Circles, excitement and anxieties.

'Thinking About Cyprus,' oil and acrylic on board, 30 x 40cm

As the torrential rain continues to fall outside, and with flood warnings and red weather alerts across the south of the UK continuously on the television near me, I'm attaching a painting that is now in sunny Cyprus. When I was there in January, I swopped paintings with Valerie Brennan, my Facebook friend. This is the one I gave her and it is now in her home. It gives me much pleasure to think of it being in Cyprus, enjoyed by her. I have not left any artwork in Cyprus since I left in 1998, though we hope to make a show in Nicosia in the summer.

I sat for some hours in Valerie's studio and saw her wonderful paintings, and we talked about our artwork. Facebook has created a wide circle of artists and I know many personally or through someone else. Valerie has met several of the artist friends whose work has inspired me on Facebook. From painting in much isolation four or five years ago, I now have the advantage of being able to check in on my friends' recent paintings, and can contact them in seconds by a few clicks.

My painting is from a memory of sunrise - when the Kyrenia mountains appear quite dark, and the sun turns the sky yellow. Grasses and rocks and the wide plain catch the early glow and my painting is a composite of experiences. Circles also seemed to embody my experiences.

My novel, 'The Jagged Green Line,' is now finished. I have been struggling to create something called an active table of contents and this is what has been delaying me. I hope to be able to submit my book to Kindle by Friday (Valentine's Day!). It is a time of great excitement and also great nerves! I have asked myself many times, How do you know when a book is finished? I have tweaked it for a long time and it is richer for this, I believe. But somehow the strings of attachment and anxiety have loosened, and it has fallen free from me. It seems to have its own life. So this is the point at which I feel it is finished.

I was given a Kindle Fire HD for Christmas. The first book I will buy will be my own. I can't wait to see how it looks on my Kindle!