Hello June
June is easily my favourite month of the year. It probably always has been, now I think about it. As a child it signalled the upcoming summer holidays, and the long hours of daylight where ‘be home before dark’ didn’t mean anything, because it never seemed to get dark.
My family moved to Cyprus when I was 13, and the island remained home for the next four years. June was the perfect month for a carefree teenager – hot enough to hang out at the beach every day after school, but without the oppressive, sticky, mosquito-ridden heat (and the influx of tourists) of July and August. The military school I went to had an open-air swimming pool, and during the summer term we’d do tennis and swimming for sport instead of netball or (shudder) cross country. I wasn’t very good at sport as a teenager, but I loved both tennis and swimming.
Ah, that’s another reason to love June. It marks the beginning of Wimbledon fortnight, when the TV in my kitchen is permanently tuned to tennis. Anyone for Pimms and strawberries?
June is also the month of my birthday, the appeal of which lessens with every passing year. I’ll be 48 in a few weeks, which has turned my thoughts towards my 50th in two years’ time. I know that’s ages away, but we’re currently thinking about throwing a party and stuff gets booked up quickly in June. Also any excuse for a spreadsheet.
In more recent years, June is also the time when I have a chance to take a breath between Eurovision and Strictly. I know it feels like Eurovision is a one-night thing, but within the devoted fandom it begins early in the year with the start of the national finals. I get stuck in around early March, when the playlist is building and it’s time to start getting familiar with the performers and their songs. I spent over two weeks in Rotterdam working for Eurovision.tv this year; it was an incredible experience, but I’m definitely ready for a rest before Strictly starts and I have to get my glitter on again.
Book-wise, I’m currently editing Book 2 now I’ve had feedback from my publisher. I’m delighted to report that my Editor hasn’t changed the plot or the characters at all, but I am making some changes to the narrative structure on her recommendation, which is proving to be an interesting challenge. My deadline is the end of June, at which point I plan to spend July and August working on building a bank of ideas before kicking off Book 4 in September. The first finished draft of Book 3 is currently doing the rounds, but I don’t expect to do anything more with that until later in the year.
So bring on June, I say. Working, editing, walking Mabel in the sunshine, barbecues, tennis, birthdays…maybe even the end of lockdown. Life could definitely be worse.