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Hello world.  How long it's been. I'm amazed that it's been about nine months since I have written on this blog. I guess at first booktube took over my life. I enjoyed updating you all on the books I was reading and the life I was living through video. It's a fabulous way to feel more personal with you all. I never thought I would completely abandon my blog, a page I have been writing on for more years than I can count. But I haven't been writing at all. I finished the first draft of my latest novel entitled 'It Was You' and after that, I have taken a hiatus from writing anything other than short and useless Facebook updates. That is the extent of my writing career these days. How sad.  So let us catch up. The move to Australia to be with my Tinder match (and now love of my life), was as hard as you could possibly imagine.  I started out looking like that picture of me in the glorious red bikini.  And have since gained more kilograms than I care to admit.  O...

After a very long absence (maybe too long of an absence one might say) I am finally back! And there's nothing more I'm dying to do than getting back to my normal routine and giving you guys and gals the best content I can possibly give. And what better way to switch it up than when the seasons are changing! Given that its mostly summer nowadays but here are my absolute favorite Spring & Summer Cravings! Hope you enjoy, here are some of my absolute favorite shops for this years spring/summer fashion! Including Shein, Forever21, Boohoo, Prettylittlething + more!  Be sure to share with your friends, don't forget to leave a comment and what your favorite spring and summer cravings have been! Happy shopping! Shein has got to be one of the best go-to online shops for the last few years now, they always have crazy sales going, even a few at a time, they are a must for my Current favorites this time around, they have really great maxi's (as you can see I loveee maxi dresse...

I should be used to life changing like the flick of a switch by now... but I'm not. Today is supposed to be the start of my new life. It's supposed to be exciting... and it is... yet today is bringing with it memories. Haunting memories like when I moved to Spain to be with someone. It turned out to be the worst year of my life. It has scarred me both physically and emotionally forever - and it is ruining what should be such a special day for me. I even woke up with a horrific dream about my ex fiance. It wasn't a night terror like I used to get, but it was almost worse. I don't want either him or Slimy Simey taking up any part of my life now yet it seems I cannot escape them. Before meeting this handsome Aussie, I'd made certain rules which I mention in some of my previous blog posts. Some of them were as follows: Never trust anyone ever again. Never let your guard down. Never open up to anyone. Never ever put someone before myself again. Never move to be with some...

This morning I woke up in a dorm room in Canggu, Bali, believing I was about to spend Christmas alone for the first time in my life. To be honest, if you have to spend the holidays alone, Indonesia is not a bad place to be! Even with it being the rainy season here and the last week it has rained continuously, it has been the most soul reviving trip. I needed it. There's plenty you can do here while it's raining. Attend the Canggu Jewelry Class I have fallen head over heels for Silversmithing over the past few days in Bali. I think I've found something I'd really like to pursue in between writing novels!! For one lesson (3 hours) it's 600,000 IDR including the materials and 5 grams of silver. You pay extra for stones and any more silver you use. The trainers are amazing, so helpful and talented. I did two classes and wish I could have done more but I ran out of time. The two rings you see above I made!! Had a lot of help of course and it's going to take years to ...

Hi Bookies! I LOVE thrillers - so while we're in the spooky month of Halloween, I thought I'd recommend 5 thrillers all for very different reasons.  From a book in the genre that is probably the most well-known and therefore a great place to start (it was my very first thriller read!!) to a book recommended for those of you who are more comfortable with the sci-fi / fantasy genre... there's a book for everyone here:

My body is my canvas.... and yesterday I added to my personal, walking art collection. I am my own gallery of meanings. A rather handsome tattooist named Baden graciously offered me a bottle of wine while he got to work with Fleetwood Mac oozing from the speakers in the background last night. I got 3 new tats - and it was a struggle to force myself not to get more once we'd got started! These are the ones I did get though: The Semicolon Tattoo Meaning : A semicolon is a powerful tattoo for those of us who have ever battled with mental health... whether it be depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or addiction.  A semicolon, simply put, means you could have stopped but you chose to carry on.  It is an inspiring symbolic representation of your strength for not giving up. The viking symbol for creating your own reality (thumb tattoo) Meaning: You could interpret this tattoo however you like, really. For me, it is a tattoo for writers. I am a writer... and as a writer we create o...

I've started to get night terrors again. In the past, I've always had someone next to me to grab me by the shoulders, calm me down and soothe me back to sleep. Now, I have no one. It was my very first experience of dealing with it alone. On Monday night I fell asleep early, around 8pm. I curled into bed with my hot water bottle by my feet and was grateful that a hard day was coming to an end. I'd resigned from my job... tears had been shed. I'd made the big decision to leave Cape Town where I had tried so hard to build a life for myself. A huge part of me felt (feels) like a failure. So needless to say, I was exhausted, falling into a quick, dreamless slumber. Then, suddenly, I shot up in bed... heart hammering out of my chest, gasping for breath. I was literally terrified. Even today, I can't quite figure out what I was doing but I think I thought there was something in the bed with me. I started throwing the blankets around, looking for 'something.' When ...

It's funny... no... it's SCARY just how much your life can change in such a short amount of time. At the beginning of this month when Lyndon wanted to meet up, I was nervous about what he was going to say. He made me the happiest girl in the world by telling me he's miserable without me and he wanted to try again. We had 6 days after that... 6 days of pure bliss.. Of cuddles, kisses, adventures with penguins, nights in with nandos and red wine, laughing throughout games on his Xbox. I was so happy. I fell more in love than ever before. Things just felt right. Then, me being me, I went and cocked it all up. The horrible thing is that I really don't believe that it was my fault. I've got a major hormone imbalance right now. Some of the big symptoms are irritability / mood swings, night sweats, acne, fatigue (I mean, on our first weekend back together I was too tired to join him at his friends birthday BBQ), and depression. It was Sunday... we were at a wine farm finis...

Who is taking part in NaNoWriMo this year!? Are you a planner or a panster!?  In this video I discuss my NaNoWriMo prep for 2017: Outlining my novel, doing chapter summaries, using The Flashlight Method and more!

Every Sunday I TRY to dedicate the day to my books - catch up on 'me' time (which means Book Time) after usually a crazy week.  July was a BAD reading month for me.  None of the books I read overly impressed me which put me into a reading slump. I was also focusing more on dating and social life than book - bad bad Jade.  So this is a very chatty video about not only books but the world of dating through the Tinder dating app etc etc. QOTD: HAVE YOU EVER USED TINDER? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT??? My Links: Breezes and Birdsongs Instagram Gluten Free Insta PERSONAL Insta Twitter Blog

Thank you to Pan Macmillan (South Africa) for sending me a Picador Proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Anna moved to Spain to build a life for her and her artist boyfriend, Michael. She invested every penny to her name into a beautiful Finca for them and redecorated it to be their ideal home. Michael appeared to contribute nothing.  Straight from the start her character is constantly belittled and made inferior to all those around her. While her friends and family believe she is living the dream is Spain, the reality is that her relationship is over. When he leaves with little more than a note goodbye, Anna is left alone to pick up the pieces. During a huge financial crisis, she rents out their Finca to a local business called Sim�n and shacks up in a tiny apartment in Marea where a bunch of expats have decided to call home. She runs a bar and carries out an affair with an older man in an attempt to boost her shattered confidence.  Anna almost instantly r...

June cannot be over soon enough. What a tester for my personal strength...  I'd been so excited about this month what with moving into my new flat in Cape Town that I've signed a long lease on - but WOW this month was devastating.  My home town burnt to the ground, my flat flooded during the biggest storm in 30 years in the Western Cape, my relationship came to an abrupt end... I was man down with a winter cold..... good things did happen though.... I was contacted by a handful of publishers and companies wanting to work with me via Instagram. Click here for my book related Instagram page and here for my foodie page.  I have high hopes that July is going to be a better month.. it has to be.

If you haven't yet read the prologue, please click the following link before continuing on with the story:  The Eulogy: Prologue Chapter One Simple Pleasures A gentle whistle sounds from somewhere beyond the warmth and comfort of the bed-sheets. It stirs me from my dream and I couldn�t be more thankful. I�ve been having the same one on a nightly basis for the last month now. A dream inside of a dream. My hand ventures up to my head. No stitches.  I try not to think about it too much, wanting nothing more than to push the dream from my mind. It makes me anxious. It makes me scared of my husband. My husband - the kindest and most gentle creature I have ever known. He�s got another side to him, like everyone does� but I�ll elaborate on that later. For now, all you need to know is that he�s a maths teacher to a class of children an age I can barely tolerate. A son, a brother, an uncle. Around children and his family his eyes light up, the softness in him is unmissable. He wants ch...