11 months on an 11 hour flight

A flight...an 11 hour flight. Normally I relish this time - away from my laptop and Google, and on-line shopping which I am addicted to since becoming a mum. Usually I use a long flight to watch movies and immerse myself in a good book. I sometimes do a bit of writing too. I started writing my first novel in an airport lounge and airports and aeroplanes are great places to people watch which is always a good pastime for a writer. Sadly with an eleven month old all of the above goes out the window.

The trip was to Goa, where I grew up so I knew once I got there ( 9 hours on the way out - 11 on the way back) I could switch of and relax (My parents have a house there). I have to admit the way out was okay. It was a day flight. He watched a few cartoons, ate Ella's Melty Puffs and was kept entertained by an apple for most of the journey, but the way back - a night flight - was tough. The armrests were static and so he could not sleep across husband and me so he had to sleep on just one of us. He was hot and bothered, but he slept. We didn't. However, we got through it. Before the flight I researched what to take to help me on the flight. I didn't find any great sites for advice so here is mine.

Take a good travel bag. A backpack (although not very trendy) is essential. A mum recommended this one to me from Amazon which is pretty tough to beat. The zip at the back gives you access to the lower part of the rucksack so you don't have to spend your time rummaging, while your baby is in fits of tears waiting for his favourite blanket.

I also recommend Melty Puffs as mentioned above (no nasties) and likely to keep the little one occupied. Ella's pouches too are handy or your pouch of choice. I do like giving N my own food, but these are pretty good if you are in a rush. I've passed the baby weaning phase but I was worried about processed food when I started. The guides from First Step Nutrition tell you what you need to know and it's independent so no sponsors to influence their reports.

Even if your little one is not on milk anymore, taking a mini formula bottle can be comforting and get can encourage them to have a nap too. There is so much distraction for them on an aeroplane!

Zip lock bags are great- for keeping things clean and keeping things separate and they hardy take up any space.

Milton travel wipes are handy for when you are out and about at your destination as well. Some high chairs in restaurants need a good wipe!

A hand sanitiser like Aquaint is good too for baby and you. You can get a pocket size version too.

A sippy cup is a must and toys - a book, a set of baby's first keys and remote or phone (The ELC ones are great).

A blanket and some outfit changes are a given.

I won't go into detail about what to take for when you are in a tropical country with a little one but two of the best products I used were the Green baby mosi-tabs to stick on baby's clothes and Badger anti-bug balm (both all natural I think). N has Eczema and this didn't interfere with that. And whilst my husband and I got bitten, N didn't so the bug balm and the tabs worked. Another must have for me were the Damero bags which I bought from Amazon. I got the three pack and they were great for putting in my day bag for snacks, swimwear and changing stuff for N. I like the fact that these bags have two compartments to help you keep organised.

It was a successful and somewhat relaxing trip (holidays are somewhat different with a baby. You never quite switch off). And I didn't do any writing. Going to Goa is the one time I do switch off. I have a no-work policy and that includes writing. I did take some photos for a Chupplejeep Diary that I am planning to launch on Instagram (@Marissade.luna) and on my Facebook page (marissadelunaauthor).  I need to sort out links and widgets to my profiles...bear with me! When I'm in Goa I try to observe my surroundings as much as possible and soak up the atmosphere so that when I put pen to paper I can recall the sights, smells, and sounds of the place and re-create this on the page. I once read that writing about an exotic location in the exotic location can hinder your writing because you are surrounded by stimulus that you can incorporate into your manuscript - I think there is some truth in that - for me at least. Now that I am back in England I remember what stood out for me not all the minutiae and so I am planning to go through my current manuscript - Jackpot Jetty and do an edit where I add in some of this detail - the dog sunning itself on the dusty red mud, the woman in the green sari walking along the beach her hands outstretched towards the blue sky, the sweet taste of a freshly made jalebi dripping with sugar syrup...

New Year, New Blog

Hello and welcome to Writing and Weetabix. A blog following my writing and motherly highs and lows. If you are a writer or if you are a mum/parent ( and especially if you are both) then this is the blog for you!

Before I start though I need to let you know what you are letting yourself into so you know whether you want to keep reading or not.

• There are a million writing and mummy blogs out there. I am not trying to get on the band wagon am just creating a place here on the world wide web where I can share my thoughts and experience with you. I used to blog (see below) but I decided to end that writing blog and start this one after my son was born because I feel the need to discuss writing and motherhood - which is a different product than talking just about writing. Not everyone is interested in babies ( I certainly wasn't before I had my own). 
• If you are particular about grammar then this blog is not for you. Yes, I am a writer, yes, I know my punctuation should be impeccable but sadly it is not and although I have done courses and read countless books on the subject I am still not great at it. This is not ideal. I know that. But I love writing - telling stories, giving people that escapism. So for my books I just have a good editor - on this platform I do not. I have talked about this in depth in my previous blog - The Coffee Stained Manuscript feel free to have a look although it is now a little defunct! 
• I use exclamation marks!!! I do. Never in my novels - unless it really calls for one - but on here I will over use the exclamation mark! I am trying to curb my enthusiasm for them though.
• I may not have time to read through what I have written. I shoot from the hip - write it how I think it and don't always have the time to edit. So if there are mistakes I apologise in advance. 
• I aim to post once a fortnight. But I may miss a fortnight or so now and again - because that is what happens when you have a job, a baby, a book to write and plenty of box sets to watch. 
• My son Nathan will be known as N 

If you are still reading this, hurrah! Let us begin.

So why Writing and Weetabix? Well, the writing is self explanatory, the Weetabix probably is as well - to any mother. Weetabix is great, but it dries like cement and makes such a mess. I spend as much time cleaning up dried on weetabix as I do writing - I am sure of it. N loves it, he also loves chucking it around the kitchen and making a mess. It is also a nice bit of alliteration.

And now for a little bit about me. I started writing in 2008 and have published 5 novels to date. Two of these novels were published by independent publishers the rest I have self published. My previous blog went into detail about the pros and cons of self publishing and why I chose to self publish the series I am currently working on. The series - which I refer to quite a bit- is the Chupplejeep Mysteries - a light hearted detective series set in rural Goa (I used to live in Goa - hence the connection). The first two books in the series (Under the Coconut Tree, The Body in the Bath) are selling well and I have just written the first draft of the third book titled Jackpot Jetty.

I wrote the majority of this first messy draft while on maternity leave. N was born in February and although I had decided to take a year off writing, three months in and I wanted to do something for me. Having a new born takes away all your time and can also take away your identity. I wanted to reclaim some of that back and writing was an easy way to do that. A bit of work, which is not really work, because when you are a writer you have this strange need to write all the time which is why it is a passion and not really work. So I started writing and now as my maternity leave comes to an end I have a complete first draft of Jackpot Jetty. It's good to have got this far on my year off, but I now have a draft which needs my attention, an eleven month old and a three day working week ahead of me. My writing is going to take a back seat this year, but I AM DETERMINED and I'm also a goal setter so I have decided to get this draft in ship shape and ready for publication by he end of this year. I usually achieve my targets, but I have never attempted them with a baby - what I have learnt this past year is that schedules and deadlines are not often achievable with a baby!

Yep, the last year has been a steep, steep learning curve, especially those first six weeks when you are so sleep deprived you don't know whether you are coming or going and with holdalls under your eyes you are trying to figure out if the colour of your baby's poo is the colour it should be and how to remove snot from his nose when he can't blow it! That was a serious issue for me - something I never even thought of as a problem - a simple cold - yet it gave me sleepless nights worrying if he could breathe! A nasal aspirator was the answer and snuffle babe products - when I was told about the aspirator from a fellow mother I thought yuk - sucking snot out of your baby's nose is gross. But the reality is that it is a much better alternative than having a baby with a blocked nose - especially when the doctor told me that babies that young don't know how to breathe through their mouths. When you have a baby you soon realise that half the things you thought were gross are not!

So this year I want to get my manuscript ready, I want to be a good mother and I am returning to work. Soon. I'm worried about this last point because I am usually organised, on time - I'm one of those - and I'm not sure that I will be able to be that person anymore. Work means nursery which means juggling pick-up and drop-offs, it means sickness bugs that are not scheduled and will co-incide with meetings at work that I JUST CAN'T MISS which I will have to miss because N comes first and because I may get sick too. ARGHHH!!!!

Watch this space to see if I make it.