I’m off to Cyprus soon for a residential writers’ workshop and relaxation. I normally work from home and frequently distracted by seeing chores to do, answering the phone and door, and preparing meals. Being away  allows us to focus more on writing and reading. (I’ll still be distracted but by more pleasurable pursuits. It is organized through UKAuthors.com and I’m helping to run it this year with John Goodwin (our Cyprus member) and David Gardiner. That’s no big deal because apart from daily get togethers in the evening for an hour or so reading and critting each others’ work, we are free to spend the day writing or sight seeing. I’m hoping to finish the last two chapters of Xaghra’s Revenge; write a couple of shorts; and rent a bike to explore western Cyprus. Some of the latter will go into a contribution to Cycling World. While we’re there we are visiting the local writers’ group in Paphos. I’m taking a handful of my books and Escape Velocity mag to sell.

For writers of the Whittaker Prize competition that is currently running, I’ll be picking up the entries while on Cyprus. Just think that I’ll be in a good mood grading your stories while basking in the warm.

Back to packing.