Fi Phillips

Now that my teens have returned to school and my husband and I are settled into our working routines, my morning dog walks have fallen back into place. As soon as I get home after ferrying my teens to school, the dog takes her usual stance in the hallway ready to be fitted out for her daily adventure. I have to admit that faced with a grey, rainy morning, the prospect of donning the wellies and baring my face to the elements rarely appeals, but once I'm out there it's a different matter. I enjoy the time with my (mostly) silent companion, pootling along muddy paths. Want to know why our time together makes me a better writer? Well, I'll tell you. 1. Physical health Life as a home-based worker can be sedentary to the extreme. Add to that the fact that I work on a computer and there's a recipe for piling on the pounds. I'm not old, but I do fall into the 'middle aged' category, so not everything works as well as it used to. I need to work harder ...

At the end of the road where I live is a fenced area of grass. It isn't very big but it houses a family of immense oak trees and a scattering of bushes and rowan trees. Most mornings you will find me there, walking my dog, perhaps talking to other dog-walkers, or just on my own with my pooch. There are roads on two sides of it, houses on the other, and I can hear the traffic and the airplanes from the nearby airfield. This is no countryside haven but it's one of the places where I go to think. It is my inspiration walk. As I follow my dog between the grey trunks of the oak trees, I think. Sometimes, I don't purposefully think. I just let my mind run away with me or I listen to the birds in the trees. I breathe in the air and allow myself to be. More likely than not, an answer will come to me when I'm walking there, or an idea, even if I'm not thinking about anything. I know that not everyone has such a place to go to. In fact, not everyone likes being in...

It's almost summer. How did that happen? I'm not complaining. My dog walks are more pleasant when I don't have to drag the pooch through the rain, and it's nice not to be bundled up in jumpers and big coats. Last week, I finished the murder mystery play I was writing and that'll soon be winging (or whatever emails do) its way to its client. More news about that later this year. This month, the copywriting continues and, after the month and a half of murder mystery-ing, I can return to my novel.  The birds are singing, the air is sweet, and life is good. What are you doing this May?