My sixteen-month-old grandson has impetigo (an infectious bacterial skin infection) which he caught at nursery but he isn’t allowed to return there until 7–10 days after starting a course of antibiotics. As a result, we’ve covered some of the emergency childcare needs. It’s great to be helpful and looking after our grandson is always a lot of fun. He’s started talking much more and points his index finger when out in his buggy and calls out words like car, truck, bus and dog. We’ve spent a lot of time building towers with plastic cups (which are immediately knocked down) and stirring pretend porridge which is always too hot or too cold.

Due to family needs, my regular writing timetable has been affected. It’s not easy settling down at a different desk (or kitchen table) and expecting to have the same output that I would achieve if I was at home working on my latest manuscript. Instead, I’ve decided it’s necessary to play around with projects rather than stick to my regular writing routine. I’m a member of the online writing group Pens Around the World which supports people who write in English and live, or have lived, in far-flung places and we’re working on an anthology of advice for writers together with some creative writing pieces. I’ve enjoyed being a buddy to one of my fellow Pens Around the World members which involves me editing her pieces and she’s editing mine. We’ve come quite a long way in fine tuning all of our submissions. I’ll keep you posted as work on the anthology continues.

How many writing projects do you have on the go? Does diversity of writing help or hinder your work?