A Catch-up on November 2024

A slightly shorter catch-up post for November 2024 as it thankfully wasn’t nearly as dramatic/traumatic as October… although it did have its moments!

I was shattered when I returned from Florida. I needed to start writing book 26 (Escape to the Lakes book 4) but every time I sat down in front of my computer, I felt drained. Then when it came to bedtime, I couldn’t get to sleep until the early hours. The joys of jetlag!

Book 26 needed to be in on 6th January and I had big plans to get it finished before Christmas so I could relax and enjoy some much-needed time off. The very slow start wasn’t looking good for this.

I’d been so focused on going away to Florida that I’d given Christmas very little thought and suddenly it felt very close with no shopping done. York Christmas markets started in mid-November. I love having a wander around the stalls but they get busier every year, especially on a weekend. This is wonderful for the stall-holders but not so great for someone who doesn’t love being in huge crowds. I think it’s because I’m short and I feel like I can’t see/can’t breathe properly so it unnerves me. Doesn’t stop me going, though!

I usually visit the markets with my friend Carol who I worked with in my last job before I became a full-time author. Carol lives near Newcastle and I live in Scarborough so it’s a great central place for us to meet-up. When I’d been to York with the hubby in October to see the ‘Ghosts in the Gardens’, we’d wandered through the park beside York Minster. According to the map, there wasn’t meant to be a ghost there but there were a stack of people queuing for something, which we realised was one of the Paddington Bear benches which had been installed around the country. I hadn’t known that York was one of the locations. Hubby and I had needed to get back to Scarborough to pick up our daughter from work so didn’t have time to join the queue so the first thing Carol and I did when we met up was go and find Paddington. There were only two people there so I took photos for them together and then it was our turn. I’m so pleased to have had my photo taken with Paddington and would have loved to get more photos but we’d clearly started a trend and a queue was building so we needed to move on.

A couple of days later, I was out gallivanting again. Castle Howard is a stunning stately home between Scarborough and York and it has become an annual Christmas visit for me because they don’t just dress the house for Christmas – they do a themed art installation. My bestie Sharon Booth and I first went to see A Christmas Masquerade in 2019. It remains our favourite although we can’t decide whether it really was the best or whether we just remember it so fondly because we had no idea what to expect and it blew us away with the creativity. I then saw Christmas in Narnia in 2021 (after they had to skip 2000 due to Covid) and Into the Woods: A Fairytale Christmas in 2022 with the hubby and daughter but they didn’t seem to appreciate the installations quite as much as Sharon and I did so I asked Sharon if she’d be happy to come with me for future ones. The two of us went to Neverland: A Christmas Experience in 2023 and booked for Alice’s Christmas Wonderland this year.

We invited our good friend, author Eliza J Scott, to join us and were really looking forward to a catch-up with her. We figured we’d be ‘safe’ weather-wise in November but snow thwarted us! There’d been a slight covering on the coast and a smidge more inland but Eliza lives in an area where there’s high ground so, if there’s going to be snow, it’ll get her. There was some but nothing too major so she set off, but then really heavy hail stopped her in her tracks and she had to turn back. We missed you, Eliza!

The temperatures were low but the wind chill factor was considerable. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so cold in my life. It’s a bit of a walk from the entrance to the main house but you can travel by tractor-led carriages instead, which is quite lovely. But that wind! I had several layers, a hat, scarf and gloves on and the wind still cut right through me. I was absolutely nithered.

The installation was fabulous as always with dressed trees, imaginatively decorated rooms and lightshows to which my photos really don’t do justice. Check out the hedgehogs!

We had the most delicious lunch – a Christmas bap with turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets and gravy followed by crumble and custard. Mmmm.

Our trip finished with a wander round the gift shop where I had to buy a Cheshire Cat ornament for my Christmas book tree. I always get sent my covers for comment/suggestions and I usually show them to my hubby to see if he spots anything I don’t. When I was sent the cover for Coming Home to Seashell Cottage, which shows a cottage on a cliff top, he spotted something I hadn’t seen. There were two yellow windows in the cottage roof and he said they looked like the Cheshire Cat’s eyes. I hadn’t spotted that but, once I did, I couldn’t unsee it. I pointed it out to my editor and she couldn’t unsee it either! So now the cottage on the cover has three windows.

I’m very much looking forward to 2025’s installation as it’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I can imagine it already.

My lovely mum turned eighty a couple of days after my Castle Howard trip and she had a family get together planned in their local pub on the Saturday but the snow nearly thwarted that too. On the morning, I picked up a message from my dad to say not to set off until I’d heard from him because (a) they had a thick covering of snow and (b) there was no power in their village. Eek! If there was no power, the pub would be closed and the party would be off. I was absolutely gutted for my mum as she’d been so looking forward to it and had been planning it for over a year.

My brothers and I had organised a cake so we took the decision that we’d head for our parents’ house anyway as, even if the party was off, Mum and Dad had a generator at home and therefore some heat and we could have cake with them there and a smaller celebration. Thankfully the power did come back on and the party went ahead. The food was a bit later being served than planned as they obviously hadn’t been able to prepare it without power, and a few of the relatives arrived a little late as snow had hampered their journeys, but Mum had a wonderful time and that was the main thing.

The following day, I was off on another road trip with Sharon meeting with some of The Write Romantics in Stratford-upon-Avon. There are ten of us and we’ve never all been in the same place at the same time but it was looking at one point as though this would be the biggest gathering we’d ever had with seven of us staying for one of the nights. A combination of other plans, illness and childcare challenges sadly meant three of the group had to cancel so it was just Sharon, Jo Bartlett, Jackie Ladbury and me but we were determined to make the most of our time away.

We’d all been to Stratford a few years back and had liked it so much that we were keen to return. It was a long drive for all of us but with two coming from the south and two of us from the north, it’s a good central meeting point.

I picked up Sharon from a Premier Inn car park near the Humber Bridge which, randomly, had peacocks and peahens wandering round it. Apparently they've lived there for ages! We snapped some photos of them, set off, and promptly got lost when the sat nav sent us off the roundabout on the wrong road, taking us further and further away from the bridge. After a 20-minute detour, we were back to the start and on the right route.

All was going well after that until we were on the A46 near Newark and there was a ‘road closed’ sign with a police car parked across it. There’d clearly been an accident and we’d need to try and get round it and rejoin the A46 further south. (I later discovered there’d been a three-car incident and a fatality so my thoughts are with those involved and the family and friends of the person who tragically lost their life). The sat nav was not our friend as it didn’t pick up on the road closure and, after nearly an hour in which we believed we were getting further south and would surely join the A46 soon, we arrived back at the same roundabout with the ‘road closed’ sign and police car. I could have cried. We were really hungry and I needed the loo so a stop was essential. Coming off on the same road as before, I spotted a sign for a garden centre and café. The saving grace in our sorry story was that they made the most delicious warm scones and had lots of cakes and tray bakes on offer so the food was at least amazing.

We ditched the car sat nav after that and went with Google maps on my phone which isn’t so easy as I couldn’t look at it while I was driving but I could at least hear the instructions and we did make it to Stratford … seven hours after I’d left home. It should have been a four-hour journey. I’m not much of a drinker but I needed a glass of wine after that so we settled into our rooms then met in the bar a bit later for a drink. Jo joined us shortly after and Jackie shortly after that. It was wet and cold so we decided to stay and eat in the hotel that night.

The following day was a walk into the town centre which is only about ten minutes from the canal-side Premier Inn where we were staying. SUA has a lovely town centre with a blend of high street shops and independent ones. I love indie gift shops so we explored those. The giant Shakespeare bear outside the teddy bear shop – Curtis Brae – was looking a bit worse for wear, bless him, with a plaster across his nose and bandaged foot. He's still fabulous, though.

Jo and I were keen to check out The Works as we both had Christmas books in there alongside fellow Writer Romantic Helen Rolfe and hoped to find titles by all of us in one of the two branches. We found all three of us stocked in the second one near the river.

While Sharon and Jackie relaxed on the benches, Jo and I went to feed the waterfowl. We spotted a big group of swans near the bridge so went to feed them but there was a particularly aggressive one which came for me and didn’t seem content with the food I threw for him. He clearly wanted the entire bag! You don’t realise how big swans are until you have one storming towards you with great big feet slapping on the ground. Jo, in hysterics, caught this on video as I escaped onto the bridge but then the same swan cornered her and brought reinforcements, which I also captured on video. Such a funny moment. Sadly, I can't share videos on here so you'll need to take my word for it, but I do have a few photos.

We’d all earned a hot chocolate after that but, after looking round a few more gifts shops and finding our books in a charity shop and the library, it was getting chilly. Jackie returned to the hotel to relax and warm up, followed a little later by Sharon, and Jo and I had a walk along the river. It was cold but calm and it was lovely being there as the sun set and the Christmas decorations lit up. I even did a recreation of the cover of The Start of Something Wonderful on the end of a jetty ... although it was a bit of a hairy moment as the jetty moved!

Jo had spotted a cat café down a side street and we’d checked out the closing time on the door, figuring we’d have plenty of time for a walk before catching the final slot of the day at Shakespaw Cat Café. They weren’t serving food with it being the end of the day but we were happy just to have drinks as the main reason we were there was to visit the cats.

We ordered our drinks and I nipped downstairs to the loo. The lock was quite stiff and, when it came to leaving, I couldn’t move it at all. Either way. Argh! I was stuck in the toilet!!!

I tried phoning and texting Jo but she had her phone on silent. I tried banging on the door and shouting but I was one storey down and also aware of not scaring the cats down there. I will admit that panic was setting in a bit and I hoped that Jo would notice I’d been far too long and search for me. I kept trying the lock and eventually did manage to get it open … after at least ten minutes stuck!

I was a bit shaky when I went upstairs and told Jo and the staff member that I’d been locked in the loo. Both were mortified but, on a positive note, Jo had discovered that the staff member loved reading and had been telling her that I’d written a book set in a cat café. As it was stocked in The Works, I bought a copy the following day, signed it and dropped it off for her and she popped this lovely photo on their Instagram account.

The cat café itself was gorgeous (and I’m assuming they’ve replaced/repaired the toilet door lock). The décor was ‘cat kitsch’ and worked brilliantly. The cats were adorable and all named after Shakespeare characters. I couldn’t have made a better wardrobe choice that morning as I’d put on my Meowy Christmas T-shirt with no idea I’d be visiting a cat café. I’ve been to three different cat cafés now and this was definitely my favourite. If I lived closer, I’d be a regular visitor.

The four of us had a lovely meal out that evening at a pub near the hotel. We’d been there a few years earlier and it was thankfully just as good as we remembered. Sharon mentioned that she'd never tried mulled wine and didn't fancy the idea of it but Jo bought her a glass. Check out her 'unsure' face before she took a sip... and absolutely loved it!

After breakfast the following day, Jackie and Jo headed home but Sharon and I returned to the town centre to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace. It was really interesting learning all about the Bard from the very knowledgeable staff members. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend a visit.

Then it was time to go home after a fabulous few days away in great company. We prayed for a smoother journey home than our journey down and activated Google Maps on the phone. No idea what was going on with it but it had a hissy fit telling me to turn left, turn right, turn left, turn right repeatedly and sending us in the wrong direction. The car sat nav wasn’t much better so after a 30-minute detour, we were finally on the right route home and a much quicker journey than the one down, thank goodness.

My final activity of the month was to visit my local branch of The Works to sign copies of Christmas at the Cat Café. I’d completely missed the first batch but my daughter had reported that she’d seen a restock so I got the obligatory signing photos. I promise I had washed my Meowy Christmas T-shirt int he meantime!

We also nipped into Waterstones and I was delighted to see that they had a couple of my titles in stock too - always a lovely surprise.

Late November also saw a cover reveal for A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft which will be out next week on 22nd January. This is the third and final book in The Bumblebee Barn Collection and tells the story of Joel who readers met in the first book, and new character Poppy. It can be read as a standalone book but readers will get the most enjoyment out of it if they have read the other books as there are recurring characters. You can pre-order it here on ebook and here on audiobook. I've popped the blurb at the end of this blog post.

So that brings you up to date on November's activities. As I say, some drama but not quite as much as October. How did December fare? I’ll let you know in the next blog post.

Big ‘Bard’ hugs

Jessica xx

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Single dad, Joel Grainger, is devoted to his little girl, Imogen, doing all he can to be a key part of her life. But with Imogen’s mum being ever more difficult and Joel’s job suddenly in doubt, he’s worried that everything is about to change. Joel has given everything to Imogen, and he doesn’t regret it, but maybe he’s lost himself along the way…

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