Jo Cotterill

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Over the weekend, we hosted a birthday party for my youngest daughter, and so come Monday, I was feeling very washed out and completely lacking in motivation. The sun was shining, and my brain went ‘DON’T WANT TO WORK’, so I rebelled. I took a mat into the garden and some books, and I READ. Undisturbed. In the sunshine. It was GLORIOUS.

By the evening, I still felt exhausted, but I didn’t feel quite so much like bursting into tears and hiding under a duvet.

Plus, the books I was reading were SO GOOD. Green books on green grass. One about a green boy. Frank Cottrell Boyce has that magic touch of taking a single concept and just letting it breathe. THE ASTOUNDING BROCCOLI BOY is really a one-idea book. But it is a lovely, lovely story, bonkers and heartwarming. I haven’t yet finished ARSENIC FOR TEA by my fab friend Robin Stevens, but I am totally hooked. Like the first in the series, MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, it is beautifully written, gripping and accessible with a nailed-on voice.

Today the sun is not shining, but that’s OK because I’m clearing some of the emails and things on my list that need doing, and my brain has returned, at least for a few hours.

Being freelance means it’s surprisingly hard to take a day off. You feel terribly guilty that you’re not working. But you know what? Sometimes, it’s really important to stop and smell the flowers. Give yourself a break.

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

Thanks, William Henry Davies. I’d also add that reading books is pretty good for you too 🙂