Hello!

Happy February – just!

It’s been a month of coughs and colds in my household, so everything is happening later than it should, apologies!

Book news . . .

On a happier note, I’m thrilled to report that genius book designer, Jet, has been busy at work on the cover for my novella, Dirt – and here it is!

Hope you love it as much as I do! Dirt will be out very soon, and if you’d like to know more about it, check out the blurb at Habitat Press.

My reading recommendation in the meantime is an extraordinary book called Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (recommended for 11+). I’ll admit, I put off reading this for a while because the subject matter sounded so tough: it’s about a 12-year-old boy who is shot when a police officer mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. But the narrative is so delicately told that although the story is heartbreaking, it is also exquisitely beautiful and hopeful.

It feels particularly important to read stories like this when book bans are so prevalent in the US, with books on essential topics like racism and gender equality being suppressed in school libraries – including Ghost Boys. I wish we didn’t need these books, but we live in a world crying out for social change; adults and kids everywhere should read Ghost Boys.

Lazy green wins #8

Tackle food waste: eat leftovers! Don’t make lunch, eat last night’s dinner!

If global food waste were a country, it would be the third greenhouse gas emitter in the world, after China and the USA. The UK’s total food waste could feed roughly 30 million people a year and costs the country about £19 billion. Staggering statistics.

Creative cooking avoids throwing away unused ingredients. This principle underpins many of my favourite recipes (e.g. miscellaneous veg soup, miscellaneous veg pasta sauce, miscellaneous veg risotto, miscellaneous veg frittata . . . you get the picture!).

Shop less. Use up what you have. Cook once, eat twice. Lazy. Easy. Another climate win.

Do you have any favourite leftovers hacks? And what do you think of the book cover for Dirt? Hit reply, I'd love to hear from you!​
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Until next time, Happy reading! Laura ​

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