Vibrant Imaginative People

August 2022, Issue No.12

Your VIP Newsletter from Soulla's Writing Room

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Hello my VIP and welcome to your August newsletter!

It’s almost the end of summer for me and already the days are getting shorter, and I feel like there’s not quite enough hours in the day, or energy in my body, to do all that I long to do and have planned to do.

But I did manage a fabulous day away from my writing desk a few weeks ago. I met up with my two sisters and we took the tube into central London and visited an amazing photographic exhibition at Kensington Palace: Life through a Royal Lens.

It was so much more than I had hoped. More because the photographs were incredibly touching, real, depicting life behind the royal façade of the Monarchy, the institution as we see and understand it, and the glitz of tiaras, while others were endearing with knowing smiles between family members the same as you or I would have.

I felt the sting of tears seeing Princess Diana with her boys, a giggle escape me at the photo of Princess Margaret in the bath wearing her crown of diamonds and I felt the Queen’s pride as she posed for a family photograph surrounded by her family. 

Kensington Palace is beautiful, and the exhibition navigated us strategically around some of the palace’s rooms and the ushers shared some fascinating stories about the history of the Royals with us. Loved how their stories brought the exhibition alive and made the Royals very real, just like you and me.

If you get a chance to go, I’d say this is a lovely exhibition and well worth a visit. 

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From Kensington Palace to The Village House

The cover is ready and for those of you who might not have already seen it, let me know what you think. Personally, I’m delighted with the design and the blue depicts the beautiful blue skies of Cyprus in summer. A perfect holiday or escape-from-life read.

And if you can’t get away for a holiday this year, I hope The Village House will entice you to join Katianna as she goes back to her roots. Summoned by a solicitor’s letter she flies to Cyprus to claim her grandmother's house in the pretty mountain village of Omodos.

I visited the village in May 2019, with my parents and my partner, and was instantly enthralled with its vivacity, its authenticity, and its quiet, understated charm.

I remember sitting and drinking a cool glass of water under the tangled branches of a mulberry tree, wandering through the little streets and lanes where I came upon Maria who was making lace doilies and I bought two jug covers from her. She sent me on my way with a thousand blessings and the biggest smile. We visited the beautiful chapel and an exhibition of ancient icons from hundreds of years ago.

We stumbled across some old village houses, abandoned, derelict and I guess that's what ignited the story for The Village House so I hope you're as excited about this next book as I am.

Its release date is October 21st, 2022 so I hope you'll pre order your copy and mark the date in your planners. There's going to be a lot of celebrating!

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From a Cyprus Village to a Cotswold Village

I have been overwhelmed with your wonderful messages and I must say your excitement for A Palette of Magpies has been infectious and has catapulted me into a frenzy of edits and rewrites these past few weeks. I can’t wait for you to meet Judith, her friend, Louise, and the rest of the villagers.

There’s a lot of fun and games but also some deeper more serious situations which Judith helps her neighbours and friends navigate. She’s one of those kind-hearted people who finds herself pulled into other people’s situations and though she’s not a busy body she could quite easily be construed as such if it weren’t for her big heart, her wisdom, and her astuteness. I think you’re going to love her!

Writing these last two stories has been quite a feat and the recent hot weather has been exhausting. My stories have made me yearning to live somewhere quieter and more rural, at least for some of the time! Living in London is certainly busy, but having so much around me to do and see is a blessing – when I can pull myself away from my writing! It’s a catch 22, for sure.

Where do you live? Where would you choose to live if you had a choice to move elsewhere? 

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Virtual friends to real-life friends

I've talked to you about the power of social media before and how it amazes me how I can connect with so many like-minded and inspiring people across the world simply with the touch of a button and a couple of emojis!

At the weekend a virtual friend on Instagram became a real meet-up friend when she came to my annual MacMillan Cancer Support World's Biggest Coffee Morning Event (that's a mouthful when you're eating cake!) ] and, I tell you something, it was just amazing.

This kind-hearted, beautiful soul contacted me to say how she wanted to bake and donate some cakes for my event. I was overwhelmed with her generosity and took our contact one step further by inviting her to join in.

We had such a wonderful afternoon and her presence really made me so happy. Her carrot and walnut cake disappeared in a flash and her blueberry muffins and lemon muffins were delicious! She was exactly as she is on her Instagram account and we had a lovely catch up and chat. Loved meeting her and we are going to meet up again soon.

Have you met up with anyone you've befriended on social media? What was your catch up like?

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VIP Member Spotlight

After the busy few weeks I've had my energy levels have dipped (they were bound to at some point, right?) I've especially struggled with the heatwave here in the UK. (Gone are the days I could happily sit in the sun for hours!) So, this month’s spotlight feels like it's arrived at just the right time. I’m sure you’ll find what Kris has to share as interesting as I have.

Kris says, "We are all consciously aware of the importance of physical hygiene. This is something that we learn from early childhood, but what about our energetic hygiene?

Everything is energy! We are absorbing and interacting with it in different forms or vibrations throughout our daily lives. If overly neglected, it can be the reason for depleted energy levels, as well as have a negative impact on our physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Recognising and being mindful of your energy allows you to protect it. You decide who or what has access to it!"

More than likely, we have all been influenced or affected energetically by one or more of these factors:

• Emotional trauma

• Environment

• Influence or judgement of others

• Negativity/toxic behaviour

• Social media

• Current world events

• Stress

Just like a physical detox, in order to be at their best, our energy systems benefit from being cleansed. When they are functioning optimally, we feel energised, have clarity of thought, are more grounded and naturally more joyful.

So, if you are feeling like you have lost your mojo at the moment here are Kris’s top 11 tips to raise your vibe and regain your get-up and go!

And there's a SPECIAL OFFER from Kris for you too. Feeling the love.

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Until next time...

I'm going to heed Kris's advice and take a little time out for myself over the last few days of August and also listen to one of the horoscope gurus I follow:

"The new moon of August 27 in Virgo, a sign that blends well with yours, will usher in a breezy, happy social period along with a chance to take time off for a vacation. Take it, dear Scorpio. After all you’ve done this month, you deserve to sit back, read a good book, and let cares drop away as you sip some cool and refreshing iced tea." Susan Miller

And breathe... see you on October 13th, a week later than planned because I'm going away for a few days the beginning of October... Greece here I come!

Thank you for reading and keep in touch!

Lots of love

Soulla xxx