Month: August 2023

The one where I’m running an RNA Learning course in September all about writing a series

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

In March last year, I ran my first ever RNA Learning (Romantic Novelists’ Association) course about the importance of settings. It went down an absolute storm so I was asked to repeat it this this year, which also went brilliantly.

I’m running a second RNA Learning course throughout September called ‘A Bestsellers Guide to Writing a Series’ and I thought I’d tell you a bit more about what to expect in case you’re an author/aspiring author who might benefit from this or you know someone who might.

How is the course structured?

  • It’s all run via a training platform called Moodle which is private and only accessed by the course participants
  • Access to Moodle will open by noon on 1st September and close on the evening of 30th September but you can download the materials if you haven’t quite completed the course, so don’t be put off if your September is busy!
  • It’s flexible learning so you can work at your own pace across the month although I do encourage taking one week at a time (if possible) to ensure (a) there isn’t a mad panic to do everything at the end and (b) you allow time for the learnings each week to digest
  • I pre-record 4 x training sessions of 1-2 hours in duration each so that’s a lot of learning! I don’t release them all at once but they will all be available by mid-September for anyone who does need to work through the materials a little faster
  • You’ll be given short exercises to compete during the training sessions – usually taking a moment to think about something/jot something down – and are given some work to do following the session. How much time and detail is put into this is completely up to you. This work typically involves making decisions around your series which you’re asked to share on Moodle. Sharing is optional but you’ll get comments from me and other participants if you do this. You don’t need to have written any part of your book(s) yet and, if you have, you won’t be asked to share any of this as part of the course. This is not a course about critiquing your writing – it’s about learning how to write a series and helping you make the decisions around yours
  • There’s a weekly Zoom meeting of 60-75 minutes on a Thursday evening (7-8pm) where we can discuss the learnings and you can ask questions about the course materials or writing in general. If I can help, I will, although some aspects of writing are not my area of expertise and I’ll be honest if that’s the case! I’ve also built up a bank of bitesize training sessions that I can run during these Zooms which is bonus content you’re getting completely for free (how generous am I?!) The Zooms are recorded and uploaded onto Moodle for those who can’t attend live so, again, don’t let that put you off if a Thursday is a day you can’t make

What will the course cover?

As you can probably guess from the title of the course – ‘A Series Bestseller’s Guide to Writing a Series’ – this is a course all about writing a series. Or more than one series if you like.

We’ll explore the following:

  • The advantages and disadvantages of writing a series versus a standalone novel
  • The genres that lend themselves to a series
  • Series length
  • Different ways to structure/connect a series
  • The characters in the series
  • Character arcs
  • The importance of setting in a series
  • Conflict, themes, premise and plot in relation to a series
  • Planning versus discovery writing
  • The passage of time across a series
  • Cliffhangers and epilogues
  • Knowing when to end a series and how to end on a high
  • Returning to a series that has ended

And a whole lot more! I’ll draw on my own experiences and share advice and anecdotes from a large group of successful authors across a range of genres. I’ll also draw on TV series and films.

Who will this course suit?

I’ve written twenty-two books and I still learn something with every one that I write, so it’s my belief that attending a course like this can benefit whatever stage a person is in their writing career.

This course will suit beginners who are at the start of their writing journey, those who have written several books already but would like to hone their skills, through to experienced writers who haven’t written series before but are looking to add series to their repertoire.

I’ll gauge the level of experience at the start of the workshop and tailor my sessions according to this, which is one of the reasons they’re not all available immediately.

If you’ve already attended my settings course, this will complement it beautifully. Although some of the subject areas such as characters and settings are covered on both courses, I come at these from a different angle.

What qualifies me to run this course?

My twenty-first novel will be out next month and I’m editing my twenty-second so I have a fair few books under my belt. All of my books are in a series so I have a lot of experience of writing in series in different formats and, as I’ve sold over one million books in four years, I think it’s fair to say that I’m not too shabby at it!

I write full-time now but, prior to that, I worked in HR for twenty-five years and specialised in training, tutoring, coaching and mentoring so it’s a pleasure to marry together skills from my life before writing with my new life as an author.

I joined the RNA Learning team of tutors last year and this will be my third course. I have twice run a one-month course all about the importance of setting and am very excited to be back running this course on series for the first time.

What have previous participants said?

I’ve had some amazing feedback from previous participants on my series course:

Susan Buchanan:

I took Jessica’s course in March 2022 whilst I was in the middle of writing my first series. I’m so glad I did. I was able to easily integrate many of the things I learned in the course into my existing project, and I know the remaining books are all the better for it.

Apart from the content being fabulous, engaging and easy to use as well as fun, Jessica simply couldn’t do enough to help our class. She provided us with loads of bonus content, which she’d clearly invested a lot of time in. She clearly went above and beyond her remit. Her course and the manner in which it was delivered is my favourite so far, and one that will stay with me for a long time to come. I can highly recommend this to anyone looking to write a coastal or countryside setting – mine was a countryside village, and her ideas helped me to bring it to life in ways I hadn’t thought of until then, and reader reviews often comment on how well I brought my village to life in this series.

Thanks so much, Jessica!

Fiona Cooper:

This was the first course I completed with RNA Learning and I can’t praise it highly enough. Jessica is an engaging and enthusiastic presenter with a wealth of knowledge… She is extremely supportive and takes time to comment on individual pieces of work submitted as part of the course as well as encourage group participation. A highly recommended course.

Cass Grafton:

The course was very organised from the out-set, clearly planned out and the plentiful materials were all well received. Jessica delivered hours of content via video each week. She’s a lovely presenter, professional but also warm, friendly and incredibly encouraging. 

Aside from the brilliant, comprehensive and helpful course content and online sessions, Jessica went above and beyond on the Forum, taking the time to respond individually to our comments and questions, as well as our ‘homework. She was generous with her time and invaluable advice. 

Not only did I learn a great deal, Jessica personally helped my confidence, reinforcing I was on the right track with my potential series. An added bonus was the friendships I’ve made with others following the course. Writer friends are the best!

Highly recommend this detailed, excellent value-for-money course to anyone considering or already working on a series in a coastal or country setting. You won’t regret it!

How much will it cost and how do I sign up?

If you’re an RNA member, it’s £75 for the course. If you’re not a member, it’s £150.

To sign up, please click here before the end of the month.

To see other events coming up from RNA Learning, please click here.

It’s going to be really informative, friendly and fun so I hope you can join us. If you have any questions, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Go on, you know you want to!!!!

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I went to the RNA’s amazing conference and explored Kensington Gardens

Jessica Redland Author4 Comments

I’ve been a member of the RNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association) since 2012 when I joined their New Writers’ Scheme – an amazing opportunity for aspiring authors of romantic books to have a manuscript reviewed by an author. During my membership, I’ve attended five in-person conferences as well as a virtual one during the pandemic.

At last year’s conference in Harper Adams University, Shropshire, we were given the news that we’d lost our venue for July 2023. Leeds University had been booked but they were undertaking a refurbishment and had to cancel us. It was a bit up in the air as to whether there would be a conference at all this year but the Board and volunteers pulled out all the stops. It was a venue change to London and a time of year change to mid-August, but the conference was going to go ahead.

The organiser of the previous eight conferences (I think I have that number right) had stepped down after years of hard work pulling them together so this was a good opportunity for the new conference team to seek input from members and do something a bit different with the format.

I was a little nervous about going this year because, for various reasons, none of my closest author friends were going. I’m a really confident person in many aspects of my life, but walking into a room where I don’t know anyone – or only to say ‘hi’ to – is a scenario which makes me uncomfortable. I’d already committed to being a speaker on the programme so I knew I’d need to put my big girls pants on and get on with it. I needn’t have worried as it was absolutely amazing and the atmosphere so warm, friendly and welcoming.

Although the conference ran from lunchtime on the Friday until early afternoon on the Sunday, I went down on the Thursday and met my good friends, authors Jo Bartlett and Helen Rolfe, for lunch first. The conference was at Imperial College London (halls of residence shown in photos above) so we met in the South Kensington area.

After lunch, we found a gorgeous café called Feya very close to Harrods in Knightsbridge. What a special treat that was with a beautiful interior and delicious cakes. I’m not sure what the staff made of us as we kept changing seats, spotting different gorgeous places to sit the further into the café we moved!

One of my other good author friends, Jackie Ladbury, picked up a ticket quite close to the conference so I met up with her that evening. She introduced me to an author called Victoria Cornwall with the same publisher as her and I spent quite a lot of the weekend with Victoria, who was lovely.

We had the Friday morning free and, although I had some writing to do, I decided to go for a ‘quick’ walk as the Royal Albert Hall was very close to us. I’d performed a maypole dance in there when I was 15 so it was lovely to go and look at it again from the outside, bringing back happy memories of my youth club days.

Victoria had said to me that the Royal Albert Memorial was just opposite and worth looking at so I did that too. What an amazing monument!

She’d also said it wasn’t too far to walk through Kensington Gardens to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain so I thought I’d tag that on too and then return to the halls of residence to do some writing.

I started following signs to the fountain but I could see Kensington Palace in the distance so, while I was there, decided to take that in first. It took me a bit longer to walk across the park than expected, especially in the heat, and I could see the minutes ticking past but I’m so glad I continued because it was lovely there. I couldn’t go inside – definitely not long enough for that – but there’s plenty to see in the area with a gorgeous statue of Queen Victoria at the entrance and The Sunken Gardens where there’s a statue in memorial to Princess Diana.

The gardens were gorgeous. You can walk all the way round them, under a willow tunnel (or I think it was willow) on three sides which was so peaceful. Light filtered through the gaps in the trees and there were benches to sit on and contemplate. The garden is surrounded by a hedge but there are arched ‘windows’ cut into it all the way round, giving a different perspective across the pond and gardens every time. Beautiful.

Time was really ticking on by this point and I was a little lost but there are maps everywhere and trusty Google Maps. I was now nowhere near the fountain I’d originally planned to visit but decided to walk round the outskirts of the park to get to it. Bit ambitious! I reached the Italian Gardens (also gorgeous), passed Peter Pan’s statue, and finally the Diana Memorial Fountain but needed to hoof it back for the start of the conference. My quick walk had been well over two hours.

I arrived at the conference a bit hot and bothered with no writing done but I loved my walk and was so glad I’d done it all.

The conference was soon underway and every session I attended was superb. There were three sessions running at a time, aimed from beginners through to experienced authors. It isn’t easy finding sessions that the experienced authors will find really helpful but the organisers managed it. I enjoyed every single one and got something out of them all.

Friday nights at the conference have, in the past, been dinner then a get together but the conference team had organised a quiz. They were let down by the venue’s technology with the microphone not working but still did an amazing job. A quiz was such a good idea for integrating those who didn’t know each other and I hope we’re able to do something similar at the next one. This is our quiz team – Fifty Shades of Hedgehog. You can just see me peeking out 2nd from the back on the right. We weren’t very good!

One of the sessions on Saturday was run by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York! She has written a couple of historical books in collaboration with Marguerite Kaye, a prolific Mills & Boon author. It was fascinating getting an insight into how they work together and how exciting to be so close to a member of the royal family! Although I did completely embarrass myself just before the session. I’d been in the same lecture theatre for the previous session and came out intending to nip to the toilet before Sarah’s session started. The conference organiser, Virginia, came towards me and asked if I was ok and knew where I was going. I responded, “I’m coming into the Duchess’s session but do I have time to nip to the loo first?” A voice said, “No, no, okay then if you’re quick!” I hadn’t realised the Duchess of York was just behind Virginia! My face was apparently an absolute picture!

I got their book – Her Heart for a Compass – signed afterwards and somebody told the Duchess that I was a million-copy bestseller. She gave me a high-five. What a special moment!

Saturday nights have previously been a gala dinner but this year was a much more informal barbeque and disco. My publishers, Boldwood Books, were sponsoring the arrival drinks so the Boldwood authors met up a little earlier. It’s always so lovely to see the team and fellow Boldies. Boldwood also brought merch with them – a gorgeous Love Boldly tote bag so perfect for the RNA.

I said from the start that I wasn’t going to dance. I normally only frequent the dance floor with several drinks inside me and I didn’t want to drink much knowing that my speaker slot was the following morning. As soon as the music started, the Boldwood team pulled me up and that was it – on the dance floor for most of the evening. There was a Photo Booth which was great fun – never been anywhere that has had one of those before – and the DJ played some fabulous tunes.

I was nervous about my slot the following day. I’m not normally nervous about public speaking but, after the amazing quality of sessions so far, I didn’t want to be the disappointment. And, would you believe it, I got a nosebleed just before I was due to start! I get them every so often and I think the heat and nerves got me. Thankfully it stopped quickly and I don’t think too many of the delegates noticed me hiding behind the desk with a wad of tissues!

The talk went down really well. I was speaking about my journey to publication success but the many bumps along the way, and sharing 10 lessons I’ve learned which would be helpful for anyone at any stage of their publishing journey. A few delegates caught me afterwards and thanked me for a motivational session which was great as that’s what I’d hoped it would be.

I had to leave the conference a tad early for my train so missed the closing session but returned to Scarborough feeling motivated and smiling … but very tired!

A huge thank you to author Virginia Heath and her team who did such an incredible job of organising this conference and making it such a happy experience. The planning that went into this was second to none and I was so impressed with every aspect of it. Already excited to hear details of next year’s conference as I’ll definitely be there!

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The one where it’s International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

This weekend (19th and 20th August 2023) is International Lighthouse Heritage weekend. According to the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, this weekend aims to “raise the profile of lighthouses, lightvessels and other navigational aids, promoting our maritime heritage.” You can read more about it on their website here. 

I love a lighthouse. As well as appreciating their amazing functionality and how many lives they’ve saved over the years, I’m drawn to them because they are so beautiful. The height, the shape and, of course, the setting make them such special buildings.

With books set by the coast, I couldn’t not feature lighthouses. My Whitsborough Bay setting is predominantly inspired by Scarborough where there is a lighthouse. Scarborough Pier Lighthouse is a white one at the end of the main harbour wall. The former harbour master’s lodgings attached to the lighthouse are the headquarters for Scarborough Yacht Club. It was badly damaged during WWI when Scarborough was bombed, and rebuilt in 1931.

It’s a beautiful building but my favourite lighthouses are the ones which are red and white striped. There’s something about them that really draws me in. As Whitsborough Bay is fictional, I couldn’t resist making my harbour lighthouse red and white striped. There’s another red and white striped one a couple of miles down the coast at Starfish Point. It appears on the cover of all three books in The Starfish Café series and the main one appears on two of my other Whitsborough Bay books – Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove and Coming Home to Seashell Cottage. 

My debut book, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms, includes a couple of key scenes by Whitsborough Bay Lighthouse. This book was originally called Searching for Steven so red and white lighthouses became known in our family as ‘Steven Lighthouses.’ Any time we spot one, no matter how small (or fake), we excitedly cry, ‘Steven Lighthouse!’ which probably sounds very strange to anyone in earshot! Okay, so maybe it’s just me who does the excited cry, but hubby and daughter do point them out.

Searching for Steven was originally out with a publisher who featured a florist shop on the cover. When they ceased trading and I put the book out again as an indie author, my husband needed to design a speedy holding cover which looked a bit homemade but served a purpose and, for me, it absolutely needed a lighthouse on it. This evolved into a lovely lighthouse cover. When Boldwood Books took this book on from my backlist, we returned to a florist shop on the re-named book but that made sense as there was going to be a lighthouse on the next book in the series – Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove. Lighthouse Cove is a place where the main character in that book goes to think and, in the original version of the book, it didn’t actually have a name. We came up with Lighthouse Cove for the re-issue, hence the logic of the lighthouse on that cover.

Despite having loved lighthouses for as long as I can remember, I haven’t actually visited that many and I’ve only ever been inside one – on the end of Whitby pier (not a striped one but still beautiful). I must rectify that. I’ve walked along the pier to Scarborough’s lighthouse on many occasions but it isn’t open to the public.

On holiday in North Norfolk a couple of years back, I loved seeing Happisburgh Lighthouse, especially as it’s my favourite type. The top left photo on my graphic was taken by the hubby. Isn’t it stunning?

Lighthouses are also very relevant to the storyline in Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café, but I can’t say why without giving spoilers so you’ll just have to read the book to find out! It’s one of my favourite plot points across all of my books.

It’s a little fantasy of mine to live in a lighthouse, but it’s not something I’ve ever seriously looked into. Quite often they’re in remote locations and I can imagine them being subjected to a lot of scary weather! I found a website gathering together lighthouses for sale in the UK if you fancy looking – Lighthouses for Sale.

If someone did buy a lighthouse as a conversion project (something which happens in Kim Nash’s gorgeous book, Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove), it must take a tremendous amount of vision (and a lot of money) to convert it into a home. And all of those stairs! I think this is something that will remain a fantasy for me.

I’m hoping to write a story about someone who owns a lighthouse in a future book. I have a very clear idea for a story which my editor loves, but finding the time to squeeze it in to our plans is proving to be challenging.

I’ve picked up a lot lighthouse merch since creating Whitsborough Bay and a lighthouse even features on my business card. I have to force myself to be restrained when I see lighthouses now as I’ve run out of space to put them! The various items look great with my books – the excuse I give myself for a sneaky little purchase!

From ornaments to mugs to pictures, I can’t resist a lighthouse. I’m hoping that, one day, Jellycat will bring out a lighthouse in their range. I love Jellycats and a smiley lighthouse would be so precious. If anyone knows anyone at Jellycat…

Hubby and I would love to tour the USA one day and I would absolutely need to plan in seeing lots of lighthouses as part of that. For now, I hope to explore more of the ones in the UK. Although I love the tower style lighthouses the most, I’m still fascinated by the less conventional looking ones like this one in Bamburgh, Northumberland. I think the windows and door look like a face and like to think of it as a happy lighthouse.

Do you love lighthouses? Do you have one near you or have you visited any you particularly love in the UK or abroad? Please do let me know in the comments.

If you have a lighthouse near you, it’s possible there’s a special event on this weekend to celebrate International Lighthouse Heritage weekend. I’m off to make another cuppa in my lighthouse mug. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone.

Big lighthouse hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I talk about the origins of Castle Street and how one shop became a community

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

Christmas at the Cat Café is out in all formats worldwide – print, digital, and audio – on 15th September. Who’s excited for a return to Castle Street?

This gorgeous street full of independent shops and cafés in the fictional North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitsborough Bay was the very first setting I created and I had no idea it was going to evolve and become such a reader favourite.

My debut book was New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms in which Sarah Peterson returns to her hometown of Whitsborough Bay to take over her Auntie Kay’s florist shop, Seaside Blooms. When I started writing the book, I was only focused on this one shop and hadn’t really thought about the street as a whole. But on the way to the shop on Sarah’s first day, I mentioned Sarah and Auntie Kay picking up takeaway drinks and pastries from a café called The Chocolate Pot and suddenly I could picture what that looked like. The Chocolate Pot appeared several times across the book and I even named the owner/manager – Tara – but I had no plans to write a story about her. New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms was the first book in a trilogy and the thought of writing three books was scary enough – no way did I have any headspace to think beyond that.

I finished the Welcome to Whitsborough Bay series (which ended up being a four-book series) and the next book burning inside me to write was All You Need is Love. Although my career pre-writing was predominantly in HR, I’d taken some time out to pursue a dream of setting up and managing a specialist teddy bear shop. I opened Bear’s Pad in Richmond, North Yorkshire and managed it for nearly two years before moving to Scarborough two hours away (too far to commute). On quiet days in the shop, I worked on Seaside Blooms and also studied my craft. I really wanted to pay homage to that period of my life – when I started writing – by penning a book partially set in a teddy bear shop so Bear With Me was created, located opposite Seaside Blooms.

Later that year, I decided to write and release my first ever Christmas book and I couldn’t imagine setting it anywhere other than Castle Street. When I had Bear’s Pad, I’d loved the approach to Christmas – putting up the tree, getting in all the fabulous festive stock, putting on the festive music and helping customers choose gifts. I wanted to create a business that could do really well at Christmas and a chocolate shop felt like the perfect Christmassy retailer. Charlee’s Chocolates was born in Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop.

I now had three businesses in Castle Street in which stories were set – Seaside Blooms, Bear With Me and Charlee’s Chocolates. I was able to create some lovely cameos as it was logical that the business owners in a small community like this would know each other. I didn’t have any particular plans to extend this retail community beyond Charlee’s Chocolates but I had this vision of a special Christmas lights switch-on attended by the Castle Street traders. I first had a scene showing this in Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop and it felt completely magical.

In one particular scene where Sarah from Seaside Blooms is telling Charlee all about it the approaching event, she mentions that Tara from The Chocolate Pot provides the hot drinks for free. It made sense to choose Tara because I’d already mentioned her and her cafe. I was going to have her providing cakes too but it seemed a big ask for one trader to do all the catering so I decided to mention another business who’d provide the cakes – Carly’s Cupcakes situated next door to The Chocolate Pot. It was meant to be a throwaway comment but the strangest thing happened the minute I mentioned the business. Suddenly I knew who Carly was and the story she had to tell so I wrote her book – Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes – immediately after Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop. It was one of those rare books that just writes itself.

Because I’d placed Carly’s Cupcakes next to The Chocolate Pot, it felt logical to me that Tara and Carly would be friends. Tara therefore appeared several times in Carly’s story and, even though she’d been mentioned from the very first Castle Street book, I still had no plans to tell her story or any feel for what that story would even be. She was Carly’s friend and another business owner and that was her sole purpose.

Until one day after work, she and Carly had a conversation and Tara – who was really guarded about her past – revealed something unexpected. I really hadn’t seen it coming and it excited me so much that here was no way I couldn’t tell her story. Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café picked up where Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes left off, but from Tara’s perspective, and her story resulted in the creation of yet another shop on Castle Street (but I won’t mention what to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read Tara’s story yet).

So now I had a growing community with five businesses in which stories were set, three further businesses in which several scenes had been set – The Wedding Emporium run by Ginny, Bay Books run by father and daughter team Marcus and Lily, and the one in Tara’s story. I’d also mentioned Castle Jewellery and that there were another two cafés on the street although I hadn’t named them. From humble beginnings, the street had naturally evolved into ten named businesses.

I knew I wasn’t finished with Castle Street but the book plans I had meant a natural break from the setting. I’d started a brand new series set in a hedgehog rescue centre – Hedgehog Hollow – and I wanted to revisit a story I’d started but parked a couple of years before set in The Starfish Café a couple of miles south of Whitsborough Bay.

Castle Street was never far from my thoughts. As the fourth book in the Hedgehog Hollow series is called A Wedding at Hedgehog Hollow, I’m sure those readers who haven’t got to that book yet can guess that it does include a wedding. Where better for the wedding party to choose their dresses than The Wedding Emporium? I have further connections to the street in The Starfish Café series, particularly in the final book, Summer Nights at The Starfish Café. 

In that book, Hollie spends some time in Charlee’s Chocolates and asks her about an empty unit opposite which appears to be getting a refurb. Charlee tells her it’s going to be a cat café. You have no idea how much it thrilled me to plant that in there! I’d mentioned in previous Facebook Lives that I was going to write a book set in a cat café at some point but the announcement that it was coming out this Christmas hadn’t formally been made on the socials. I loved it when readers started sending me messages saying they were intrigued by this new business and asking if the cat café was coming next!

And so that brings us to the sixth Castle Street business in which the main story is set and how lovely to set it once more at Christmas. Readers often tell me how much they love Castle Street and ask when there’ll be another story set there so I hope there’ll be some very happy readers out there as they return to this special street and wonderfully supportive community.

Except this time, not everyone’s quite as lovely and supportive. New business owner Tabby has more than her fair share of challenges to face while trying to get the Castle Street Cat Café up and running in the approach to Christmas, as you can see from the blurb at the bottom of this post.

What can you expect? Lots of Castle Street Christmassy loveliness, including the gorgeous Christmas lights switch-on ceremony which always feels so alive to me. Some of your favourite characters will make an appearance and you’ll meet several new ones as well as being introduced to a few new shops. Will they be the settings for future Castle Street stories? You never know!

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered Christmas at the Cat Café already. It’ll go up for pre-order on Audible a little nearer the time and I’ll announce that on the socials as soon as I spot it. Hope you enjoy Tabby’s special story. I’ve loved all the excited reactions from readers who adore cats but if you’re not a cat lover, I hope you’ll still read this as it’s a lovely story about so much more than cats. And, who knows, you might fall in love with those felines by the end of it!

Big hugs and cat snuggles
Jessica xx

It’s the most wonderful time of the year on Castle Street, and there’s a paw-some new business opening….

It had always been Tabby’s dream to work with cats and an inheritance from her beloved nanna has finally made that a reality. Idyllic Castle Street in Whitsborough Bay couldn’t be a better place for pastry chef Tabby to open a cat café with her boyfriend, Leon.

But when Leon leaves her in the lurch, the pressure mounts for Tabby. With Christmas fast approaching, she has to open the café on her own – a daunting prospect, especially when she’s been hiding her health issues from the ones she loves.

Faced with local resistance to the café – and somebody seemingly determined that she won’t succeed – Tabby will need her friends, family and cats more than ever to recover her broken Christmas spirit and pull together for a Christmas miracle.

Will the cat café bring the festive joy to Castle Street as Tabby had hoped or will it be a cat-astrophe? And can the magic of Christmas on Castle Street mend Tabby’s broken heart as well as her business?

Escape with million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland this Christmas for the purr-fect festive treat!

The one where I celebrate Boldwood’s 4th Birthday and The Secret to Happiness goes into Prime Reading

Jessica Redland Author3 Comments

If you follow me on the socials, or if you follow my publisher Boldwood Books, you’ll already be aware that Boldwood turned 4 years old on Tuesday (1st August 2023). Boldwood have two birthdays – the day they opened for submissions (1st February) and the day their first book was published.

In that first month of trading, three books came out:

  1. The Daughter in Law – a psychological thriller by Nina Manning
  2. Honeymoon for One – a romcom by Portia MacIntosh
  3. Villa of Sun and Secrets – women’s fiction by Jennifer Bohnet

My Boldwood debut, The Secret to Happiness, was the fourth release on 3rd September 2023. To celebrate four years of publishing, these four ebooks are all 99p worldwide for a limited time so, if you haven’t read any, it’s a great time to take advantage. (Note, The Daughter in Law is no longer part of this offer at the time of writing this post so the offer is unlikely to last much longer on the other titles).

The Secret to Happiness has had a new cover (which I reported in an earlier blog post) as looked different to all my other covers. I’ve been admiring the new version online for several weeks and am excited about seeing it in paperback form soon. The adjustments are still going through to make sure that any new books published do have the new cover.

In exciting news today, I’ve just heard that The Secret to Happiness has gone into Prime Reading globally so, if you’re a Prime subscriber and haven’t read this already, you can get hold of it for free. It is also free in Kindle Unlimited (as are all my other titles and, indeed, all Boldwood titles).

Boldwood asked the author group if we could focus on the number four and share four tropes, four writing tips, four locations which have inspired our writing or 4 books that have inspired us. I decided to do three of the four.

Here are my four writing tips:

Four locations which have inspired my writing are:

  1. Scarborough – predominant inspiration for Whitsborough Bay
  2. The Yorkshire Wolds – inspiration for Hedgehog Hollow
  3. Scarborough Lifeboat Station and Ravenscar – inspiration for The Starfish Café
  4. Derwent Water, Portinscale and The Lingholm Estate – inspiration for Willowdale and Willowdale Hall in my new ‘Escape to the Lakes’ series

To find four tropes which have appeared in my books, you can watch a video on my Facebook page here.

Speaking of videos, I’ve got a couple more – one showing four of my series (and some future plans) can be found here and one where I wish Boldwood a happy 4th birthday and talk briefly about my journey to publication with them can be found here.

We did a little photo shoot outside Scarborough’s beach huts with my series (and misc books). I particularly love the one of the stack – took a lot of effort to lift and balance them all – and the first and last (most recent) release.

We also nipped down to the beach where I couldn’t resist the opportunity to recreate Autumn’s pose on the cover of The Start of Something Wonderful. I call this #DoingAnAutumn and there’s a little something special we’re going to be doing around this later this year so do keep your eye out for more information.

It’s been so lovely celebrating Boldwood’s 4th birthday. I’m honoured to have been one of the first twenty authors to join them when they first set up. They have done such amazing things in the first four years and I’m excited to be part of their plans for the next four and beyond. They’re so innovative, supportive and friendly and I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for my career.

Thank you also to the readers who have supported me and any other Boldwood authors. We couldn’t keep writing without you.

Big birthday hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I thank everyone involved in the blog tour for The Start of Something Wonderful

Jessica Redland AuthorLeave a comment

The blog tour for my latest release, The Start of Something Wonderful, reached its final three stops yesterday and what a fabulous tour it has been. With a whopping 47 stops, I’ve loved reading all the amazing reviews, nearly all of which were 5-star. Eek!

Every single reviewer loved the brand new setting in the Lake District and even those who adored Hedgehog Hollow and/or Whitsborough Bay and felt a little worried about a new setting were speedily hooked. Phew! Those who were familiar with the area thought I’d brought it to life, and those who weren’t familiar wanted to visit!

Reviewers took Autumn to their hearts and loved the friendship between her and Rosie, many loving the added dimension of them being penpals who’d never met. Beatrix Potter was a fan favourite too.

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the tour and to the fabulous Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it, and Boldwood Books for giving this opportunity for each new release.

I’ve randomly selected some review quotes to accompany this post. If you were on the tour and yours hasn’t been included in this post, please be assured that it wasn’t because I didn’t love your review – simply that there are too many quotes to share in one post and, as I say, I’ve randomly selected some. I loved reading all the reviews and some even brought tears to my eyes because they were so lovely.

Thank you so much for all taking the time to read The Start of Something Wonderful and to share your thoughts. For those who were hoping this would be the start of a new series, it definitely is. Book 2 will be out in January. No title yet as I’m still writing it but we should have one later this month/early next.

Big hugs
Jessica xx