time of the year. 

I just love Christmas! That may have already been established...but I'm going shout it once more from the Christmas treetops until I rattle loose the snow!

We're a week into December, and I'm well underway with festivities and ticking off my annual traditions (of which we have many!)

We hang lights on November 30th, so they can be ready and waiting to ignite on December 1st.

We decorate the mantle with pinecones and candles and holly.

We get out our Christmas pudding teapot, our snowman cookie jar, and our jumble of Christmas mugs in all shapes and sizes.

We drink hot chocolates with marshmallows balanced atop a mountain of cream. No mini marshmallows are involved. Only hard core, full sized marshmallows need apply.

We watch Home Alone on December 1st, then systematically work our way through the classics, finishing with It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve! It's my favourite, and gosh darn it everyone, isn't it just a wonderful life? Even with everything that's gone wrong this year!

But my favourite thing to do at Christmas, is to bundle up, pile into the car and drive the muddy lanes that lead towards Kingswood Christmas Trees!. My family has been visiting this place since I was ten. My brother had his first job there hauling trees, and my sister worked as an elf in the Grotto when she was a teenager.

It's the ultimate tradition!

Inevitably, whichever day we go, it will rain, or sleet, and we'll stand in the cold squabbling over which tree is taller or bushier and trying to remember how high our ceiling is, because I don't know about you, but I never know.

After much debate, we'll pick the perfect tree, secure it to the car roof, and head back inside to the Christmas Shop for a mooch. At which point, a new debate will commence involving the tree topper. Did we buy one last year to replace our poor old angel? (We didn't). Should we buy one this year? (Probably, but we won't).

We'll get the tree home, add lights and baubles and perch the poor old precarious angel in prime position, overlooking the room, knowing it's only a matter of time before she takes her annual inevitable suicidal dive from her 7ft high perch. And yet, by some angelic miracle, she remains intact. Hallelujah!

Regardless of all this palaver, the result is always beautiful, and for the month of December, the tree is the heart of our home, and our hearts gather around it. It stands proud and ornamental in out front window, overseeing the festivities and sharing our joy as we cosy up each night, eating, drinking and being merry.

I think it's so special to observe and make your own traditions. They help to create memories that ultimately will last longer than any gift you could receive.

We're all guilty at times of rushing through the festive season in a blur of frantic spending, but we know this isn't what Christmas is all about. 

This year, in particular, I'm determined to cherish every moment of Christmas. To embrace the true meaning. To make the most of my time with the people I'm allowed to see, and to take the time to acknowledge those that I can't be with. Send cards, resurrect letter writing, compose emails, pick up the phone and call them to let them know you care.

There's an excellent quote from Dr Seuss' The Grinch Who Stole Christmas that say this so much better that I ever could: "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Merry Christmas everyone! Stay safe, stay home, and make some memories!

Zuzu 🖊

Find me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @zuzuspages

...books to feel festive with

When the weather outside is frightful and the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place (you know, we're in lockdown)...let there be books!

There is nothing I like better than curling up under the comfort of a good book once the weather turns cold. Even better if it's a seasonal read.

We're halfway through November, and I am unapologetically one of those people that has already transitioned into Christmas, if only in spirit. The decorations are not yet up, but they are standing by, as is my TO READ pile for December.

I love Winter. The scents, the food, the music, the hustle and bustle; the general feeling of warmth and joy and love that's spread as we creep closer to December and to Christmas-time. I know some people dread this time of year, and I understand why. It puts stress and strain on people, both mentally and financially, but it shouldn't have to. For me, it's genuinely enough to sit back and enjoy the perks of the season: to snatch a rare moment to hunker down and read a book under a chunky-knit blanket with a hot chocolate, or to sit down with my family and work our way through the abundance of Christmas films we've collected over the years, 

Like Santa, December is normally my busiest time of year for work, and I don't have as much down time to devote to reading. Normally this means I re-read some seasonal favourites, rather than trying committing to new books and authors. So, I thought I'd share some pre-emptive festive/winter favourites here with you all:

THE SNOW CHILD by Eowyn Ivey (2011)

This was such an incredible book, inspired by a Russian fairy tale, and transplanted into the bleak and icy landscape of 1920 Alaska. A mysterious child appears on Mabel and Jack's land, and disappears into the snow. There's a sense of hope and foreboding that keeps this book chilling in every respect.

THE WAY PAST WINTER by Kiran Millwood Hardgrave (2018)

I love any Kiran Millwood Hardgrave book, and this one was like my gateway drug. I loved the concept of a whole land shrouded in Winter and Spring being this unattainable place where all the men have been taken. 

A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens (1843)

A classic. The epitome of Christmas. "God bless us, every one!"

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET by Valerie Davies (1947)

I have such a beautiful little copy of this book and I love re-visiting it. It's a novella based on the story the author wrote for the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, which is equally classic and oh so festive.

LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

Another classic novel with such feel good festive spirit. I love watching adaptations of this book this time of year too. They make me feel so warm and cosy.

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING by E.T.A Hoffmann (1816)

I love the original version of The Nutcracker. It's such a Christmassy story and a short easy fairy-tale read.

NORTHERN LIGHTS by Phillip Pullman (1995)

This is the 1st book in one of my favourite book series and the ice and snow of the north that makes up the setting for much of the first book makes me feel wintery.

I'm thinking of re-reading these books actually to keep up with the BBC adaptation that's currently in its second season.

THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden (2017)

This is a book I've yet to read and might just sneak its way onto my December TBR pile. It's been so highly recommended to me and I've been saving it!

THE GIRL WITH GLASS FEET by Ali Shaw (2011)

This is a book filled with ice and magic that makes it perfect for winter. After visiting an enchanted island, Ida MacLaird begins literally turning to glass. Whilst searching for the man she believes will cure her, she finds herself falling in love. This was such an unusual book concept.

I hope this list gives you some reading ideas for November and December. Let me know what your favourites are!

Zuzu 🖊

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...bookish inspiration for halloween costumes 2020

Anyone who knows me will testify that I take Halloween very seriously. Specifically Halloween costumes...

You can blame it on my childhood in Canada where Halloween is definitely treated as more of a holiday that it is here in England. I can remember trick or treating with my entire family dressed as the characters from The Wizard of Oz, then Cinderella on consecutive years. My grandad and my uncle were the ugly step-sisters! The commitment was real.

When we moved to England, I met my Halloween soulmate, my best friend and kindred spirit whose house I still end up at every Halloween despite the fact that her family long ago stopped hosting their annual Halloween party. The party has morphed into an extravagant family feast with more food than 12 people could ever hope to consume in one night. And what I love is that we all still commit to dressing up to an extreme level.

Owing to the unfavourable Corona, this year will be the first that we're unable to celebrate Halloween together. But don't think that's going to stop us from dressing up!

Many of my past costumes have been inspired by book characters, and so I thought I would share some of my favourites ideas with you for this year in case you're in an area where it's safe to be having Halloween parties!

Cruella DeVil

A character originally conceived in the 1956 children's novel

One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Doddie Smith

Excerpt: "...she was wearing a black satin dress with ropes of pearls, but the same absolutely simple white mink coat."

Professor Trelawney

A character that first appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling

Excerpt: "Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings." 

Elphaba Thropp

A character conceived in the original book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L Baum, and whose origin is reconstructed in Wicked by Gregory Maguire, 2003.

Excerpt: "...as  Elphaba moved forward, lugging her own carpetbags, it became obvious that she was green. A hatchet-faced girl with putrescent green skin, and long foreign looking black hair.

The Other Mother / "The Beldam"

The protagonist in Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Excerpt: "She looked like Coraline's mother. Only... Only her skin was white as paper. Only she was taller and thinner. Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark-red fingernails were curved and sharp."..."And then she turned around. Her eyes were big black buttons."

Katniss Everdeen

from 2008 book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

Excerpt: "Cinna does my hair in my simple trademark braid down my back."

Anne Shirley

The classic character whose red hair I relate to in Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Excerpt: "She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of thick, decidedly red hair."

Of course there are an abundance of book characters you could choose from, these are just some of my favourites. I hope you're inspired. Let me know in the comments what you're dressing up as this year, or if you're dressing up at all.

It's a little bit early I know, but I wish you all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Zuzu 🖋

@zuzuspages on Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest

...too many pumpkins

When I was younger, my mom used to read me a book called Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, about Rebecca Estelle who abhors pumpkins, until the day that a pumpkin falls off a truck and smashes in her garden, resulting in her garden becoming overrun with them when the seeds grow! 

I believe we can pinpoint this book as the source of my pumpkin obsession. It's stuck with me ever since childhood.

I grew up in Canada where Halloween was more widely celebrated than it is here in England. I have great memories of tromping through a pumpkin patch in wellingtons to find the perfect pumpkin, which at the age of five, probably was simply a pumpkin that was small and light enough for me to be able to carry on my own. Now I demand the largest, most impressive pumpkin that I can get my hands on, regardless of whether I can carry it.

Exhibit A:

To this day I get ridiculously over excited when pumpkin season rolls around, so imagine my excitement when I discovered Slindon Pumpkins in Arundel last year: a family business, and an "internationally renowned pumpkin mural extravaganza" that's been open for 52 years, selling 50 varieties of pumpkin and 30 varieties of squash.

I felt like I was in pumpkin heaven! I spent a small fortune there without regret and made some fantastic displays around my house.

However, when planning my second trip this year, imagine my devastation when I realised the business has closed until further notice due to covid19! I'm crushed, as I'm sure so many others are. It was quite the attraction.

Disloyal as it feels now to go elsewhere for pumpkins, I characterise as a "pumpkin addict", and therefore can't go without a fix this time of year. I found a very local pick-your-own farm, Pumpkin Moon in Maidstone, and visited yesterday. Needless to say I made our like a bandit with a literal wheelbarrow-load of pumpkins and gourds, for cooking and displaying respectively.

Observe the haul:

(I might go back for more!!!)

Continuing with this pumpkin mood, and for the purposes of this blog, I scrounged around my bookshelves today and found that I've retained my entire collection of Halloween books from childhood, including the infamous Too Many Pumpkins, that induced my pumpkin addiction. The covers are adorable, and inevitably have to be shared here:

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Halloween Mice by Bethany Roberts

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

The Witch's Hand by Peter Utton

Little Witch's Big Night by Deborah Hautzig

I recommend all these books to adults and children alike; I don't think you're ever too old to derive joy from a picture book. However, I apologise if not all the books are available to buy in the UK. As I said, I grew up in Canada, so that is most likely where they were published.

Bonus points to the first person to tot up the amount of times the word "pumpkin" appears in this blog!

It might hinge on the ridiculous! 

Thanks for reading. Happy Pumpkin Season!

Zuzu 🖋

@zuzuspages Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest

...autumn equinox

Here comes Autumn Equinox, riding in on the back of a belated heatwave here in England. When did the seasons become so dysfunctional?

No matter! Come rain or shine, I'm diving determinedly into my Autumn activities with extra enthusiasm this year. I feel like the festivities that Autumn and Winter bring are being greeted with even more fervour this year since Spring and Summer were unpredictable and a little bit of a write off due to the pandemic. Everyone wants to escape into some festive fun and remove the pressure of planning activities in the sun to fill long summer days. Now we have a good excuse to stay indoors and watch cosy films, or sit in our gardens drinking apple cider and melting marshmallows around a firepit.

Let the good times roll!

I've got a seasonal checklist that sees me thought till Christmas every year:

🍁 unpack jumpers and keep them on standby 

🍁 swap out your Spring/Summer décor with warmer tones for Autumn/Winter

🍁 collect conkers, pine cones and autumn leaves to wax and display around the house

🍁 drink pumpkin spiced lattes at every opportunity

🍁 visit a pumpkin patch or a pick your own farm

🍁 put pumpkins EVERYWHERE!

🍁 bake seasonal muffins - apple and cinnamon are my personal favourite

🍁 decorate the front of the house for Halloween

🍁 keep sweet treats everywhere

🍁 make a Halloween playlist

🍁 DIY a Halloween costume

🍁 bust out the festive films: Hocus Pocus, Corpse Bride, Labyrinth, Monster House, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Beetle Juice, Edward Scissor Hands, Halloween Town, The House With A Clock In It's Walls

🍁 stock up on hot chocolates and marshmallows

🍁 scatter snuggly blankets on beds and sofas

🍁 make pumpkin soup

🍁 buy autumn candles - and sometimes pre-emptive Christmas candles too

🍁 go on picturesque walks and appreciate the beauty of the leaves changing

🍁 make the most of the rainy days for cosy reading time

🍁 read spooky books (follow me on Instagram for sneak peeks at my October reads!)

I'm sure there will be an abundance of such blogs available to read as Autumn Equinox approaches, but this time of year I really am living my best life.

I've always been incredibly inspired by the seasons, and I think it's evident in my writing as it transitions with me throughout the year. I fully expect the Autumn months to shed a layer of dust from me and bring new colour to my writing and also my writing habits.

In a few months time, November will bring us National Writing Month, and although I've never officially taken part in NaNoWriMo (an annual internet-based writing project), I am very motivated by the concept of it. My work load is a little lighter this year than it normally is, so maybe this year will be the year I commit. We'll see what November brings!

I hope you're all as excited for Autumn as I am. I know it sounds as though I'm wishing the year away, but I promise I relish and savour the second half of the year enough to make it count. Let me know if your Autumn check list resembles mine, and if you'd add anything!

There's undoubtedly going to be some autumn content both in this blog and on my socials, so make sure you're following me @zuzuspages on Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Zuzu 🖋

...rain is just confetti from the sky

Indulge me for a moment in my love of words, and finish this sentence: IN ENGLAND IT'S...

~ chucking it down

~ spitting

~ a drencher

~ showering

~ raining cats and dogs out there

~ drumming on the rooftops

~ torrential

~ tipping it down

~ pouring

~ drizzling

~ raining buckets

~ coming down in sheets and torrents

~ coming down in stair rods

~ pissing it down

~ a deluge

~ plothering down around us

In short... IT'S RAINING!

Just a brief interlude from book related blogs this week, but I hope you enjoy. I'll be posting my next blog on Monday at 6pm, but remember you can find me inbetween blogs will all sorts of book related updates @zuzuspages on Instagram Facebook Twitter and now Pinterest

...dreading a storm

Rain yes. Thunder...NO!

Fun fact about me: I have a huge aversion to storms! A phobia, if you will. It's not quite a hide under the bed and tremble till it's over kind of phobia, which is exactly how our dog used to react to thunder when I was little. It's more of a get away from anything metal, stay low to the ground and turn off the lights so the lightning can't see me kind of phobia. You know, the completely rational variety.

When the temperatures spike like they have this week, and the air grows sticky and still, not only do I begin to melt under the intensity, but I begin to dread the inevitable storm that will materialise over my house to relieve it.

It just so happens that a storm is on it's way in a couple of days. Hence this blog!

I've always acknowledged my phobia, but what I hadn't realised until recently is how it has come to influence my writing over the years.

The seasons have always shaped my stories, as they shape me, so it's understandable that a magick induced storm, referred to by my characters as the 'Great Storm', became the catalyst for my story. 'Great' here meaning an extent, amount or intensity considerably above average. And not in a good way. Without the Great Storm, my characters would be living in perfect harmony...well, sort of.

Now, I can't help thinking of storms from a fantastical perspective. The eye of the storm seeking us out, watching us as it fans across the sky, rolling and raging like a sky beast rather than a tempest.

The Great Storms' description was the first chapter I perfected in my book. It was the first time I was able to read my writing back with the confidence that my story was worth publishing - (and one day I will find an agent that shares my belief.)

When I wrote THE BLOOD DRAGON, I was unconscious of my minor phobia's influence of my writing and on my characters. But now that the book is complete, and it's sequel is well underway, I'm able to reflect back and laugh at how I've created a collective Astraphobia for the people in my fictional world that mirrors my own to perfection and lingers incurably. 

However, my characters know that if you can ride out a storm a calm will follow, and personally I cannot wait for the rain and the breeze that will follow and bring cooler temperature.

Zuzu 🖋

Find me in between blogs @zuzuspages on Instagram  Facebook Twitter and now Pinterest

...solstice

In folklore, the Oak king and the Holly King beautifully personify the summer and the winter. Locked in an endless battle, the shift in power between the two kings causes the constant shift in the light and dark that we’d recognise as the seasons’ perpetuating cycle. It’s a story that feels fable/fairy tale like. But I loved it, and I think it’s worth sharing. Particularly since the Summer Solstice was observed this past weekend – June 20^th.

Owing to Lockdown, I had more time to contemplate the longest day of the year than usual, spending time in my garden’s festooning sunlight with family around me - all social distancing adhered to, of course.

The sun used to be considered the greatest strength, and was greeted on the longest day of the year to celebrate.

Bonfires were lit to represent the fiery aspects of the sun. People would jump over or through the fires for good luck, and dance around them to raise energy. To this day, to anyone acknowledging Pagan or Wiccan traditions, it’s a day of inner power and brightness.

The traditional observations of the seasons have recently taken on a new importance to me, owing to research I’ve been doing for THE BLOOD DRAGON’s sequel.

I’ve hinted, whispered and teased the importance of the sun and the moon in THE BLOOD DRAGON. An importance that I only intend to intensify in the sequel I’ve recently returned to writing. Much of the magick and the mystique in my books stems from the sun and the moon. They’re characters in their own rights, worshiped by the witches, guarded and protected by my main character. They’re responsible for controlling so much in the world, most notably the light and the dark, and therefore the seasons.

THE BLOOD DRAGON is set in a world of darkness, long depraved of the sun and moon’s precious light. And so, the luxury of observing the seasons has long been lost to the people, as have the traditions of celebration.

The seasons, like the folklore of the Oak King and the Holly King suggests, are of course a constant shifting between the sun and the moon, causing the days to shorten and lengthen into what we know as Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.


I’ve been enjoying adapting existing traditions to suit my story and creating my own magickal variations of seasonal festivals.

I love it when the fantastical is founded in fact!

To the Wiccans and the Pagans, the solar events that mark out the year were celebrated as festivals known as Ostra (Spring Equinox), Litha (Summer Solstice), Mabon (Autumn Equinox), Yule (Winter Solstice).

Mine will likely be referred to the same way.

I’d forgotten how enjoyable the research behind writing could be. My process has always been exploring and creating in equal parts as I write, and I usually find myself greatly influenced by what I discover along the way.

Who knows, next year when the restrictions of Covid no longer rule over us, I might be hosting a Summer Solstice party and applying some of these old traditions to our gaiety.

~Zuzu 🖋

You can find me in between blogs @zuzuspages on Instagram Facebook Twitter

...howling at the moon

If you're awake to bear witness, you'll know me as a creature of the night, for whom productivity flourishes between the hours of 9pm to 3am. I know that this is the time I can sit at my desk and tap away at laptop keys undisturbed by the world, knowing that most distractions have been removed by the unsociable hours I keep. Just me and the moon, and the beautiful silence that its beams cast over the world at 3am, that can often trick the mind into thinking you're the only person on the planet that's still awake.


As a solitary soul, it works for me. I'm a lone wolf, howling despair at the moon when I can't find the words, and howling victory when they suddenly come together, as if presented to me by the moons unique magick.

It's at this late hour that I feel most at one with the world I've created in my stories. Darkness is such a crucial part of THE BLOOD DRAGON, and it creates the most introspective setting for writing.

Today, after a very long unwanted break, I'm finally writing again, resuming my chiselling to sculpt the sequel to THE BLOOD DRAGON (still informally known as THE SEQUEL until inspiration strikes).
The setting of the sequel has evolved, and I wonder if the darkness will no longer feel fitting to write in. The seasons are becoming increasingly important in all my chapters, and, just like writing about the dark when its light, it suddenly feels wrong to be writing about the first snow of winter when in England it's humid with the threat of summer rain.

Since I am nocturnal by nature, I don't think I could change my hours of productivity if I tried. I'm forever cast as a 3am writer. A three cups of coffee writer. A three hours until I go to work writer. And perhaps that's for the best; for we all know, three is a magick number...

~ Zuzu

Find me in between blogs on social media @zuzuspages Instagram Facebook Twitter

...tiptoeing into spring

The crocuses have reared their heads, the daffodils have endured the wind and the rain we battled for a few weeks here in jolly old blighty, and the snowdrops have waited patiently for snow, only to be disappointed when none arrived.
It's fair to say we're tentatively, trepidatiously, tiptoeing into Spring...

It's sad to think that some people are missing this beautiful transition whilst in self-isolation, and only seeing its beauty through a window. Still, I suppose sunshine is a better mood lifter than rain, even if you're stuck indoors.

Personally, the weather doesn't affect me. Come rain or shine, I bide by the conviction that books are the best thing to get your mind off anything unpleasant. They're the most effective form of escapism, and so, I've spent the past few days re-reading The Secret Garden and pretending that Spring is the only thing on the horizon!

Why am I blogging about Spring?
The season's have become very pertinent to one of my current writing projects (yes, projects plural - I'm in possession of a great deal of free time at the moment), but they're also important to me in general. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, where the changing seasons were beautiful and evident on the mountain tops and in the trees. I love the changing moods that come with each season: the new life and spontaneous rains of spring, the blurry haze of summer, the glorious colours of autumn, and the festivities of winter.
Like everyone, I prefer certain seasons (controversially autumn and winter), but I see the potential beauty in them all.

My house is situated in the middle of an old fashioned high street, sandwiched between a river and some fields, both of which have been flooding on and off for many weeks now (don't worry, we have effective flood gates!) I've been enjoying muddy walks through muddy fields, à la Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice: "Elizabeth continued her walk alone, crossing field after field at a quick pace, jumping over styles and springing over puddles with impatient activity." Thank you Jane Austen! "I did not want to avoid the walk. The distance is nothing when one has a motive..."
Walking has been great for blowing off the cobwebs and keeping me clear headed for writing.

When the weather gets warmer (and dryer), I like the idea of taking to the fields to sit and write or read for an hour or so.
As much as I love my desk, and it will forever remain my favourite writing nook, I also like a fresh perspective and scenery to look at on occasion. Last summer, there was a shorn field filled with perfect haybales that made for brilliant thrones upon which to sit and contemplate (and later regret, because hay gets everywhere!) I look forward to forgetting that, and re-enacting the itchy hay dance again this year.

I'm a pluviophile; by definition, a lover of rain, so for now I'm content to enjoy the spring and eagerly await the oncoming April showers! Umbrellas and wellies at the ready (as long as we're still allowed outdoors. Darn potential lockdown, and Corona restrictions!)

Wishing you all a slightly belated Spring Equinox! The official date was Friday 20th March, and I hope you've all managed to get outside beneath these beautiful blue skies we've been experiencing here in England.

Until next week everyone, find me on Facebook @zuzuspages and Instagram @zuzuspages for regular writing/reading updates and book related posts.

Zuzu 🖋

#lockdownreadinglist #author #thesecretgarden #springequinox #zuzuspages