When I Fall in Love - Episode 2 - seaside and cupcakes!

This year I'm taking you behind the scenes of writing, editing and publishing my fourth novel, When I Fall in Love. This week, I grab a much-needed weekend off and head to beautiful South Devon, before a dash across the country to take part in a literature festival...

One of the mistakes I made last year was not taking any real time off. With my crazy writing schedule and Bob's gardening business, it can be difficult to find time for a break, but we were very lucky to be invited down to beautiful South Devon with Bob's parents (aka Uncle Dudley and Auntie Mags!) to join them for the first few days of their holiday. And, of course, I took my video camera, so you can see just how fabulous the area is (and why it's a favourite place for Bob and me!)

My BIG news is that I'm currently working on something that I'll be able to tell you about fully really soon - the chance to read something new from me a few months before When I Fall in Love arrives in November...

Also in this week's decidedly holiday-ish vlog is the amazing cupcake café I discovered when I spoke there at an author event as part of Crawley WORDfest 2012. Not only was it a fab venue but Jo and her team are really friendly and made Bob and I feel right at home. And the cupcakes... just amazing! One of the things I love as an author is that inspiration can sneak up on you when you least expect it - and that's exactly what happened when I visited Cupcake Genie in Crawley. The place has a fantastic vibe and creativity and it was great to hear about how the business began and see the passion the team have for their café. So I've decided that Cupcake Genie is going to make a cameo appearance in When I Fall in Love: Elsie works at a retro-themed ice cream café in Brighton's North Lanes and I knew that they would make their own ice cream on site, but as it's a café they also need to sell lots of amazing baked goods, so I was trying to work out how they could outsource their baking (seeing as Auntie Mags' Tea and Sympathy café is a little too far away!) Bob and I had been discussing how I could do this on the journey down from Birmingham, and while we were at the cupcake café Bob suggested that we could include them in a cameo role seeing as they aren't too far away from Brighton. Problem solved! (Thanks, Bob!)

So, without further ado, grab your shades for my seaside-themed vlog - and as always please let me know what you think (and ask me a question for next time!) by leaving a comment below or emailing me at mirandawurdy@gmail.com. Enjoy! xx

p.s. This week's YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, 'Beautiful sea!' xx

Lake District pics - part one

As promised, here are a few of the stunning photos that the lovely Bob took on our holiday in the Lake District.


We climbed up Silver How (at the back of our cottage), early one morning, through thick fog. When we were nearly at the top, we emerged out of the clouds to see this amazing sight...



It really was breathtaking, watching the clouds rolling like waves into the valley as the sun came up.


On the footpath by Aira Force, near Ullswater, I turned back and saw this view - I quickly grabbed Bob and told him to take a photo. He now calls me his Location Manager !


















And here's the photographer himself (I took this one - arty, I know!)

The hills (well, the mountains) are alive...

...with the sound of me!!

I've just got back from a totally fantastic holiday in the gorgeous Lake District (so apologies for the small delay in optimistic scribbling!)

If you've never been, you have to go... Not only is it the place that inspired Wordsworth, Ruskin, Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome to write (amongst others), but it also boasts some of the most breathtakingly stunning scenery anywhere in the world.

The Lake District (or Cumbria, to give it its county name), is absolutely the best place for a weary optimist to recharge... You can't fail to be inspired with so much magestic beauty all around you (and I'm not just talking about Bob...)

We stayed in the Langdale Valley, in the tiny village of Chapel Stile (near Elterwater) - an excellent base for a holiday with loads of wonderful places nearby.

What you need to know about my family and the Lakes is that, for every year of my childhood, we headed here for our family holiday. And it usually rained. Constantly! Despite that, we always managed to have truly magical weeks there - and we still revisit many of our childhood holiday haunts. This holiday was no different - except that we had brilliant weather :o)

I went with my parents, sister and brother-in-law - and the lovely Bob came with us, too! (Our first holiday together - another milestone!) As it was Bob's first visit to Cumbria, my Dad was in his element - so the childhood haunts were even more on the agenda than usual.

We visited the pretty little village of Hawkshead and had great cake from The Minstrels Gallery tearoom (which has gone uber-upmarket since I was little - Orange Pekoe Tea now, fnar, fnar...) I have to say, however, that this tearoom won the prize for most over-the-top presentation of an afternoon tea - a silver cake stand with three plates: scone on one, tiny butter pat and cream sample on next and miniscule jam portion on top... Talk about over-presentation...

On every Dickinson Family holiday, a trip on the big boats on Windermere is a must - but you have to pick the coldest, windiest day of your week to travel and you have - repeat, have - to sit on the open top deck, huddled up against the elements. No sitting in the comfy, warm coffee deck, oh no. Warmth is for wimps... So, true to form, we picked the coldest, dullest day and sat, like true Brits, snuggled up watching the seagulls battling against the cross-winds and trying to eat fudge with frozen lips! We travelled from Ambleside to Bowness on the 'Tern' and the return journey on the 'Swan' (my favourite one, so I was mightily chuffed.)

We also visited Wastwater (recently voted 'Britain's Favourite View' in an ITV1 survey - hence the crowds there). It's the deepest lake in England and overlooked by Scafell Pike, England's tallest mountain, so the views are amazing, with the scree slopes from the mountains falling right into the lake.

Grasmere was as pretty a town as ever - and as full of rude, arrogant Brits as usual, as a lot of the posh hotels are nearby (one particularly pampered pooch decided to wee up Bob's leg and its owner didn't even seem concerned!)

We climbed up by Aira Force near Ullswater and Stock Ghyll Falls behind Ambleside - both beautiful river walks with impressive waterfalls.

We also visited Tarn Hows (amazing man-made lake high in the hills), Coniston (pretty little market town on the shores of the lake where Donald Campbell's water speed record was set) and tackled the edge-of-your-seat-thrilling rides over the Hard Knott and Wrynose passes (just don't look down..)

Our favourite cafe was a stone's throw from our cottage in Chapel Stile - Brambles Cafe (above the Co-op) was absolutely the best place for breakfast... and the cakes looked amazing, too. The staff were so friendly and the views stunning - if you get a chance to visit, you have to check it out!

I'll post some photos next time... Until then, if I've whetted your appetite, check out the places I visited on the Lake Distict website at:

www.LoveTheLakes.co.uk

and have a look at Brambles Cafe by clicking this link or pasting it into your browser:

http://www.golakes.co.uk/lang-dms/thedms.asp?dms=13¶m1=taste¶m2=C24¶m3=ja¶m4=ja&venue=5027858

Only trouble is, I want to be back there right now...