Nicky Bond's Blog, page 13

Dear Diary...

The summer holidays.
Nothing to do but pack a bag
and go hunting for a dead body.
Ahhh. The summer holidays. Can you smell the freedom? Are you overrun with free time? Are you living your best life? Nah, me neither. Obviously most people haven't had a mid-year, six-week break, since their school days. Indeed, I haven't experienced the thrill of breaking up since leaving my teaching job. But still. It's the summer holidays! The wide-open, sprawling days of possibility. Last term's a distant memory,...

The Letter of the Week is Z...

Teens from my childhood. 

Whether it’s my mate’s daughter that's referenced below in Writing News, or the teen series on Netflix I’m obsessed with, there's a Gen Z theme to this update. I hope that's OK? Yeah? Great. Let's do it.
There’s an obvious reason, of course. The book I’ve been writing for almost - checks notes - eighteen months, is about young people. It’s high school. It’s spin the bottle. It’s crushes. It makes sense that I’m trying to see things from a younger perspective. Perhaps it’s...

Worrying Weather, Healthy Habits, and Lioness Love...

We've just about made it to August, folks. Are we having fun? Is 2023 all we hoped it would be? Are we living our best lives? Surely only someone high or delusional would answer yes to all those questions. Let's be honest. 2023 is throwing us curve balls all over the place. Look at the weather. Places are either submerged by flooding or blazing with fire. Sometimes both. Nova Scotia, Canada, evacuated residents from wildfires in May, then from devastating floods last week. Meanwhile Rhodes burns...

The Worst Day of My Life... and Mushrooms!

Fancy a real life horror story? Cosy up around the metaphorical campfire and listen to this. 
Last Monday night, I was watching TV. It was late so I was in my scruffs - baggy trousers, a T-shirt, and bare feet. At one point, I paused the TV action for a quick wee, before coming back to the lounge. As I resumed my seat on the couch, I crossed my legs underneath me. That's when I felt it. My foot was wet. Had I walked in a random puddle on the floor? Had the water splashed from the sink? Had I inad...

A Water Bottle to Keep My Hot Mind Open...

Me and some makeup brushes
chilling out in the zeitgeist.I've never been on trend. In fact, I've spent most of my life being the exact opposite. Whether that's because my childhood fashion choices were limited to the clothes of the neighbours' hand-me-downs, or because I preferred to hide my post-puberty body in baggy t-shirts regardless of fashion, I'm not sure. But all that's changed. I'm now current. Part of the zeitgeist. I'm relevant.
Why? Well, it seems I've entered my peri-menopausal years ...

New Cities, Social Media, and Sandwiches...

Oh what a difference a week makes. This time seven days ago, I was bemoaning the boredom that had settled in my life. The sameness of everything; the monotonous grind of non-changing weather, writing routine, and social life. Bad times. But in happier times, I can confirm I took my own advice. I mixed things up. I opened the metaphoric windows. I let a breeze whip through my day. And not, as I explained last week, in an earth-shatteringly dramatic way. Nope, not for a single second. Instead, I t...

Airing the Boredom, Relatable Comedy, and TXT SPK...

 I know how you feel, Britney.Everyone I know is on holiday right now. So it seems. I see photos on WhatsApp and social media, of outdoor restaurants and airport pints, and get a pang of jealousy. Even though I've got my own jaunt planned for the end of August, I'm so ready to escape. I think it's the weather. I'm bored of it. It's been the same for weeks. Or maybe it's because I've been editing my current manuscript forever (cough *seven months*) and I'm bored of that too. Either way, I'm ready...

Lucky, Lucky Me...

I'm a very happy and a very lucky
woman actually, but the
sentiment is bang on.Hey there! Been glued to the news? All Glastonbury-ed out? Can you believe we're hurtling into July so soon? If these seismic questions fail to move you, spare a thought for my current first world problem. (Hmm. First world problem? Developing world problem? They both feel wrong. How about privileged-not-important-in-the-slightest world problem? Yeah, that's more like it.)
Anyway, ten weeks after emptying the bedroom of ...

Unreliable Narrators, Diddy Cheese, and Frigging Heat...

Last week, three people gave me the same response. When I said, 'God, this frigging heat!' (or words to that effect) they said, 'Ah yes, but we moan when it's cold, don't we.' I'd like to put it on record, here and now, I NEVER moan when it's cold. Never, ever, ever. Bring on the rain, bring on the wind, bring on the sleety grey, miserable days. I LOVE them. Anyway. As you were.
Writing NewsI've just read Verity by Colleen Hoover. Here's my bash at a blurb. 

Prior to the car crash that left her in...

WhatsApps? Tapes? It's All the Same...

We need those WhatsApps.Nothing ever changes, does it? For all our technological advances, we're still hampered by human frailty. This year, it's fifty years since the initial Watergate investigation. I know. Mad, right? Despite the break-in that led to a President's resignation happening six yers before I was born, I find the whole thing fascinating. (You can take the girl out of the American Studies elective but you can't take the American Studies elective out of the girl.) I was alerted to th...