January Procrastination...

Halfway through January and I'm already wondering where 2026 went. Is it just me, or does the year start at a sprint and never slow down?

I'm currently in Pauanui for the summer, ostensibly to crack on with editing The Helpful Lives of Gris Morley. And how's that going, you ask? Well, let me tell you about my new washing line!

Yes, that's right. my husband installed our new washing line. And I was genuinely excited about it. This is what my life has become. As I stood there admiring its fine lines and thinking how magnificent it looked, I realised I've officially crossed some invisible threshold into proper adulthood. Or old age. Take your pick.

Between you and me, the washing line has been getting far more attention than poor Gris Morley, who's been giving me reproachful looks every time I open my laptop.

The Teenager Invasion (and Influenza A)

Editing has also taken a back seat to managing a houseful of teenagers (my eldest daughter and her conglomeration of friends) and nursing my youngest daughter through Influenza A. Proper, knock-you-flat, diagnosed Influenza A.

Here's the thing that really scary: she's an athlete. Fitter than anyone I know. Someone who makes the rest of us look like decaying couch potatoes hidden at the back of the pantry. So watching her struggle through this was genuinely frightening. Three of her extended friend group ended up hospitalised with Influenza A. It was a close thing for her ending up there as well.

So this is me, using whatever tiny platform I have to say: get your flu vaccination. I mean it. If it can flatten someone that fit and healthy, it can flatten anyone.

The Departure I'm Not Ready For

And speaking of teenagers, I'm dreading next month when my eldest daughter flies off to university in Australia. I'm absolutely not ready for this goodbye.

Last year she was flitting around every dodgy country in Europe before working in a hostel in Thailand for a couple of months. I spent the year with my heart in my throat, tracking her location, trying not to imagine all the things that could go wrong (thanks mostly to the Liam Neeson film Taken). Like when she spent two hours on a bus in Albania, alone, driving to god knows where with a driver who (naturally and expectedly) didn’t speak English.

Surely Australia will be safer than a solo bus trip through the Balkans or managing hostel guests in Bangkok? This is what I tell myself at 3am when the parental anxiety kicks in. Although despite Australia having functioning emergency services and a shared language, they also have most of the world’s deadliest snakes and spiders. Oh joy.

But it doesn't matter how many times I tell myself she'll be safer. She's still going to be on the other side of the Tasman, and I'm still going to be here. Sigh.

Don’t Judge Me!

I've been trying to maintain some semblance of fitness by doing 10,000 steps at least every second day. Some days I manage it. Other days I convince myself that walking to the kitchen multiple times to feed teenagers definitely counts as exercise.

Last year I managed to achieve my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of reading 50 books. January is usually my biggest reading month of the year – summer holidays, beach time, all of that. But this year I'm struggling through John Grisham's The Widow, which is odd because I'm normally a Grisham fan. It's just not grabbing me the way his books usually do. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the distraction of teenagers and washing lines, or maybe it's just not quite hitting the mark. Have you read it? I’m half way through and have started skim reading. Which is not how I normally read.

I'm also reading for my judging duties for the Te Pae Tawhiti Awards (https://tepaetawhitiawards.nz/), which is both an honour and a responsibility I take seriously. It means I'm reading with a more critical eye than usual, which is a different experience from my typical summer reading sprawl. This reading list is filled with dragons. Which is a little more exciting than Grisham’s law court!

The Great Editing Avoidance

So yes, Gris Morley sits there, waiting patiently for me to stop procrastinating and actually do the work. The manuscript isn't going to edit itself, despite my half-hearted wishes that it might. Where are the magical editing elves???

Here's the thing, sometimes you need the procrastination. Sometimes your brain needs to fuss about washing lines and count steps and feed teenagers and read books and catch some waves and worry about daughters flying off to new adventures. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a manuscript is to leave it alone for a bit while you live your life.

At least, that's what I'm telling myself!!!!! (And Shawn Inmon, my cowriter).

But for now? I'm going to hang out another load of washing and feel ridiculously pleased about my new washing line.

How's your January going? Are you racing through it too, or have you found a way to slow it down? Let me know in the comments below.

And seriously, get your flu vaccination. Trust me on this one.