I blame it on the upheaval of moving. Of leaving Granada and the house I loved. I blame it on the vast amount of paperwork involved in selling and buying, the stress of negotiations with all the usual hiccups that inevitably accompany such transactions. I blame it on the year’s terrible and time-consuming task of sorting all my accumulated possessions and parting with many of them. I blame it on the energy I’ve devoted to making new friends and entering the life of my new pueblo. I blame it on my efforts to make a home that feels ‘me’ in this modern flat so different from my rustic house in Sacromonte with its inspiring views and closeness to nature. I blame it on my lack of willpower.

Dozens of ideas for new projects have raced through my brain. And out again before I’ve had a chance to develop them. Too many ideas can be as useless as no ideas. At other times my mind has been blank or distracted by numerous practical tasks, small decisions, attempts to organise my life. Establishing new friendships while ensuring I keep up with old friends in Granada is important to me, too important to put aside, however much time it takes. Moving to a new town where I knew virtually no one could have been a lonely experience. Instead, I’ve felt accompanied and welcomed and I’m hugely grateful for that.

What I have achieved and which is, of course, related to writing, is the publication of, a Spanish version of The Red Gene. Working with my translator Jon was a delight, a highly rewarding experience for both of us, and I’m thrilled now to see El Gen Rojo on the shelves of bookshops and receiving positive feedback.

I can’t remember another year like this one, a whole year without writing. I worry that I’ve lost the habit and that the endless wait for responses from agents and publishers to my submissions of the two novels written since finishing The Red Gene has killed off my motivation. But enough of excuses. A new year is the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start, to find new inspiration. With luck and determination, 2025 will be, must be, the year I get to work again, with my priorities firmly set in the write direction (apologies for the pun, couldn’t resist it!).