• bee on lavender heads, close up photo

    6 Things to Do Today to Rock Your Summer

    “Another wasted Sunday… Realise, as the long hot days freakishly repeat themselves, one after the other, that whatever I am doing I really think I ought to be doing something else… The more the sun shines the more obvious it seems that others are making fuller, better use of it elsewhere: possibly at some giant softball game to which everyone is invited except me; possibly alone with their lover in a rustic glade by waterfalls where Bambis graze, or at some large public celebratory event, probably including the Queen Mother and one or more of the football tenors, to mark the exquisite summer which I am failing to get the best out of.” – Bridget…

  • The benefits of bad weather, a winter love list challenge. GraceQuantock.com

    The Benefits of Bad Weather: A Winter Love List Challenge

    [Vintage Post: While I’m on a wintery writing retreat I’m sharing this updated vintage post. Thank you for your patience while I write, I’ll be back with new articles soon. Thank you for being you, being here and wishing you warm days and good things, Grace xx] I’m writing this by the fireside, I’m wrapped up, wearing my almost-pyjamas (hint: check out what to wear all day instead of pyjamas.) It’s a grey day, too dark even to go outside properly yet. But when the bad weather, dark-days-doldrums kick in, I have an antidote. And I’d like to share it with you here… I used to love winter, it was…

  • Christmas with Chronic Illness, 10 coping strategies for flare-free cheer. Text over a photo of a reindeer ornament,

    Christmas with Chronic Illness: 10 Coping Strategies for Flare-Free Festive Cheer

    It may still be the start of December but oh my, things are in full festive swing it seems. (I have ‘Christmas’ in the title, but I am including all festive celebrations – I just liked the alliteration). But for many of us living with illness and pain, for those in hospital, or grieving loved ones, struggling with feeling lonely, or with money issues, the festive time can feel like a lot of pressure. Especially this year with the fuel and cost of living crisis, many people are struggling with survival. People are being forced to reconsider how they approach winter and while this level of permacrisis is unprecedented for many…

  • How do I cope with difficult people in my life during festive events? Dear Grace Q & A

    Dear Grace Q & A: How do I cope with tough conversations at festive events?

    Dear Grace Q & A: How do I cope with difficult people in my life, during festive times?  Like relations at family events who ask invasive questions about my health/weight/relationships.  Or colleagues at the office party where there are social expectations to socialise in a certain, ablest, neurotypical way. Or when people start getting drunk and someone says something ablest and all the non-disabled people just look away from me (the only disabled person in the room).  I’m dreading it, help!  Dear Dreading-It,  Thank you for being brave enough to share your question in this column, I am sure you are not alone in dreading the holiday season when it…

  • A copy of An Open Door anthology is held up on a rusty gate, a green meadow seen behind with a path through the grass, trees beyond.

    An Open Door: New Travel Writing for a Precarious Century Published

    I’m delighted that my essay Gone To Abergavenny has been published in An Open Door, a new anthology from Parthian Books. Gone To Abergavenny is from my work in progress, The Selkie Papers: Field Notes on Finding Boundaries, which was shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize in 2021. It’s an honour to be featured alongside so many amazing writers. The history of Wales as a destination and confection of English Romantic writers is well known, but this book reverses the process, turning a Welsh gaze on the rest of the world. This shift is timely: the severing of Britain from the European Union asks questions of Wales about its relationship…