Autumn Glory - Kate Walker

I love this time of year. I really think that Autumn  - or Fall I f you’re reading this from ‘over the pond’  - is my favourite season.   Spring is wonderful – but there is always so much to do then. I get that  old-fashioned  ‘Spring Cleaning’ sort of feeling and want to be busy sorting things in the house.  Summer is  glorious -  sometimes – but I’m not good  with heat so if it is really warm then I get exhausted, can’t sleep and it can be really hard to settle to work at my desk.  (OK, I’ll have to admit that this summer was rather a washout – literally! It seemed to rain nonstop for weeks and weeks and weeks and it never really got too warm to do anything! But it was often too wet to go out at all!)

Winter – well a beautiful cold, crisp frosty winter’s day can be glorious – but  a really bitter day with wind and rain is  a struggle if you have to go anywhere, Snow is lovely on a Christmas Card but  driving in it is dangerous and  if I’m honest I’d really rather stay safe and snug by the fire.

But days like today – with an autumn sun, the  trees still in leaf but just starting to change colour as they get their autumn tints on and  just a light breeze that makes you want to get on with things rather than just sit about  - I  love them!   I love the beautiful colours – the golds, the bronzes, the greens.   In fact I tend to decorate my home in those  colours so we live in ‘Autumn’ all the year round. 

And I think Autumn is a great time for a story teller or story readers.  The mild days are followed by cool, crisp evenings when you want to stay indoors and perhaps curl up with a good  book. Or perhaps settle down in front of the TV where the Autumn schedules are  bringing a new set of programmes with great stories to lose yourself in. Here in the UK we’re already hooked o season 3 of Downton Abbey, the second series of Homeland starts tonight (can’t wait!) with lots of other great dramas lined up for evening entertainment.  There are documentaries  too. I’ve been learning all about the lives of Servants, and I’m always addicted to the ‘find your family history show’ Who Do You Think You Are.’   They’re always fascinating and full of family stories and other ideas  that can plant seeds in my mind and start me thinking about new books I could write.

All of this is why I think that Autumn is usually my most productive time for my writing. Part of that is that ‘Back to School’  feeling and the way that I feel about September bringing the ‘new year’  feeling that I talked about last month.  I’m hoping that will  really be the case this year as after a complicated,  chaotic and often difficult year I’ll be glad to get back on the writing path and do some serious story creating of my own.  The new dramas and lots of wonderful new books I have to read will hopefully inspire me too. I’ve just sent in a revised book to my editor and I’m looking forward to ‘refilling the well’  as I plan my next new project.

And as the evenings draw in and the temperatures drop, I won’t feel too tempted to leave my desk to go outside or get busy in the garden. I’m hoping that I’ll have a new story well on the way before the seasons change again and we have to start to think about the C  word  (Christmas) once November rolls around.

What about you? Do you have a favourite season?  Is there one you enjoy more than the others?    Do you have a time when you get more done than at others? Or is there a time when you can really  settle down with a good book  and enjoy yourself.

Whatever your favourite is – I hope you have a wonderful October and there are some lovely days ahead of you.