#6 No winter lasts forever

a london trip + ariana grande + a woman's work is never done

👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼 Hi! I’m so happy to see you. I’m Laura Jane Williams, a UK-based romance author. How to Build a Life launched in August 2024, and now has thousands of readers in over 75 countries (!). You can expect personal stories about life’s mess and mayhem, and the search for a way of living that feels right. I’m almost 40, a solo parent by choice, and for 2025 am committed to stealing back time from my to-do list. I’m just sick of being busy with stuff that doesn’t really matter, you know?

My next projects to launch are The Wedding Planner-inspired Love at First Sight, and the second in my teen book series Taylor Blake Seizes the Day. Jacquline Wilson called Taylor Blake a fresh and touching story. I cried when I found out!

Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards is my monthly round-up doing exactly that: reviewing the month gone and then thinking ahead. I find it helps remind me how awesome I am. I recommend it! Plus it’s nice sharing these bits and bobs with you :) So without further ado, this was my January, and what I’m looking forward to in February…

felt cute, we make a lot of french yogurt cake in this house, picnics on a hike, lego forever, finished a book, underlined everything in somebody else’s book, enjoyed the new lucy foley, ate ice cream at the pub, screenshotted this

Looking Backwards…

Did I do a lot this month, or does the personal and professional news feel meatier because the twenty-eight weeks of January have allowed me to accrue it? A question for the ages.

Well, I finished writing my 2026 novel! I wholly recommend leaving the last dribble of a project for the second week of January, so you can really check a big “to do” off the list early doors. It felt good to start the year finishing a book, maybe even better than if I’d tried to do it before the festive break. And! My editor loves it! I already have her notes back, and had a meeting with her about those notes, but I’ve got that much on that I’m letting it all marinade for a little while longer until I tackle them - not that there’s a tremendous amount to do. I wrote a good clean draft, apparently. I kind of knew I did? I don’t know, this book, man. I know I keep saying it but: she was a beautiful experience.

What I like to do now is print off the manuscript and go through it “by hand” for this, the structural stage. It’s a bit like combing through to give myself stage directions and instructions, so then when I’m at the laptop I go page-by-page and simply execute whatever task I’ve set myself. If I launched straight into editing on the computer things get moved and altered and changed and I lose my way, can’t remember what’s been done, what needs doing, where I started or how I will know when it’s ended. There’s a lot to be said for switching between paper and the screen. Helps keep my eyes fresh.

I also got to tell you about my 2025 romance Love at First Sight this month, which feels great. People have said some very nice things about pre-ordering it. Thank you!! I’ve been scribbling love notes for the folks who email me proof of said pre-order, so if you’d like a love note in the mail from me, no matter where in the world you live, go ahead and get on that - me@laurajanewilliams.com. I had a fresh stationary delivery for it and everything. Alternatively, you can choose to have a free month of How to Build a Life instead. Just let me know your preference in the email.

Lastly in book news, I do also have a teen book coming out this year as well: Taylor Blake Seizes the Day! Last time she was good at getting noticed but bad at getting kissed, and this time she’s fighting for fairness and flirting for fun. You don’t have to be a teen to read the Taylor Blake books - you just need to have once been one…

wearing a silk scarf with everything right now, we live for top trumps, pizza union is his favourite pizza, matilda!, what if, ted the dog, another good read, Hot Wheels LIVE, love at first sight

Away from my desk, we had a lovely two-day trip to London the second weekend of the month. The trains were quiet, and the streets were too - though this could have been because of the freezing weather. We didn’t let that stop us though! We just wore our thick socks! My kid asked if we could walk from St Pancras to the pizza place he likes, and it was one of those special bright blue sky, freezing temperatures moments that feel life-affirming and good. Did he ask because he’s low-key obsessed with our mountain climbing training? I think so, you know. We’re really vibing with it right now.

My kid has a whole playroom of toys - which I don’t mind, he truly uses them all - but last year we started to switch to experiences over things as gifts, and for us both. There’s only so many Marvel figures that actually exist for purchase, you know? That’s how we ended up with not only our train tickets, but also stall tickets for MATILDA on the West End, a soundtrack we like to squeal along to when we’re driving, and also tickets for Hot Wheels Live at the O2, where various monster trucks drove over cars and French men on motorbikes did 360-degree spins in the air. We stayed with my brother and his dog who, as documented, my kid is high-key obsessed with. Halfway though Matilda he turned to me and said, ‘How long until we see Ted?’ Like yeah, the show is good mum, but the dog! I want to see the dog already!

The only thing that put a sour taste in my mouth that trip was some loser who loitered near us when we got our connecting train home. I smiled at him without thinking, after he watched my son and me playing, and didn’t realise he’d got the seat behind us on the next train. I’m fairly certain he heard me chatting on to the conductor - i.e. had mounting evidence I’m friendly - and that he got off at our stop on purpose, because of this. It was like he was working up his nerve to approach us. (A hint and tip, men: don’t! Not in the dark when a mother is alone with her son!) I flagged him, there was something about the way he waited for more eye contact, and my whole body said NOPE. I pulled my kid to one side so the loser could go up ahead, I wanted to be certain he wouldn’t follow us home, but the loser loitered. We overtook him and then stopped again (I felt sick at this point) and if he hung around or slowed down again I was going to scream. That was my plan. Screaming. He seemed annoyed he “had” to bypass us and I just knew, you know? Something wasn’t right. I waited to make sure we saw which way he was walking, went the other way, and when I turned back around he was watching us. I had to check the whole way home we were alone. I just thought, you prick. You absolute and utter prick. Either he was getting off on making me afraid, or he thought he was in with a chance somehow? With the woman clearly terrified of him? I felt furious for two whole days after. It’s not often I get rattled like that, but Jesus H. Christ. How dare he. How. Dare. He.

hiking gear, taylor blake seizes the day, my classroom set-up for online teaching, zebra had to come with me to work for luck, muddy and holding hands, paradigm shift, in the market for playful rest, the icing hides the burnt bits, mid writing class!

Other things about January:

🚀 You know how I was really terrified of the impending winter and so made a conscious effort to get ready for it? It taught me something. It taught me that okay, we have the summer and back to school and then October starts to get dark and the clocks change. Then it’s cosy season. It’s the slide to Christmas. And we need Christmas because we need the twinkly lights for the six to eight weeks running up to it. It’s like a way to get to the shortest day of the year without losing our minds. Winter, though, doesn’t actually start until January. But! If you did cosy season and the slide into Christmas right, it shouldn’t feel scary and exposingly cold so much as slow and hibernating-like. We had fun, now we watch Traitors and eat soups and have our recalibration month. Also. Have you noticed how it’s not dark until after 4.30 already?

🚀 Anyway, now I’ve typed the word Traitors… I just. That show, man. It’s so lovely. It’s so what January needs. Bravo, programme schedulers. Bravo! I do think the only way to get to the final is to pretend to be stupid, or actually be stupid, and just keep your head low so as not to get murdered (too much of a threat to the Traitors) nor banished (too many opinions, what are you hiding?). Last night I saw a clip of Chrishell from Selling Sunset sat around the Round Table, which I assume means she’s in the American celebrity version of the show, and goddamn it now I have to tune in to that whole season, don’t I? Le sigh. A woman’s work is never done.

🚀 We’re on a Gladiators binge in this house right now too. Last year, when it came back to screens, my kid wasn’t interested, didn’t get what I was trying to entice him into. My brother and I used to watch it as kids and then fight each other as Jet and Hunter. I wanted that for my son! It wasn’t until they saw something about it on Newsround at school that he locked in, and now not only are we excited for every Saturday night to watch season 2, we’re also going back through season 1 when we can. My kid thinks Viper’s tantrums are hilarious and does a very good impression of Legend. We like to put the music on before bed and pretend we’re both in the opening sequence to the show. His Gladiator name would be Knock-Out. Mine would be Show Girl.

🚀 We also finally saw WICKED, and girllllllll. Ariana Grande! A comedic revelation! I am so happy for her Oscar nomination!! Shocked and appalled my man Denzel didn’t get recognised for Gladiator II, you know how I felt about that, but in terms of supporting actors they reckon Kieran Culkin (aka Roman from Succession) plays a blinder in A Real Pain. I can’t wait to see it! It passed me by, but now I’ve watched the trailer I am in. And fair play, because that’s what awards are all about aren’t they, raising awareness to us mere mortals about high art we might have missed? Well played, The Academy. You have enticed me.

In case you missed it, this is what I wrote on how to Build a Life in January: introducing my 2025 novel // the first plot-twist of my year // please do some creative writing babes // this helps me, maybe it will help you // let me de-influence you // why I hate the publishing industry // surprise! I’m a bestselling author but I’m getting a “real” job

Looking Forwards…

And so to February. There’s actually not a lot in my diary, on account of now having a job on top of all my writing responsibilities. I’ll write more about that on Monday. For now I’m proud of how gentle I’m being with myself as I figure out this next part of my days: prioritising rest, yes, in all the ways that can mean (vegging on the couch, perhaps, but also being outside, or doing something creative just because). But also simply listening to how I feel and responding to it. For example, I’m writing this at 5am. I didn’t force myself to get up at 5am, I was just awake. But I was awake because I went to bed at 8pm. I was tired! My heated blanket was on! I’ve had my nine hours! But like, who says that can’t be my bedtime? Who says I have to have my “me time” once my kid is in bed? I’m essentially counting down the minutes until it seems like a “proper” enough bedtime anyway. So who cares if I make my own rules!! I’ll get up when I see fit, thank you very much, and this morning it was stupid o’clock.

So that’s my state of the union, my January and my February. I’m feeling calm, curious around my own uncertainty, snuggly in my warm bed and wool jumpers, and hydrated, too. I’m doing a great job of the old H2O situation lately. All good wins, I think. I wish only the same for you too.

I can’t wait to write to you again soon.

Laura x