Tropical Collection by Monique Lucas | Interiors

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

Island inspired kitchen & dining ware that will transport you to sunny climes.

Welcome in the summer months with these gorgeous new tropical patterns from Monique Lucas, inspired by a love of islands near and far. The hand drawn designs include Pineapples, Hibiscus, Flamingos, Palm Trees, Parrots and Daiquiris.

All products are designed and made in the UK, using organic cotton and eco-friendly inks.

Founded in 2018, Monique Lucas turned her full attention to her namesake brand in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. Inspired by her love of islands, both the ones she grew up on and those she’s visited, Monique combined this with her passion for interiors and patterns to create her designs. Whether the exotic islands of the Far East, the sultry Florida Keys, or the more homely islands around the UK, Monique has found continual inspiration from coastal life. The surroundings of the sea, greenery and ever-changing nature inform and inspire the detailed, vibrant designs.

Monique Lucas products can be purchased directly from www.moniquelucas.co.uk and are also available from Not On The High Street. International shipping available.

PRICING:

Napkins start from £38 for a set of 4
Oven gloves start from £20
Tea Towels start from £16
Aprons start from £32
Monique Lucas is also available for wholesale from faire.com

My Writing Process: Marika Cobbold | How I write.

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

What you have written, past and present.

I’ve written eight novels, a number of short stories, and I also write for newspapers, here in the UK and in my native Sweden.

What you are promoting now.
We authors prefer to think that we’re not so much promoting as drawing your attention with cunning and stealth, but leaving that to one side, my new novel, On Hampstead Heath is just out so, of course, I want everyone to know about it. It’s a novel about Truth and its ugly stepsister, Fake News and it tells a news story written and filed, in haste and a haze of gin, by my otherwise principled journalist protagonist, Thorn Marsh. Written and deeply regretted the morning after, by which time the story of the Angel of the Heath has gone viral and it’s all Thorn can do to survive the fall-out. It’s a serious book, at heart, but also, I hope, fun to read.

A bit about your process of writing.

Slow, is the best way of describing it. On Hampstead Heath, at some 240 pages, is a relatively short novel, but it, or variations of it, took me the best part of ten years, and some several thousand discard pages, to write. Not all my books have proven so challenging to write but the process is similar with each one: I dream and think and make notes by longhand. (I’ve discovered a wonderful make of notebooks called Leuchtturm, they’re a bit like Moleskin but even nicer.) A filled notebook or two later, I sit down to write the book proper, always straight onto my laptop. My handwriting is too painfully bad to lend itself to long-form. I then go back over and over the same fifty or so pages, perfecting every last word. I eventually progress, only to realise that most of those preceding pages are now redundant to the story and have to be discarded. It’s not so much “kill your darlings” as the Texas Chain Massacre.

What About Word Count.

I think more in terms of pages, but on average, I suppose I write between six and eight hundred words a day.

How do you do your structure.

Part of it is intuitive; I build my structure as I go along. Then, with each ensuing draft (I do at least ten complete drafts before I get to a version that I feel I can send to my agent and editor), I cut and paste and shape and shift. Finally, I print out and go through the entire manuscript, notebook in hand, for a final shaping of the text.

What do you find hard about writing.
I think an easier question, in my case, would be, What don’t you find hard about writing? To which the answer would be, the point where I’ve worked myself into near insanity over a number of months, or even years, to find the story really is beginning to take on a life of its own. By then I know my characters as well, or better than I know myself, and subsequently, the writing flows.

What do you love about writing?
That final push, and the rare eureka moments when I look over a paragraph just written and think, “That’s not bad, not bad at all!”.

On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold is out in hardback by Arcadia.

The Wish List by Sophia Money-Coutts | Book Review

Posted on April 23, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

I need to start this review by admitting that I read every book written by Sophia Money-Coutts. I think she is a great writer. The Wish List is another triumph and my favourite book yet. It follows Florence Fairfax who writes a wish list of what she wants in a man, and then it seems like that man turns up. But will the course of love run smoothly? Money-Coutts is a great writer, she is so perceptive about the little things in life, and in people. She writes in beautiful detail and really knows her characters. You can get lost in this book. I recommend reading it in the bath or in your comfiest chair with a good cup of tea. The Wish List is a fun and feel-good rom-com. It is perfect to unwind with. This is the perfect romance novel.

Florence Fairfax might have been single for quite a while – well, forever, actually – but she isn’t lonely. She loves her job at the little bookshop in Chelsea and her beloved cat Marmalade who keeps her company at night. She’s perfectly happy, thank you.

So when Florence meets an eccentric love coach who asks her to write a wish list describing her perfect man, she refuses to take it seriously. Until later that week, Rory, a handsome blond man with the sexual athleticism of James Bond she asked for just happens to walk into the bookshop…

Rory seems to tick all of the boxes on Florence’s list. But is she about to discover there’s more to love than being perfect on paper?

The Wish List is available here and is publishing in paperback on 24^th June.

An at Home Sanitizing Solution: Coral UV’s New LED Sanitizer

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

Coral UV Expands on Best-in-Class At-Home Sanization with the Coral UV 2

The 2021 Red Dot Awarded Design ensures safe, user-friendly UV-C sanitation

This is a brilliant invention and just what we need in these Covid 19 pandemic times. It offers great piece of mind that your items are thoroughly sanitised. We can highly recommend this. A must buy.

Coral UV, the leader in at-home UV-C sanitation solutions, is proud to launch the Coral UV LED Sanitizer and Dryer. Representing the next generation of the brand’s original 3-in-1 UV-C sanitizer, the Coral UV LED Sanitizer and Dryer builds upon best-in-class safety features to eliminate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses on the surface of any appropriately sized item.

For the next generation of Coral UV’s Sanitizer and Dryer, designers went back to the drawing board to provide customers with expanded user experience, modern aesthetic, and increased safety features. For instance, mercury bulbs have been replaced within the sanitizing chamber with six, energy efficient LED lights. This eliminates the possibility of users becoming accidentally exposed to mercury and helps keep mercury out of the environment. “Coral UV 2 represents how we provide for consumer requests without sacrificing quality,” mentioned Titus Tse, Co-founder of Coral UV. Tse continues, “Our change to LED ensures this product is completely mercury free and odor free, two of the core requests our customers have made in the past.” In addition, Coral UV has kept its commitment to rigorous, third-party verification. The Coral UV LED Sanitizer and Dryer has been proven to eliminate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses on the surfaces of household products.

It has:

Eco Friendly LED Bulbs – Coral UV uses 12 mW LED, eco-friendly bulbs (as opposed to harmful mercury bulbs). This is six times more sanitizing power than LED competitors.
Aesthetic, minimalist design – Coral UV is a minimalist, top-open sanitizer that naturally fits in with the rest of your kitchen, vanity, or bedroom.
Roomy Stainless Steel Chamber – A roomy reflective stainless steel chamber allows you to sanitize multiple items at once while ensuring the sanitizing UV-C light reaches every corner inside the device.
Drying function – A built in drying function is convenient for items you might rinse off beforehand, such as water bottles. Coral UV is one of the only sanitizers that has this option.

In acknowledgement of its enhanced design, the Coral UV LED Sanitizer and Dryer was recently bestowed a 2021 Red Dot Award in Design–an internationally recognized award that honors the very best in product design. “We are humbled and excited to win such a prestigious award.This makes us proud that our core values of quality without compromise are being recognized,” commented Tse.

The Coral UV LED Sanitizer and Dryer will be available for presale on Kickstarter. Following the launch on Kickstarter, the unit will be available for purchase online at CoralUV.com and Amazon.co.uk in June. For more product information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3dnTT4a

My Writing Process: Maame Blue

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

What you have written, past and present

After 4 years of writing it, my debut novel Bad Love has finally been published by Jacaranda Books! It was a bit of a travelling manuscript too because I wrote parts of it in London, New York and Melbourne. Aside from the novel, I’ve written short stories about a grandmother losing her memory, and a couple grieving the unexpected loss of a child. I’ve also written creative nonfiction about the perils of dating as a black woman living in Australia, and the experience of being a young psychotherapist. Presently, I’ve just written a piece for an anthology called Visual Verse, where writers are given an image and one hour to write a corresponding piece to it. This one was especially important to me as it was in tribute to the Grenfell tower victims and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

What you are promoting now

Right now I’m promoting my debut novel Bad Love – published by Jacaranda Books as part of their #Twentyin2020 initiative (to publish 20 Black British Writers in 2020), and it’s also available as an audiobook. Bad Love tells the story of Ghanaian-Londoner Ekuah and her tumultuous experience with first love, and how her subsequent relationships and those of her parents, eventually shape her identity.

A bit about your process of writing

Until a couple of years ago, my writing process involved fitting it around whatever full time job I had at the time. But more recently, I try to sit down and write on Fridays. I’ll have some herbal tea, pull out a notebook of a work in progress (I probably have too many of those) and then put a song on repeat that I feel best resonates with whatever I’m writing about. If I can get into that headspace for at least a couple of hours, I feel like I’ve done something, even if I only manage to get a sentence down.

Do you plan or just write?

I’m a great planner in life but not so much in my writing. If I mapped out a structure, I guarantee whatever I end up writing will be bad, because it automatically makes it feel like work. Instead I might have an idea for something, some story, with a very loose framework. I will have a vague idea of where I want it to go, but I keep it brief enough so that when I start writing and it goes in another direction, that’s ok.

What about word count?

I actually enjoy a word count. That might come from my other work in project management, but it’s the only sort of hard structure that my writing positively responds to. And the shorter the word count, the better – I like a challenge!

How do you do your structure?

Again, I’m a bit structureless. But if I’m commissioned to write something, I usually respond quite well to a theme or prompt as that tends to focus my mind a little more. With Bad Love for example, I knew that I wanted to write about complicated relationships, from one young woman’s perspective. The idea was to explore the multiple facets of love as it shows itself in relationships between people, and how each element impacts a person’s personality. But I felt that the strongest way to do that was to write it from an intimately personal perspective, showing the pitfalls and the small joys as they happen.

What do you find hard about writing?

Mostly it’s finding the time to write and giving it enough space to develop. There’s something I’m working on at the moment that I have to get into the zone for, so sometimes competing writing deadlines make that difficult.

What do you love about writing?

The magic of creating characters from scratch and building an emotional world that hopefully resonates with the reader – positively or negatively. I don’t mind which, as long as it makes you feel something!

Maame Blue is part of Jacaranda’s #Twentyin2020 initiative. Her debut novel Bad Love is available to buy online, at Foyles and all good Indie bookshops, and as an Audible audiobook. https://maamebluewrites.com / @MaameBlueWrites

The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan | Book Review

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

Is there anything better than a good thriller? Well yes, a good thriller where the characters are female. In my opinion anyway. The Wild Girls is about four wildly (sorry) different women who all go on holiday to Botswana to celebrate their friend Felicity’s birthday. They have not seen each other in years and the last time they did see each other it did not go well. All of the women have secrets, and they want to keep them to themselves.

Hannah is a new mother, finally after years of infertility. Grace has been a hermit after suffering trauma. She lives with a flatmate who has a boyfriend who is rude to her. She needs to make changes and she knows it. Alison lives with her terrible boyfriend in a flat she can barely afford the mortgage for. All of the women are struggling in their lives. They all need something, so they accept the invitation from Felicity. No one has seen Felicity for years, she immigrated to New York with her boyfriend Nathaniel. It is an all-expenses trip to a luxury lodge in Botswana. Who could possibly say no?

The women arrive at the lodge and Felicity is nowhere to be seen. Things go downhill from there as the women realise that things are not quite right and more strange things keep happening. I do not want to give any of the plot away and to give the review I really wanted- and to truly capture how amazing I think Grace is, a truly brilliant character- I would have to. So instead I will say this: all of the characters are so vivid and perfectly written. There are four different women and each of them is so different and given so much depth. The plot races along. It is hard to put this book down and I really tried not to. I finished it in record time. I reckon you will too. From the great plot to the brilliant characters this book is pretty much perfect. Whats more, you will not see the ending coming. I loved it. A must read.

In a luxury lodge on Botswana’s sun-soaked plains, four friends reunite for a birthday celebration…

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL
Has it all, but chose love over her friends…

THE TEACHER
Feels the walls of her flat and classroom closing in…

THE MOTHER
Loves her baby, but desperately needs a break…

THE INTROVERT
Yearns for adventure after suffering for too long…

Arriving at the safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There’s no sign of the party that was promised. There’s no phone signal. They’re alone, in the wild.

THE HUNT IS ON.

The Wild Girls is available here.

The Hit List By Holly Seddon | Book Review

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

The Hit List By Holly Seddon is one of my favourite books of the year so far. From the first page it drew me in and would not let go. The characters are all perfectly done and the clever story leaves you guessing. Holly Seddon is a master at plotting. It was exciting to read this brilliant novel as a reader, but also as a writer. Ah, that is how it is done, I thought to myself. This book is a must read. No exceptions.

On the anniversary of her husband’s accidental death, Marianne seeks comfort in everything Greg left behind. She wears his shirt and cologne, reads their love letters and emails. Soon she’s following his footsteps across the web, but her desperation to cling to any trace of him leads her to the dark web. And a hit list with her name on it.

To try to save herself from Sam, the assassin hired to kill her, Marianne must first unpick the wicked web in which Greg became tangled. Was Greg trying to protect her or did he want her dead?

The Hit List is available here.

What a Nutritionist Feeds Her Kids

Posted on April 15, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

It is not uncommon for parents to worry about the nutritional value of the food they are serving their children and little ones. The food children and babies eat when they are younger can really make a difference on how they eat as they get older. However, it’s important for parents to keep the pressure off for everyone, including themselves. Think about what’s eaten over a week, not day to day and avoid coaxing little ones to eat or ensuring kids stay at the table until they’ve finished the meal. All of this can impose negative associations around foods which is ultimately what we want to avoid if we’re trying to create little foodies. According to research recently conducted by Stokke 53% of parents struggle to prepare a meal that the entire family will enjoy.

Make choice part of your mealtime routine. Kids are more likely to eat something they feel they’ve had a say in, so instead of just plating up their food, ask them first “do you want X or Y with your dinner” or “Would you like spaghetti or rice for dinner today?” for example. You could also try offering multiple sides and giving them autonomy to choose what they want. You’ll probably be surprised how much more gets eaten when it’s them calling the shots. Younger babies don’t often have much choice in their meal options but try offering them a variety & following their lead. At mealtimes have conversations about the meals and foods on offer, allow honest opinions and maybe even make a game of rating the meals for the week. This can help children and toddlers to really think about their foods and their likes and dislikes a little more as well as being mindful about the foods they are eating.

Three fifths (60%) of families will always eat their families will always eat their family meals together at the dinner table. Sitting together and being present at mealtimes helps, but actually eating similar things can also help children to accept a wider variety. Some research shows that families eating together is a big factor in positively influencing the diets of their children, so as much as you can try to ROLEMODEL what a balanced diet looks like, and it’s likely your little ones will follow suit. Remember babies also learn the WHAT and the HOW of eating from copying their parents and those around them too, which is why I love the Stokke Tripp Trapp as a great way to bring baby right to the table with you at mealtimes. Research, conducted by premium children’s brand, Stokke, explored the importance of eating meals together as a family, found that 49% of participants believe eating together as a family creates a happier child and 34% believe it creates a more confident child.

With 82% of parents worrying about the nutritional value of the food they are serving their children and want to ensure they get the balance right – here is what I try to give my children for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner:
Breakfast

Breakfast is often porridge, or pancakes – mainly because it’s SO easy to add extras to these – extra flavours such as cinnamon, or ginger, extra nutrients from peanut butter or milled seeds stirred in or extra portions of your 5 a day with some berries thrown into the batter/with the oats or even just sticks on the side.

Lunch

I like a picky finger food lunch for those busy days. Trying to make this balanced is often easy too so things such as

Wraps with hummus and pepper

Cucumber fingers with yogurt dip and leftover curries

Tuna, yogurt and sweetcorn spread on toast

Omelettes with potato, mixed veg and cheese

Dinner

Tends to be something hot, but it does vary.

I love potato tots for babies as they are just so simple and easy to vary.

Otherwise, it’s whatever we’re having for dinner

Pasta with chickpea and tomato sauce

Chilli with potatoes and some grated cheese

I’m all about trying to make the most of meals and balance the food groups on offer where possible so that you know babies AND kids are getting all the nutrients they need. This means I’m always thinking about what I can sprinkle on top, what I can use as a dip or how I can add extras like lentils, fish or beans to pasta sauces.

Stokke are hosting a FREE weaning webinar – How to raise a confident foodie and help your baby love their broccoli as much as their cake! Charlotte Stirling-Reed Nutritionist and Author will be on Zoom 28th April at 8pm. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-wean-your-baby-mini-masterclass-tickets-143331352935?aff=Media10

Expert nutritional advice from Charlotte Stirling-Reed, author of new book “How to wean your baby”, that publishes on 29th April but available for pre-order. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785043242 @sr_nutrition

Stokke is a leading high end baby brand in Scandinavia whose ethos is to nurture family bonding, having your baby closer to you and the importance of eye contact. The iconic Tripp Trapp® highchair was launched in 1972 and has since sold more than 12 million worldwide. www.stokke.com @stokkebaby

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