Any I've looked at are short-term as that would suit us. But it stands to reason that longer term ones exist too. Just did a quick google and first result was www.trustedhousesitters.com - some for 1 week, some 2, some 1 month. Good luck in your search!

There's a housesitting group on facebook for Uk and Ireland - we're seriously thinking of doing it when we retire - often they want you to mind animals too. Worth checking out maybe?

Fudge-fueled, you mean?😉
(I love that the priority for your writing retreat is fudge ...sensible priorities)

Totally agree. There's something a little magic about wandering around a garden in the rain (with brolly etc) - especially as you will have the space to yourself, with maybe a damp blackbird and a snail or two.

Link to the podcast (I'm about halfway) - shows.acast.com/lmfm-late-lu...

Thank you! Technically they are written for adults but I know plenty have gone to children who enjoy facts and history. The Christmas one is "Santa safe" by the way.

Oh the things parents don't notice their kids accessing 🤣
It wasn't until I re-read Oliver Twist as a teen that I realised my parents had let me read a story featuring a pimp killing his woman at age 10.
(didn't do me any harm. I think)

True but anything that keeps them picking up books is good and those can be helpful for the large percentage of young readers with dyslexia. Audio books also helping those readers I hope.

Fortunately I have a 20 and 22 year old who will keep the publishers happy after my demise but I'm seeing contemporaries reading less and less and honestly I think teen boys are poorly served by publishers currently (too many romance subplots).

Yes, some have stood the test of time (Little Women recently devoured by my daughter). Others have not.

Good to see children reading (and being encouraged). The UK&Ireland market is dominated by a handful of writers though - I'd love to see more variety (basing this off tales from bookselling and librarian friends/family).

Sadly, I think there are fewer readers too.

I can't recall the source (but it was something official like Authors Guild or the Bookseller) - apparently self-pub books typically sell 50-250 copies. I suspect some trad-pub books will be similar. The best-sellers enable publishers to stay afloat but are not the average experience.

5) His first device led to the creation of the laser microphone which is credited with the discovery of Bin Laden’s hiding place in 2011.
If you enjoy reading about the people whose names entered the dictionary check out "How To Get Your Name in the Dictionary" amzn.to/2ygxZMH

4) His second listening device, called “The Thing”, was presented to the US Ambassador to Moscow by school children and hung in his office for seven years, feeding information to the Soviet state, until discovered by chance.

3) His life story reads like a Cold War thriller - rumours of kidnap, a metal detector for Alcatraz prison, a stay in a gulag, mentored by Einstein, working with the KGB, creating an eavesdropping system and getting the Stalin Prize as a reward.

2) It was invented in 1927, and patented a year later, by a Russian engineer and cellist called Léon Thérémin (1896-1993). He initially called it the etherphone. If you’re not sure what it sounds like - think about the "Dr. Who” and “Loki” series theme music.