My Bra’s in the Fridge and My Dog’s Growing a Moustache

Heatwave writing, post-op dog drama, and some Peach and Quiet.

Heatwave Writing Cave 🔥✍️

Italy has entered its “do not touch me” phase of summer. Too hot to move, too hot to touch off another human, too hot to argue about who left the shutter open and let the hot air in. So I’ve stayed indoors with three fans and my historical fiction draft.

I’m at that glorious stage where I feel like I’ve written an epic… only to realise it’s mostly dramatic descriptions of candlelight and endless Googling. I’ve spent more time checking when tomatoes arrived in Italy (answer: not until the late 1500s), whether toilets existed (they did, but not how you’d want), and whether people in the 17th century would say things like “keep your hair on” (spoiler: they would not according to this historical thesaurus).

But I love it. It’s full of secrets, brooding nuns, and letters that take three months to arrive.

For anyone else writing historical fiction, this timeline of inventions and the Online Etymology Dictionary are my current best friends.

If you ever wanted to read something by me that doesn’t involve cleaning up rubble, menopausal misunderstandings or mafia police at the door, this one will be for you.

Talking of which, I have A Rosie Life In Italy 7 (What Rosie Did Next) up for pre-order. It’s still in the early stages but I switch to it when I need a little light relief when 17th Century Italy gets too heavy for me.

Looney Tunes: Post-Op Edition 🐾

Our dog Looney had a big operation and is recovering well. The problem now is the hair regrowth. Her hair is coming back in awkward tufts like a 14-year-old boy’s first moustache, and it’s driving her absolutely mad.

She’s been pacing, wriggling, and looking at me like I’m personally responsible for every follicle that’s betraying her.

We’ve tried hours of petting, distraction, and a cool fan. Nothing helps. So if anyone has experience with post-op dog hair growth rage, please advise.

A Trip to London (With Adult-Child Supervision)

I popped over to London for a two day writers conference and spent a day wandering the Natural History Museum with my two adult children. We admired enormous bones, marvelled at extinct animals, and spent a solid twenty minutes in the gift shop deciding whether we needed a plush dodo that cost £15. We decided we didn’t.

Walking around with two grown humans I made from scratch, who now have opinions about fossils and overpriced museum coffee, was oddly moving.

This is not Ronan, this is the caveman in the Natural History Museum in London

Ronan’s Summer Mocktail 🍑

Before I go, I must share Ronan’s new summer mocktail invention. It’s a mix of half peach juice and half tonic water and tastes like you’re sitting on a shady terrace in July with absolutely no intention of doing anything productive.

Simple. Refreshing. Weirdly addictive.
We’re calling it: Peach & Quiet.

Give it a try. Especially if, like me, you’ve started putting your bra in the fridge before you have to go somewhere and look semi respectable.

xx

Rosie