Today is Saturday 28 December 2019, and it would have been my mum’s 101 birthday. Sadly she died eleven years ago just a fortnight short of her 90th birthday. Since then December and Christmas have always been tinged with a certain sadness, but life moves on.
As I write this blog post we are just 4 days away from not only welcoming a New Year but a whole new decade. I’ve just realised too, that this will be the third time I’ve welcomed a new decade here in France - the first one being the millennium.
For me personally the last two decades have flown by bringing all sorts of changes into my life - some good, some not so good and some I could in all honesty have done without. I’m sure that everyone has similar thoughts and feelings about their own lives.
My son is currently with the organisation Sea Shepherd and is captain of one of their boats in the Upper Gulf of California trying to save the vaquita porpoise and other endangered species from extinction. There are only about 15 of the vaquita porpoises left in this protected area. Needless to say the Mexican fishermen are not happy about Sea Shepherd pulling up their illegal nets and there are frequent skirmishes. As proud as I am of Nick, as his mum I worry a lot!
If you’d like to know more about the Sea Shepherd organisation here’s the link: https://seashepherd.org/milagro
Used to the long Christmas holiday in the UK it took me a few years to get used to the French way of celebrating Christmas and New Year. Shops close at mid-day on Christmas Eve when their main celebration takes place and on Christmas Day itself. Boxing Day is unknown here, it's a normal workday (unless of course it happens to fall on a Sunday). The days running up to New Year are normal workdays and after celebrating New Year’s Eve in a big way, January 1 is a holiday, after that it’s back to a normal routine. Oh, there is the Day of Kings on January 6 when they have a special cake and a paper crown is involved.
So this week I’ve had no excuse not to work and I’ve been doing the copy edits on one of my backlist, Rendez-vous in Cannes that Boldwood are re-issuing in April. But before then A Riviera Retreat is published 23 January. If you want to escape from the January weather you can pre-order it here: https://amzn.to/2Q3cGYg
Oh, I've just realised I called this blog post Reflection and Resolution and I haven't mentioned New Year Resolutions - and that's because I decided not to make any!
On behalf of the seven Novel Points of View authors, I liked to wish you all a very happy 2020 and if you are a writer reading this lots of writing success.
On behalf of the seven Novel Points of View authors, I liked to wish you all a very happy 2020 and if you are a writer reading this lots of writing success.
I spend the first few weeks of the year deciding on resolutions and I never make any!
ReplyDeleteHave a happy 2020, Jennie, and I hope all your books fly xx
Thanks Jo the same to you.
ReplyDeleteI always make resolutions and post them publicly on my blog - helps me stick to them!
ReplyDeleteFor 31 years I worked for a retail company in IT, there was no automatic holiday between Christmas and NY for us as the systems still needed to run and be supported during the critical first days of the sales. Now that I've stopped the day job, this is the first year I've had a long non-working stint at Christmas at home!
I hope you've enjoyed the time Kath. Happy New Year. x
ReplyDeleteSea Shepherd sounds an interesting organisation, doing vital work, Jennie. I come from a fishing family, so I understand the pressures faced by fishing communities but someone also needs to care for the porpoise. So glad your son and his colleagues are on their side.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rae. The sea of correze is a protected area where the porpoise are supposed to be safe and be able to breed but the fishermen lay these illegal nets- they're pirates really and armed. It's very worrying really.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing how celebrations are celebrated differently in different countries. Thank you, Jennie.
ReplyDeleteThank you Victoria. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteSomeone from or in a foreign country always brings a touch of the exotic ... and so it is with this post, Jennie. So proud of Nick ... but quite understand how he's probably never far from your thoughts. And well done you on Boldwood and all the publications to come - 2020 is already rocoking for you!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Jennie! I am so happy that your son is helping to protect the endangered porpoises! What a noble endeavor. Excited about your new releases with Boldwood. They did a marvelous job on the cover. Wishing you a wonderful 2020.
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