What’s Dutch for Damn? is yours for the taking. Go on, that’s all you need to know. I mean, if you want, read the rest of the blog post. But that’s the gist of it, right there.

Here’s the link you need. You’re away!

You’re still here. Oh, okay, I suppose I have some time, now that my book is out. Let’s hang.

My book is out!

Second time around, it’s a lot different. I was so scared with What’s French for Oops? First time publishing a book… that’s some nervous-making right there.

And that was a book I’d done a dozen rounds of editing on, worked with an agent and an editor, rewritten and polished to within an inch of its life.

What’s Dutch for Damn? has a different story. I knew that the sequel to What’s French for Oops? had to be Kate and Johannes’s story, but I only wrote the first part just over a year ago. My romance-writing friends and I put together a summer romance anthology, Rising Heat, and my contribution was ‘Summer Rain’ – a fun fling with a teaser of an ending.

The story worked as a short, but there was definitely more to come, and I started writing the rest shortly after What’s French for Oops? was published.

So, six months ago.

I wanted it finished by the end of March: not capital-F finished, just written to the last page. I had this idea that I’d do the rewrite of book 3 (which I already had a complete draft of) during April for Camp NaNoWriMo.

Then, mid-March, New Zealand went into Level 4 Lockdown. Monday, school was open, Tuesday, it wasn’t really, and Wednesday, the country closed down. Everything was shut except essential services. Take-out and restaurants all closed, bakeries; even coffee carts were off-limits.

Thursday, we started our rāhui.

Rāhui is a Māori word used to describe a ban, on area or resource, for the safety of people, or to preserve the place itself from some kind of threat.

After the Whakaari White Island eruption, there was a rāhui along the coast, and out at sea, all around the Bay of Plenty.

No swimming. No fishing or gathering any kai moana (seafood). There are fairly obvious health reasons for this – there had been bodies in the water, never found. But it can also be about honoring the dead.

There’s a more long-term rāhui on an area of Kauri forest near Auckland, to stop the spread of a disease that kills these native trees.

So, rāhui was a helpful word and idea, much better than lockdown (with its active shooter associations, and events all-too-recent in Christhcurch). But, call it what you like, we were very much stuck at home.

I was teaching online (at the dining table), my husband was working remotely (in the living room), and my children were enjoying benign neglect, the occasional Zoom with their teachers, and hours of YouTube. We had a trestle table set up for school in the living room, but they were as often with me at the dining table.

Cozy.

All I can say is thank goodness for a trampoline. And nice weather. And decent broadband.

I had a chunk more of my book to write, and only another 10 days to meet my goal. But that goal no longer seemed particularly important – in the grand scheme of things. I did NOT need to stick to it.

But there was a panicky part of me that really wanted SOMETHING to stay on-track, while everything else spiraled.

Teaching online was exhausting and limiting and infuriating, but I wasn’t around people all day – not in the same way. I still found myself craving alone time – disappearing off on walks by myself with Jennifer Ehle’s reading of Pride and Prejudice for company.

But I wasn’t face-to-face with 100+ kids daily. I was getting to the end of the day with emotional and creative energy left over. I had juice in the tank for writing, after the kids were in bed.

Turns out, I’m a bit of an introvert. I quite like not having to go anywhere. Teaching was frustrating and never felt like it was finished for the day, but there was also breathing space I rarely get at in-person school.

And, to be honest, I was in desperate need of an escape from our busy, messy, two-bedroom house. What better way to fly away than dive into writing a book that flits between Amsterdam and London?

So I finished the book.

And then I rewrote book three. (Working on a different project is a good way to get some objectivity on any manuscript.) I came back, early in May, to re-read and edit What’s Dutch for Damn?

A couple of first-readers ripped through it in June, pointed out my silly mistakes, and once I’d fixed them it was off to my lovely, genius editor.

The whole thing has been unnervingly fast. Unnerving because I’ve spent so damn long going back and forth on other books, which still haven’t been published.

But here we go… publishing my newest book of all!

I hope What’s Dutch for Damn? is a wonderful escape for you. Fun, and funny, and hopeful – because don’t we all need our hope replenished, in this year that seems pretty hopeless.

If this story takes you away for a bit of a break, I’ll be over the moon. It’s a very cheap overseas holiday. Less than the price of a small tube of Pringles on one of those discount airlines that charge you for food.

And the dishy heart-throb is part of the package deal, in this case.

There’s really nothing wrong with taking a break from reality. It’s brutal at the mo, and it’ll be there when you get back, and you’ll keep fighting the good fight.

A bit of a fictional escape can even be good for the fight, replenish your spirit, and help you to hold tighter to hope.

This book, and its sequel, got me through our rāhui. And I’m so aware that we’ve been the lucky ones. Life in New Zealand has been almost normal for the last 3 months. Bit of a bump in the road this week, and we’re in limbo again, but we’re in good hands.

I suppose, my point is, if you’re not feeling lucky or normal at all, I do hope this book gives you a little escape, a breather.

What’s Dutch for Damn? is available at all good e-book retailers.