The world from my window

It is morning on Nikiforou Theotoki Street in Corfu Town and someone is playing a clarinet. They're high up in one of the tall, Venetian buildings and practising their scales, the notes rising slowly and then falling again, up and down, up and down. The smell of garlic wafts down through the street from the Restaurant Rex. It's early September and the shops are full of cut-price summer sandals, on sale now that the season is coming to an end. A new pair of shoes is just what I don't need, having bought a pair of shoes every week for the last six weeks as a bizarre way of coping with my grief. Mr Grigg shares a surreptitious rice pudding with Gorgeous George and then he meets Eleni on her fruit and veg stall. A friend in the market is better than money in the purse.   'Why you been away so long?' she says. Back in the village, a swallowtail butterfly flaps by and lingers, lazily, on the cerise bougainvillea that spiders its way along the front of the ...

In a parallel universe, my book, Good Morning Corfu: A Year on a Greek Island  is going down very well, like ouzo and iced water in the village plateia on a balmy evening. The reviews have been lovely - thank you - with the latest  describing it  as 'Jack Kerouac meets the Archers via the Durrell family. Delightful!' My dear friend, Betty, who is featured in the book, messaged me today in great excitement, after meeting a couple from Manchester who were in our Greek village looking for the Villa Oleander. 'I walked them to the house,' she said, 'and then they told me they were looking for it because they read your book! They already went up to the Square to visit every single place you mentioned.' Apparently, the only reason they visited the village was because they had read the book. Of course, when Betty revealed that she was in it, they were delighted. 'The lady told me to tell you how much she enjoyed your book!' I hope they spent some...

I'm delighted to discover that Good Morning, Corfu: A Year on a Greek Island ,  is at number two in this month's FeedARead Top Ten . FeedARead is a leading independent publisher, programmed with Arts Council funding.  My initial reaction to being in second place was deep joy (the last time this happened, I went to Peru ),  swiftly followed by,  'Why isn't it Number One?'. I consoled myself with the fact that the current Top of the Pops has been there for months on end. Actually, when you cut through the German description, it  sounds fascinating . And I'm not being sarcastic, either. The reviews Good Morning, Corfu have been getting on Kindle have been brilliant, too. (Thanks so much, Mum). I love you all. So all in all, Reasons to be Cheerful (a record that reached  only Number Three in the UK singles chart, which is pretty outrageous in my book). Now for Part II. That's about it - although if you are at a loose end tomorrow evening, ...

There's a bit of news on the horizon - my book Good Morning, Corfu: a Year on A Greek Island is due to be published in paperback and for Kindle over the weekend of UK May Day bank holiday and Greek Easter 2016. I'm planning to be in Corfu to launch it and hope to have a signing session in Dorset a week or so later. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I leave you with this, the work of a talented young illustrator, Laura Brown, who created this short, graphic novel for a university course, with the help of some quotes from me, last year. Things have moved on a bit since last year. But if you're thinking of going abroad this summer, visit Greece. You will not be disappointed. That's about it. Love Maddie x

I can't believe how quickly the year has gone. This time twelve months ago we were stuck in the mist in Jura, France , waiting for a spare part to arrive to mend a broken-down car. I argued with my insurance company which claimed I had no breakdown cover and I argued with my husband. I felt like I was on the road to nowhere. I hated my car, I hated my husband and, most of all, I hated myself for ever thinking a grown-up gap year abroad could ever work. I was homesick as anything from day three and I hadn't even gone through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Still, after a few glasses of local wine, a nice meal and a good soak in a hot bath, I was ready for anything, particularly when VW Heritage came through with a new dynamo and the insurance company admitted it was in the wrong. Since then, Mr Grigg and I have continued to argue with each other, patched things up and struggled with our lack of Greek. We've made friends and no enemies, we've laughed, cried, swum...

Oooh, it's been a long time since I had one of these. My thanks to Hilary at The Smitten Image for singling out Thunder on the Mountain for a Post of the Week Award for being 'just plain good'. Keep an eye out for the book A Year in Corfu . Next stop, Booker. That's about it. Love Maddie x