After a long, long, much longer than intended break, today I start work in earnest in the next Dr Dan book. The past two weeks were spent in a lockdown limbo, forbidden from any contact with my children and grandchildren and prevented from flying home. Hopes were raised and then dashed with depressing regularity. Flights cancelled, rules changed. I finally figured out my best moves (chess never was my game) and squeezed back into Ireland through a very narrow window of opportunity.

My journey home was a rich feast of illogic and downright stupidity. In order to fly I had to be tested for Covid and obtain a very expensive Fit to Fly certificate. Was I asked to show it before I boarded the plane? Nope. Was the onboard sale of food and drink suspended, on the basis that no-one starves to death on a 1 hour flight and better surely to forgo the BLT and remain masked? Nope. And then there were the impenetrable instructions to residents returning to Ireland from the UK. Get re-tested within 5 days of your arrival. On the other hand, do not go to the already over-burdened test centre unless you have symptoms. So, I asked myself, ‘what would Dr Dan say?’ Without hesitation, he replied, ‘Just stay home. Open the window, breathe sea air, write a book.’