I’ve been on holiday. It wasn’t one of those fancy cruises that you see on the TV, or one of those super glamorous hotels where you can dine on caviar morning, noon, and night, and get lost in your own bathtub.

Nope, I’ve been on what I call ‘an Enid Blyton’ holiday.

It’s the type of holiday from my childhood, and it’s one of my favourites. If you’ve never read Enid Blyton (and where have you been?), then pick up one of her ‘Famous Five’ books and you’ll get a pretty good idea what I’m talking about.

Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timmy of course (the dog), spend most of the twenty one books in that series have adventures in the most British way. Cricket, ices, bathes, hikes and camping: nothing is too average for the five, and it’s just what I loved about my childhood holidays.

I did play cricket on the beach. I did have swims in the sea, whether warm or not. We did go on hikes, and visit art galleries, and tour ruined castles, and eat buns sitting on the grass listening to grasshoppers and skylarks and feeling the sun on our faces.

I absolutely loved it, and thankfully my parents still do. We’ve just spent a week doing just that: ruined abbeys, and medieval houses, and Tudor manors, and of course, iced buns.

Taking a step back from my writing for a week was hard, but it’s enabled me to come back to it fresh and ready for action. I’m plotting out the third book of my next series, and I think it’s going to be my best ever! I cannot wait for you to read it – but in the meantime, why not try out the latest in my current series, Beached with a Baronet?