The Joy of Reusable Nappies by Laura TweedaleAs I searched for joyful moments in my life during lockdown, I found myself returning to the same simple instances again and again to ground me, calm me, and quieten my frantic mind: holding my children, being together, and hanging cloth nappies on the line in the early morning sun. Not once did I dare to dream I could share that joy with others, until now. When everyone was asleep and I quietly tapped away to the sound of my children’s breathing, I poured the essence of myself and what I believe in into these words. I forgot for a moment all that had come before. Whilst I once struggled through the 9-5 with a small child, I found I went to work in a suit of armour to prove myself and protect myself in equal measure. How many of us find we have to do this in order to survive? I was done with surviving. I wanted more. I wanted joy every single day. And so the twain did meet and The Joy of Reusable Nappies was born. A long time ago I scraped every penny I could to go to university to study my master’s degree in creative writing. (It took a car accident to get me there in the end.) Not once did I consider writing non fiction. I struggled away with half finished manuscripts, never fully comitting to the narrative, for almost 10 years. Then one day I read The Jewel Garden by Sarah and Monty Don and Monty wrote: “The only writing that I considered was fiction. It never crossed my mind to write about gardening, even though by then I had written - and destroyed - a couple of excutiatingly bad novels, and was facing the sneaking suspicion that I might not be any good at it.” I had felt that same suspicion over the past few years. It made my heart drop to my belly every time it weedled its way in. But reading his fears ignited a possibility in me. And so Monty unknowlingly sowed the seed for me to write non fiction. I really should write to him and thank him, but not until I’ve thanked you first. Thank you for being here on this journey with me. Your presence has given me the self belief to make this book come true. I thought no one would want to read my work, until you came to be here with me. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. The Joy of Reusable Nappies will be available for sale on 20 October 2020 as both a paperback and an ebook. You will have the opportunity to pre-order a copy in the next few weeks. I’ll write to you again just before so you’ll be the first to know the date orders will open. In the meantime, you can read more about the book tonight on this special new page: lauratweedale.com/books Thank you again, I truly mean it.
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