I've never heard the term "unprecedented times" so much before. I think I would happily go the rest of my life without ever hearing it again.  Ironically, my experience of severe ME has actually really come in handy. Six years being bedbound has meant I am used to self isolating and being at home for long periods of time. That's not to say it's easy but it does mean I've got a lot of coping strategies. I thought I would share a few of them with you today, I hope they help.

I know there’s a lot of panic around being at home for what feels like a long time, so I wanted to post something to say that it is hard but you do adapt. Amazingly quickly.

Admittedly, I’ve had 20 years of experience, so I’m used to it, but even I find the new restrictions hard. I might only have been going out once a week but losing that is difficult.

My best advice is have a routine. Breaking the day or even the hour up into smaller activities feels less overwhelming.

Start a project, something to focus on. That’s how I wrote a novel. It was a distraction from everything else I couldn’t do. It doesn't have to be big, though. Small steps. Break it down into manageable activities, don’t rush in and overwhelm yourself.

Set time aside for fun things that are purely for joy. Watch Netflix, listen to some music, bake something, read. Take pictures so you can share online and the interaction with others then makes you feel less alone.

Take note of how activities make you feel, if that TV show you normally love is leaving you feeling angsty and stressed, give it a break for now. If the book you’re reading is making you sad and depressed, it’s okay to abandon it for something lighter.

You can have too much of a good thing, hours of bingeing on social media or box sets can make you feel worse. Just doing something completely different will make things feel fresh and fun again.

Make sure to remember to eat and drink. It can seem like time moves differently and you forget the normal routine activities.

Create something. Having something tangible to show for the day makes life feel so much better. It doesn’t feel like a day wasted. It can be something small like a craft activity, an organised drawer, a hundred words of a novel, five minutes on Duolingo. Bonus achievement points if you can touch it in the real world. Somehow that feels like it matters more.

There will be times when you feel like you’re climbing the walls, crawling out of your own skin. Deep breaths. Meditation. All the stuff that’s easy to dismiss but does help. Calm is my go to app. There’s also lots of meditations on YouTube and via podcasts.

​It feels like the end of the world, but people with chronic illnesses and disabilities have been living like this for decades. It’s not easy but you don’t have to be miserable the whole time. There‘s opportunities for joy, you just have to adapt and be open to them.

I'm not sure what I expected when I discovered The Choice would be published on Boxing Day. I worked through last Christmas on a major structural edit with a deadline at the beginning of January, so those festivities passed me by. I guess I should have expected the same for Christmas 2019.

It's out, The Choice is now available and selling online and in bookshops and I couldn't be happier or more delighted. It's the culmination of eight years hard work and a life-long dream.
​
It feels a little surreal, as though I'm still in the dream, but the pictures everyone keeps sending me of their copies of The Choice makes it feel more and more real.

For the past eight years I've had a ritual, every new bookshop I go in, I find the place on the shelves for the W authors. I take a picture of where my book would go. 

Today has been a magical day, the very first copy of The Choice arrived and it was the most amazing moments of my life. I've dreamed about it for so long and it's often felt like it would never happen.

'Eat the best, leave the rest! Remember Mother knows best.'

Olivia Pritchard lives in constant fear since Mother Mason came into power. Everything from healthy eating to exercise is controlled by the government, all in the name of health and happiness. Olivia hates being dictated to, but to protect her family she must follow the rules or face a stay in the Shame Box - a perspex box, placed in a public place for everyone to judge.

After Olivia witnesses an innocent woman being violently arrested, she is no longer able to ignore the injustice. The underground rebellion 'Cut The Apron Strings' is gaining momentum and for the first time in years Olivia has a choice: keep her head down or join the fray...

#CTAS #JoinTheFray

The Choice is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, Book Depository

​DETAILS
Published: 26th December 2019
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

​'Eat the best, leave the rest! Remember Mother knows best.'

Olivia Pritchard lives in constant fear since Mother Mason came into power. Everything from healthy eating to exercise is controlled by the government, all in the name of health and happiness. Olivia hates being dictated to, but to protect her family she must follow the rules or face a stay in the Shame Box - a perspex box, placed in a public place for everyone to judge.

After Olivia witnesses an innocent woman being violently arrested, she is no longer able to ignore the injustice. The underground rebellion 'Cut The Apron Strings' is gaining momentum and for the first time in years Olivia has a choice: keep her head down or join the fray...

#CTAS #JoinTheFray

​The Choice is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, Book Depository

​DETAILS
Published: 26th December 2019
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748

I'm so excited to be able to finally talk about the cover for The Choice. I've been waiting to show you for a few months and it's been so hard to keep it to myself, but now I can finally let you see the stunning cover Orion has designed for me.