Month: June 2023

The one with a couple of festival dates for your diary

Jessica Redland Author1 Comment

This year, I’m thrilled to be involved in three book festivals. One was earlier this month – The Crossing the Tees Book Festival in Teesside and I’ll share some photos from that in a moment. The other two are coming up in September and October so let me give you the dates and detail for those first…

Richmond Walking & Book Festival

This festival runs in and around Richmond (North Yorkshire – not London!) between 15th and 24th September 2023. As the name suggests, it’s a mixture of guided walks and literary events.

I was due to speak at the festival last year but my event clashed with the Queen’s Funeral so was deferred to this year instead.

I’m speaking on Thursday 21st September at a venue called The Station which is a short walk from the town centre, by the river. Parking is available on site although there aren’t masses of spaces.

You can find out more about the festival here. The full programme can be found here and the programme just for my day is here.

My talk will start at 11am and finish at noon with tickets costing £8 although there are some concessions available. Here’s the details from the programme:

North Yorkshire-based author Jessica Redland writes emotional but uplifting stories of love, friendship, family and community. Her home in Scarborough inspired the creation of the fictional seaside town of Whitsborough Bay, the stunning countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds is the backdrop for the bestselling Hedgehog Hollow series, and a brand new series – Escape to the Lakes – transports readers to the beautiful Lake District. Richmond played an important part in Jessica’s writing journey because she started her debut novel while managing a specialist teddy bear shop on Finkle Street. She’ll talk about her journey to publication, the themes of her novels – twenty so far – and the joys and challenges of being an author.

Tickets are ON SALE NOW and you can book yours for my talk here.

East Riding Festival of Words

This one is just a date for your diary at the moment as the official programme hasn’t been pulled together so I can’t give any links.

This is a really special event at Hornsea Leisure Centre Meeting Room in Hornsea, East Yorkshire. It’s on Sunday 15th October 2023 at 1pm-4pm and will appeal to readers of romantic historical and/or romantic contemporary books as there are going to be 2 x panel discussions.

Because the programme isn’t official yet, I’m not going to say which authors will be on each panel, just in case anything changes but there are currently three booked on each and I’m one of the contemporary authors. The two panel events will be separated by a break for tea, cake and a chance to mingle with the authors.

So bob it in your diary if you live in the East or North Yorkshire areas or would like to pay a visit then. I’ll come back with more detail when it’s announced.

Crossing the Tees Book Festival

Finally, some photos from the book festival earlier this month. I was involved in two events. I ran a two-hour workshop on the importance of setting in novels at Guisborough Library on the Saturday. I didn’t think to take any pictures at the event – just of the library afterwards!

On the Sunday, it was off to Ormesby Library on the outskirts of Middlesbrough for ‘A Romantic Sunday Afternoon’ – a panel discussion with fellow Boldwood Books contemporary romance authors, Lisa Hobman and Jane Lovering.

I met Jane briefly many years ago so it was nice to get to know her a bit better, and this was my first time meeting Lisa which was lovely.

The panel was well attended and we had some great questions from our host and the audience so thank you to the various libraries of Teesside for inviting us to take part and making us so welcome, and thank you to those who joined in both events – especially considering how hot it was that weekend!

Are you going to any literary festivals this year? Hope you have a fabulous time if you do.

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I got to name a couple of hoglets

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Although I still have plans to write a prequel at some point in the future, the Hedgehog Hollow series concluded in December. I loved writing this series for so many reasons but one of them has been meeting Ann and Angela from Wolds Hedgehog Rescue in ‘the real Hedgehog Hollow’ on the Yorkshire Wolds where I set my series.

L-R, Ann, me, Angela on my first visit to the Hog House

After Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow was released, Angela messaged me to say that she’d been drawn to the book because of the hedgehogs and had loved it. What she really appreciated was the accuracy and the research that had clearly gone into it. This was the first time she’d ever reached out to an author and I was so grateful that she decided to do that.

In November 2021, I made my first visit to the rescue centre’s Hog House.

I’ve now visited on several occasions and have held a poorly hedgehog while Ann prepared medication and have fed a hoglet under Angela’s guidance. Hedgehogs never get handled unless they’re being fed (in the case of hoglets), issued medication, or their crate is being cleaned as they are wild animals so human contact should always be kept to a minimum, so what a privilege to have these opportunities.

Yesterday, I’d arranged to meet Ann and Angela for lunch to celebrate the end of the Hedgehog Hollow series, but I received a call en route to ask if I could divert via the Hog House instead as they’d had an emergency hoglets admission. Two tiny hoglets had been left overnight on someone’s doorstep and the poor little mites were severely dehydrated, cold and covered in flystrike. They were lucky to still be alive. I’m sure leaving them in a box on someone’s doorstep was well intentioned but if the person has no idea they’re there, how are they supposed to help them?

Anyway, I arrived while Angela was removing the fly eggs and giving them rehydration fluids. They would have been in desperate need of food but giving it can be fatal at this stage. Dehydration could have caused damage to their organs so it’s vital that they’re rehydrated first before food is introduced. Fortunately, both took their first round of fluids really well.

I was honoured to be given naming rights. As they were a brother and sister, I named them after my brother and sister team, Fizz and Barney, from the Hedgehog Hollow series. Fizz is one of the main characters in the series, first appearing in the second book – New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow – although Barney is only mentioned in the series. He is the hero of spin-off book Healing Hearts at Bumblebee Barn.

Fizz and Barney were warmed on a heat pad and then placed in an incubator to keep them warm. Angela is the hoglets nanny and she has an array of cuddly toys which the hoglets cosy up to as a surrogate mum. Cuddly toys give them warmth, comfort and a safe space under which to hide.

Angela was also treating another hoglet called Andrew who’d been found on a farm on his own. He was responding well to formula.

All three of them needed attention again two hours later so they stayed warm in their incubators while we had lunch, and then we returned to the Hog House so Angela could feed Andrew again and give more fluids to Fizz and Barney. They had massively improved in colour and size after that first round and it was so lovely to see them eagerly responding to more rehydration fluids, their front paws padding up and down as though they were pressing against their mum.

Fizz and Barney had a dog toy Christmas tree in their incubator. If you look carefully at the photo, you can just see Barney in the fleecy blanket on the left, peeking between the blanket and one of the red legs on the tree. Fizz is under that leg – what initially looks like a shadow.

The reason I’d invited Ann and Angela out for lunch (unbeknown to them) was that I’d made Wolds Hedgehog Rescue my charity of the year and wanted to present them with a donation to continue to support the incredible work they do. They spend a lot of money on food and hold an annual fundraising event in the spring which, in the past. has helped buy more incubators. The biggest expense is medication and certain meds are particularly pricey so my donation will help keep them in medication for a little while.

Me giving my donation to hoglets nanny Angela

Angela then needed to get the hoglets home in time for their next feed/fluids. They all travelled in a portable incubator together, safely strapped into the front seat of their car. The hoglets are safely hidden beneath their soft toys.

As Angela packed up, she showed me the cutest item in her hoglets kit. If somebody told me I’d coo over a small measuring jug, I’d have laughed at them but, oh my goodness, how adorable is this? It can hang over a regular-sized jug filled with hot/warm water, therefore warming any fluids in it. Cute or what?

I’m so honoured to have found Ann and Angela’s friendship, to have got to know a team who dedicate their lives to helping this vulnerable species, and who are so generous with sharing their time and knowledge, so this was my way of thanking them.

Even though it is the end of the Hedgehog Hollow series, I’ll stay in touch with my friends at Wolds Hedgehog Rescue and eagerly follow their Facebook posts. You can find them on Facebook here.

On the way home, I nipped into one of two local garden centres – Dean’s Garden Centre on the outskirts of Scarborough – and was thrilled to see a stock of Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow in there (book 3). There weren’t any other Boldwood authors’ books so I grabbed a shelfie of mine.

What a lovely day out. Thank you Ann and Angela for everything and here’s hoping Fizz, Barney and Andrew continue to do well.

Big hedge-hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I’ve been a full-time author for 3 years and have a few people to thank

Jessica Redland Author6 Comments

When I first starting writing, I had no thoughts around being published. The goal at the time was just to see if I could actually write a book. As you go through life, goals often change and, once I had a few books out there, I dared to dream that I could one day make writing my career. In the early days, there was absolutely zero chance of that as I barely earned anything but I kept hoping. My new goal became that I wanted to earn enough to write full-time. Three years ago, that happened.

I usually write a blog post on my anniversary, reflecting on my struggles as a published then indie author balanced out by the incredible things that have happened since joining Boldwood Books. This year, I’m just going to say thank you. In no particular order…

THANK YOU to Boldwood Books for believing in me and offering me my first contract, then another, then another.

THANK YOU to everyone who has bought/borrowed/streamed any of my books in any format. I wouldn’t still be writing full-time if it wasn’t for you. I might not still be writing at all!

THANK YOU to everyone who has left a kind review online, has written a lovely blog post reviewing some (or all!) of my books, and who has dropped me a message with lovely feedback. It’s such a boost.

THANK YOU to all the reviewers/bloggers who’ve taken part in one or more of my blog tours and to Rachel Gilbey for organising these.

THANK YOU to anyone who has recommended my books to friends, family or colleagues. Particularly to the amazing book online book clubs, The Friendly Book Community and Heidi Swain and Friends – A Facebook Book Club who have been so supportive in championing my work.

THANK YOU to the lovely members of my Facebook Group, Redland’s Readers. Your lovely comments and posts make me so happy. The membership grows every week and it’s such a warm and friendly place to be. I’m so appreciative for all the ideas for shop and character names when my mind goes blank!

THANK YOU to my husband and daughter who are so supportive of my writing and my lovely mum who’s my #1 fan and has a dedicated shelf just for me.

THANK YOU to my bestie, Sharon Booth, for all the friendship, support, encouragement and plot suggestions. Not sure what I’d do without our regular get togethers. So grateful to have you in my life, Sharon. And to Eliza J Scott who we meet up with roughly quarterly for more encouragement.

THANK YOU to my tribe, The Write Romantics, who have been such a source of support and friendship over the past decade – Jo Bartlett, Sharon Booth, Jackie Ladbury, Deirdre Palmer, Lynne Pardoe, Helen Phifer, Helen Rolfe, Rachael Thomas and Alys West, you’re the very best.

THANK YOU to so many other fabulous author friends who I don’t want to name for fear of missing someone out as I’m so likely to do that. You know who you are!

THANK YOU to the other Boldwood authors who are such a fabulous group. What a pleasure to meet so many of you at the recent Summer Party.

THANK YOU to my incredible editor Nia whose inspired feedback takes good stories and (hopefully) makes them great.

THANK YOU to everyone involved in getting my books to readers. There’s a huge team at work – copy editor, proof reader, cover designer, production team, marketing team, voice actors, audio production and distribution.

THANK YOU to the amazing people who have helped me with my research. Particular thanks to Ann, Angela and the team at Wolds Hedgehog Rescue (the ‘real’ Hedgehog Hollow), and Matt, Amy, Lucy, Eve and the rest of the team at Scarborough Lifeboat Station.

THANK YOU to the team in Scarborough’s branch of The Works who are so supportive in promoting my books to customers and to the library staff who embrace the world of romantic fiction.

And, perhaps a weird one, but THANK YOU to the boyfriends who hurt me and the managers who bullied me and made me feel insignificant. Although painful at the time, those experiences have been invaluable in helping me bring emotion to my characters which endears them to readers, so I wouldn’t change them.

Here’s to the next year. If it’s as good as the past three have been, I’ll be a very happy author.

Big celebratory hugs
Jessica xx

The one where the hedgehogs return to The Works

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, A Wedding at Hedgehog Hollow – the fourth of six books in the Hedgehog Hollow series has gone into branches of The Works. I’ve been a bit tied up with edits so I’ve only just had a chance to share this news fully.

This is the ninth title of mine to be stocked by The Works and I’m thrilled that they’ve stocked the Hedgehog Hollow series so far.

A Wedding at Hedgehog Hollow can be purchased for £2.50 or as part of a 3 for £6 deal. It should be available online too but I’ve just searched for it to include a link and it isn’t coming up. It was when I looked a couple of weeks ago so either it has sold through online already or there’s a system glitch at the moment and it will reappear later.

There are lots of fabulous romcoms and contemporary romances from Boldwood Books authors in The Works at the moment and it’s always such a pleasure to see my author friends there. I may have done a little bit of rearranging for us all to appear in the photo together. Jane Lovering, Jennifer Bohnet, Helen Rolfe, Kate Frost, Samantha Tonge, Georgina Troy, Judy Leigh and Jo Bartlett (all shown) are all with Boldwood.

I nipped into the Scarborough branch last week to take the above shelfie and sign the copies they had, although the lovely manager there, Jamie, told me they’d sold most of them. She reckons they had about 18 copies and there were only 5 left for me to pop my paw print on when I went in.

If you do spot the hedgehogs out in the wild anywhere, please do take a photo and share it on social media, tagging me in – @JessicaRedland on Twitter and @JessicaRedlandRomanceAuthor on Facebook – and letting me know where you spotted them.

The third book in the series – Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow – might still be available in some branches of The Works but can also be found in garden centres, some supermarkets and other discount book stores. I was delighted to have been alerted to it being in the Market Harborough’s Co Op by author Adrienne Vaughan and Percy Thrower’s Garden Centre (Blue Diamond) in Shrewsbury by author Diane Saxon. Thank you to them for the shelfies below.

Reviewers who’ve joined the series at book 3 or 4 do say they’ve followed the story and can read these as standalones. Yes, you can – and there’s a brief ‘story so far’ to help you catch up on the pertinent points you’ve missed – but I wouldn’t personally recommend it. Each book tells a complete story but the same character, Samantha, narrates all the books (with a guest main character from the second book onwards) so her whole story continues to build from book to book.

The cast of characters also builds across the series so there are a lot of characters with whom to familiarise yourself if you dive in partway through. There’s a cast of characters at the start of Family Secrets but the equivalent one needed to be dropped from this print-run of A Wedding to adhere to the maximum word count possible to print this and offer it at the significantly reduced price. (Full priced books have all this information in them).

And, of course, some of the themes recur across the series and relationships develop for better or worse too so, go on, treat yourself to the full series!!!! You know you want to! I hope you enjoy your visits to the world of Hedgehog Hollow.

Big hedge-hugs
Jessica xx

It’s time for the wedding we’ve all been waiting for…

Life at Hedgehog Hollow is never dull, although Samantha hopes that the new year ahead will be a little less chaotic as she prepares to marry the love of her life, Josh. But disaster strikes when she checks the rescue centre’s bank account after the festive season and discovers it has been emptied. Who would do such a thing, and why? With the future of Hedgehog Hollow now in jeopardy, planning a wedding has lost its shine.

Phoebe is desperate to escape the shadow of her family, infamously known for their attacks on Samantha’s beloved rescue centre. Could the kindness of the Hedgehog Hollow team be the chance she needs for a fresh start, or will her family’s secrets continue to drag her back?

Top 10 bestseller Jessica Redland welcomes you back to glorious Hedgehog Hollow; full of love, family, friendship – and hedgehogs of course!

Praise for the Hedgehog Hollow series:

‘I loved my trip to Hedgehog Hollow. An emotional read, full of twists and turns’ Heidi Swain

‘The Hedgehog Hollow series is a tonic I’d recommend for everyone. There is so much to make you smile in Jessica’s stories and they are always uplifting reads, which will make you really glad you decided to pick up a copy.’ Jo Bartlett

‘A beautifully written series that offers the ultimate in heartwarming escapism.’ Samantha Tonge

‘Hedgehog Hollow is a wonderful series that has found a special place all of its own deep in the hearts of readers, including mine.’ Jennifer Bohnet

‘An emotional, romantic and ultimately uplifting read. Jessica always touches my heart with her sensitive handling of difficult subjects. The gorgeous community she has built around Hedgehog Hollow is one I hope to visit again and again.’ Sarah Bennett

‘A warm hug of a book. I never wanted to leave Hedgehog Hollow. Very highly recommended.’ Della Galton

‘A wonderful, warm series full of family, friends and romance.’ Katie Ginger

‘Jessica Redland writes from the heart, with heart, about heart’ Nicola May

‘An emotional but uplifting page turner.’ Fay Keenan

The one with the Summer Nights offers and some RNLI news

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Tuesday next week (6th June) will be the two-month anniversary of the release of Summer Nights at The Starfish Café – the final book in the three-book series. This morning, I’ve just spotted that it has passed the 1,500 reviews/ratings milestone on Amazon which I’m absolutely delighted with so thank you so much to everyone who has read and shared the book love already. Leaving a review/rating makes such a difference for authors as moving up the chart works on algorithms. Amazon’s algorithms are triggered by activity and therefore sales (or borrows via the Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited programmes) aren’t the only thing that have an impact on movement – a reader leaving a review or rating does too. The more a book then moves up the chart, the more Amazon’s other algorithms kick in to make it visible and, the more that happens, the more successful a book is. The more successful a book is, the more books an author can keep writing. So please, please do leave reviews – even really short ones – or ratings for your favourite books.

That wasn’t actually the purpose of this post, though!

On 1st June 2023, Summer Nights at The Starfish Café went into Global Prime Reading so anyone with a Prime Reading subscription can access it for free for at least the next 12 weeks. The eBook has also had a price drop to 99p. This is unlikely to last for that long so, if you haven’t already grabbed yourself a copy, this is a great time to do so.

It was also on a Kindle Daily Deal on Thursday (the day it went into Prime Reading) which gave it a lovely little boost back into the Top 100 to #68. Sadly, it didn’t stay in the Top 100 for long and has already dipped out, but I have the evidence to prove it was there! Thanks to everyone who helped that happen. The highest position so far was publication day where it climbed a tiny bit higher to #62.

For anyone in Kindle Unlimited, it has always been in there so can be borrowed for free. This applies to all my titles.

In honour of the completion of The Starfish Café series, my fabulous publishers, Boldwood Books, have made the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) their charity of the year. The official wording, approved by the RNLI is: Boldwood Books are proud to support the RNLI. Boldwood Books have pledged a donation to the RNLI in 2023 as part of our support for the work they do saving lives at sea.

For complicated reasons, we can’t directly say that if you purchase or borrow Summer Nights at The Starfish Café, you’ll be helping the amazing work of the RNLI because Boldwood will directly donate the the RNLI a percentage of the profits from the sale of each book in all formats for a whole year since April’s release (including pre-orders). Definitely not saying anything like that anywhere. You haven’t heard it from me. The statement in bold says it all 😉

If anyone has read the series, you’ll have come across mentions of Stormy Stan, the giant mascot of the RNLI. I haven’t made him up – he’s completely real and I intentionally didn’t change his name. He features in book 1 – Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café, doesn’t get mentioned in book 2 – Spring Tides at The Starfish Café, but does return for a starring role in book 3 – Summer Nights at The Starfish Café.

I therefore asked my friends at Scarborough Lifeboat Station whether I could meet Stormy Stan so I went for a photo shoot a few weeks ago. I’d have loved to stay longer and perhaps get Stan to do some more poses (I’m imagining a karate kick, a dab or a Saturday Night Fever pose here) but the crew member wearing the outfit had donned it for the first time for us and was clearly a bit embarrassed (as well as hot) so we only took a few very quick pics and then spared him from further humiliation, bless him.

If there’s an event on at your local lifeboat station, you may get to meet Stormy Stan. He’s apparently highly in demand so it’s a big thing if he makes an appearance. I was looking back through my photo album and I found this pic from when he met my daughter at an event in Scarborough. She must have been about six. She’s sixteen now! Excuse Stan’s blurry hand as he waved which is lovely but doesn’t work in a photo!

Have you ever met Stormy Stan? Would love to hear if you have.

Speaking of reviews – which we were earlier – the first book, Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café, is currently my most reviewed book at 6,982 reviews/ratings on Amazon. Would be amazing to get to that 7,000 milestone. If you’ve read it and loved it and haven’t yet left a review/rating, it would be fabulous if you could. Only 18 to go at the time of writing!

Thank you to everyone who has bought or borrowed a copy of Summer Nights at The Starfish Café so far. If you’ve loved these books, please do recommend them to friends and family as recommendations are invaluable. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series. Don’t tell the hedgehogs – shhh – but it’s actually my personal favourite series so far.

Wishing you a fabulous weekend.

Big hugs
Jessica xx

Welcome back to The Starfish Café for a glorious summer, but with a few dark clouds on the horizon…

A new beginning…

As her summer wedding to Jake approaches, Hollie is excited for their new beginning as a family. But when some unexpected news threatens the future she and Jake had hoped for, Hollie will need to find the strength to overcome heartache once more.

A fragile heart….

Single mum, Kerry, loves her job at The Starfish Café, but behind the brave smiles and laughter with customers there is a sadness deep within. So when someone from her past re-appears in her life, Kerry can either hide away or face her demons and try to finally move on from her heartbreak.

A summer to remember…

For Hollie and Kerry it promises to be an emotional rollercoaster of a summer, but the community at The Starfish Café will always be there to help them through – after all, with courage nothing is impossible…

Join top 10 bestseller Jessica Redland for a wonderful summer at the seaside, full of love, friendship and community spirit