Alrighty, we have a lot to get on with this month, so without any further palaver…
Travel
If you follow me on my personal Instagram (@jotracey), you’d know I’ve been in Vietnam for the past couple of weeks with my 27-year-old daughter, Sarah, and the woman my brother had the good sense to marry - my sister-in-law, P.
I’ll blog the trip gradually over at and anyways, but for now, some pics from the trip.
I have a few days scheduled in Sydney during June to visit my parents, but aside from that, I’m not planning to travel anywhere for a couple of months. Winter is the best time of the year to be on the Sunshine Coast, so I intend to make the most of it.
Oh, and in case you’ve missed them, I’m posting the transcripts of my UK travel diaries over on and anyways. It’s my way of documenting our travel, but if others enjoy reading it, that’s great too. The posts are a direct and unedited copy from my journal, so apologies if they’re a tad on the rambling side. You’ll find the links here.
Publishing News
Murder in the Mangroves will be published on August 20 and is now available for pre-order on all digital platforms. Print will follow.
The blurb is below:
The sun streaked through the slats in the old venetian blinds, casting a golden, almost hazy, film across the bed and the man in it. Outside, a magpie carolled to welcome the day, its mate joining in the chorus. Life didn’t get much better than this. It was this close to perfect. As Rose would’ve said, ‘There was just a bee dick in it; it was that close.’ Not that I’d ever say as much – there was no one word more likely to wreak disaster than ‘perfect’
After the dramas that followed Clementine Carter’s return to Whale Bay, life has begun to settle into a rhythm. She has big plans for New Moon, her new-age store, and her romance with local barista Finn Marello is progressing well.
Cracks begin to form when Finn’s not-quite-ex-wife turns up in town, but when Clem discovers a body in the mangroves a series of events are triggered that place Clem and Finn in a fight for their freedom – and their lives.
Can Clem unmask the killer before the killer – and her past – catches up with her?
Writing Update
Now that I’m back from holidays (you‘d be forgiven for thinking I’ve been on holiday for most of this year), my priorities for May are:
Finalise formatting for Murder In The Mangroves and print cover.
Agree on new covers for Baby, It’s You, and Big Girls Don’t Cry. To celebrate 10 years since I published Baby, It’s You, I’ll be updating the covers of my Melbourne Girls rom-com series. The brief is with my cover designer, and once we nail Baby, It’s You, the rest will follow quickly.
Hit the 50,000 word mark on this year’s Christmas novel - working title, This Year’s Christmas Novel.
Write every day in June - anyone want to join me?
Update my website design
Complete my RWA presentation for the conference in August.
The Rest
Reading
In case you missed it, you’ll find my bookish post here…
Watching
Before travelling to Vietnam, I downloaded a couple of series to watch on the plane (I’ve told you before about how I don’t sleep on overnight flights, haven’t I?).
Highights for May were:
The Wives (Acorn). I love the cast of this and hope there’s a season 2 coming.
The Residence (Netflix). There’s been mixed reviews about this, but I loved it. I especially loved the Australian angle and Kylie Minogue.
A new season of Harry Wild (Acorn). Jane Seymour is ageless and fantastic. Cosy crime with an Irish sense of humour.
Slow Horses (Apple+). I watched the first few episodes of this on the flight back from Singapore after my iPad's battery ran out, and I couldn’t find the charging cable without waking half the plane to retrieve my backpack from the overhead locker. This was a problem as it’s brilliant and now I want to watch the rest, but I don’t subscribe to Apple+
I also watched more of the current season (season 12) of Father Brown (Britbox) and the first couple of episodes of the new season of Clarkson’s Farm (Prime).
Cookbooking
This month’s cookbook theme for BKD Cookbook Club was Celebrity Chefs. My post, a review of Angela Hartnett’s “The Weekend Cook”, can be found here. Next month, it’s all about comfort food. If you want more information, check out this post.
Project 52
The one where I’m cooking a new recipe each week from a cookbook I own. I can, however, only count each cookbook once. In May, I was only home for a few weeks, but cooked from the following books in my library:
Simply Nigella, by Nigella Lawson
The recipe: Apricot, almond and rosewater cake
James Martin’s Islands to Highlands, by James Martin
The recipe: Beef and beer stew with dumplings
James Martin’s Complete Home Comforts, by James Martin
The recipe: Baked ginger parkin with rhubarb
In case you missed it…
The big news is that the book club I belong to - The Simply Stunning Classic Book Club - will be launching a podcast in June. Yes, we’ll be recording our (mostly) monthly meetings so you can listen into our discussion.
This month, we’ll be talking about Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows, so feel free to read along.
We’ve created a new Substack page for it, and on there, you’ll find the books we’ve read so far. We’ll pop show notes in there when available. You’ll find it here.
Over to you …
Alrighty, that’s enough from me … what’s been on your calendar in May? Perhaps you’d like to update us on your word of the year or intentions? We’d love to hear about what you’ve been up to…
My co-hosts are:
Deb at Deb’s World
Sue at Women Living Well Over 50
Donna at Retirement Reflections
Such a great month Jo and I'm so pleased you enjoyed your time away in Vietnam. Let's hope June goes to plan and our book podcast goes well! It's great to have you home.
You have been busy indeed, Jo. Your publish date is getting so close. I'm sure that will keep you busy in June. On another note, I also very much enjoyed The Residence.