Today – 4th March 2024 – the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) is celebrating two hundred years. I prepared a blog post for my publisher, Boldwood Books, briefly outlining how the RNLI was formed and giving some key links to their website. You can read the my blog post here but do check out some of the links in it to the RNLI’s website where there are some fascinating posts, videos and podcasts.
The Starfish Café series shines a light on the amazing work undertaken by the RNLI and it has been a privilege to spend time at Scarborough Lifeboat Station to research the operations of the lifeboat station and the work of the crew.
I’ve interviewed several volunteers, observed a training session and posed with my books…
I’ve met their mascot Stormy Stan (who features in the series)…
I’ve made a financial donation and dropped off signed copies of the series to raise funds in a raffle…
And I’ve purchased lots of merchandise from the RNLI shop…
And a few other nautical items which fit so perfectly with the series. Any excuse!…
It was a beautiful day in Scarborough (aka Whitsborough Bay) today and hubby took a few pics for me while on his walk with our dog, Ella. The harbour and lifeboat station were looking mighty fine in the sun…
I love The Starfish Café series. It’s probably my favourite series I’ve completed so far. Thankfully readers have loved it too and the combined series so far has sold over 168,500 copies with book 1 – Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café – selling nearly 93,000 copies alone.
That particular book has been in The Works and was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year in 2022 (Christmas/Festive Holiday category) which was such an honour. And it was translated into Serbian last year (although I think that version might be out this winter as I haven’t received my paperback of the translated version yet).
Onto my news about the series, if you haven’t already read the three books in The Starfish Café series, you might be interested to know that they’ll be released as a box set later this month. This is an eBook box set only and comes with some additional bonus content.
And, finally, I’m offering a signed copy of book 3 in the series – Summer Nights at The Starfish Café – and a fabulous bundle of goodies, many of which I bought from the RNLI’s shop, helping support their incredible work. You need to be signed up to my newsletter to have a chance to win. You can do so here. A newsletter will be issued in the next few days with a form to enter the competition so existing subscribers can also take part. The T&Cs for the competition can be found here.
I’ll finish with a thank you to all the amazing crew at the RNLI, the lifeguards, and the volunteers who help run the shops, fundraise, and raise awareness. What they all do is amazing but the lifeboat crew in particular are heroes in my eyes. These are volunteers who put their own lives at risk to help those in difficulties. That’s just phenomenal and must take incredible courage but, as Sir William Hillary said, “With courage, nothing is impossible”. And the lifeboat crew couldn’t do what they do without the amazing support of a team back at base planning and supporting each launch.
Congratulations on 200 years, RNLI, and here’s to the next 100.
As we approach the end of the year, it’s often a time to look back and reflect on the highs of the previous twelve months – and perhaps also the lows – but I’m not going to do that this year. Instead, I’m going to look back over a handful of things I’d planned to blog about but time wasn’t my friend and I never quite managed to cover them.
LEEDS BEAR HUNT
First up is my bear hunt. I’m not sure when it started but there have been art trails all over the country which are a really great way of drawing in visitors and raising money for charity. The ‘Leeds We’re Going on a Bear Hunt 2023’ art trail featured giant bears at various locations in and around Leeds City Centre, inspired by Michael Rosen’s beloved children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. The charity the bears hunt was fundraising for was Leeds Hospitals Charity, a charity which supports various teaching hospitals around the city including Leeds Children’s Hospital.
My daughter and I had planned a trip to Leeds in July to celebrate the end of her GCSE exams. Timed during the couple of weeks before school term finished, we’d booked tickets for Strictly Ballroom The Musical starring Kevin Clifton, and were staying for two nights, planning to do some shopping and have a cinema trip too. On arrival, we spotted a bear. I had no idea there was a bear hunt going on so it couldn’t have been more perfect for me, being a huge bear fan.
There were 35 giant bear sculptured and nearly 50 bear cubs and hunting for them kept us occupied for quite a bit of the time away which was just as well because we didn’t get to visit the cinema. My daughter was sixteen and we wanted to see a fifteen film and the rather unpleasant person serving wouldn’t let us in without ID. I get that cinemas have policy but logic would have said a student out in the day during term time, clearly with her mum, was likely to have just finished GCSEs or A Levels and therefore be at least 15, but there you go. He’d already ordered me to move away from the desk and stand in a certain place (despite no signage saying to stay there) so I suspect he was a little bit power hungry!
Anyway, we didn’t get to any of the outlying bears and we struggled to find some of them but I hope you enjoy the pictures I’ve included. I have over 300 so I had to be selective! I also spotted a fabulous teddy bear in John Lewis which was nothing to do with the trail but I had to include him.
CASTLE HOWARD AT CHRISTMAS
The next event I missed was going to Castle Howard in early November to see their Christmas installation. This is the fourth time I’ve visited. Previous themes have been Masquerade, Narnia and Into the Woods. This year’s was Christmas in Neverland.
I went with my bestie, fellow author Sharon Booth. The creativity and planning that goes into these installations is quite astonishing. There was a note in the visitor guide saying that they’d ‘prioritised sustainable materials’ and ‘recycled and reused where possible’. I’m fully in support of that but it did mean that, as a regular visitor, I recognised certain aspects. Not saying that’s a bad thing; just that it therefore wasn’t quite as fresh for me.
Although extremely impressive, this was probably my least favourite of the four Christmas installations I’ve visited. Sharon and I went to the Masquerade one together (I took the hubby and daughter to the other two) and she preferred that one. I don’t know whether it was more impressive or whether there’s an enormous ‘wow!’ element of seeing a Christmas installation for the first time when there are no expectations and being blown away by how amazing it is.
The bedrooms which you visit first were as impressive as ever but the Antique Passage didn’t have much in it which was a shame (the Narnia version was very impressive) and the Long Gallery with the deck of the Jolly Roger! was more sparse than previous installations although there was a fabulous shadow film playing which I loved.
I think Narnia remains my favourite, then Masquerade, then last year’s Into the Woods, with this one being in last place. Again, I emphasise it was still extremely impressive and I take nothing away from the imagination, time and effort that has gone into it. I’m sure other visitors will have loved it the most. Just like reading a book, everyone has different tastes.
I look forward to seeing what theme they have next year. The current installation is still on until 7th January so you might still be able to get tickets and see it.
OCTOBER IN THE LAKES
We were meant to be going to Florida for a fortnight in November and, for reasons I won’t bore you with, we had to cancel it and push it back to next year. Although not quite the same, we managed to book a Monday-Friday in our favourite holiday cottage in Keswick.
I’ve never been away for a Monday-Friday and it was surprisingly disorientating, being away for longer than a weekend but not quite a week, and not having a weekend as part of it. I’m not sure I’d do it again.
There were lots of knitted poppies in the grounds of a St John’s Church in Keswick ready for the approaching Remembrance Day. The weather wasn’t kind to us and it rained at some point every day. As you can see, the photos are pretty dull!
This sign made me laugh outside one of the pubs:
We didn’t want to go up on the fells as there’s no point when you don’t get the reward of a stunning view due to the rain or low cloud, but we did go on a low-level walk in Borrowdale. This is an area south of Derwent Water which we’ve never explored before. The walk was lovely but we decided to go off-plan and see if we could bag the smallest Wainwright – Castle Crag – instead of just passing round the bottom of it. Bad decision. We weren’t sure which footpath to take and came off the route too early, arrived at a dead end and had to retrace our steps. It took us an hour to get to the bottom of Castle Crag and, at that point, we discovered that the footpath up looked like shale. There was no way we could do that with an excitable sprocker spaniel who bounces all over so we had to skip it.
By the time we’d added nearly 90 minutes getting back on track, I was a bit fed up. I don’t cope well with being lost and having to do more than expected. I was also really hungry as it was way past lunchtime and we had no food with us. The route thankfully took us near a village and we strayed off the path in search of food. It was cold but the rain had let up and we parked ourselves at some tables outside a café and chose our lunch. I went in to order. It was 2.55pm and I heard the woman serving tell the customer in front that they stopped taking orders at 3pm so I was just in time. I have my order and she said there was a half hour wait on food as they were stacked up. Fair enough. I said I’d go ahead thinking we could have our drinks in the meantime. She gave me a stony look and said, ‘And it’s a half hour wait on drinks.’ Wow! Talk about not being welcome. She didn’t even know what drinks I wanted. For all she knew, it could have been a couple of soft drinks out the fridge which take no preparation on her part as we would happily have had them straight from the bottle. Feeling very unwanted, I told her we’d leave it. I do completely understand how frustrating it will be when someone orders food five minutes before the kitchen closes. Having had a shop, I hated it when customers came in two minutes before closing time and took ages browsing but at least the café would have had money coming in rather than my scenario where the customer 99 times out of 100 left without buying anything! Oh well!
There was no way I could finish the circular route without food so we walked to the main road and caught the bus back to the car park and returned to the holiday cottage.
One thing I did manage to do between downpours was take some photos of The Start of Something Wonderfulby Derwent Water. The colours might not be the brightest in the background but it was nice to have the book in its setting.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS
I visited York Christmas markets with my good friend and former work colleague, Carol. She lives near Newcastle and York is a central point for us both to get too by train so we meet up a few times a year. We usually do this on a Friday but diary commitments meant we had to do a Saturday and never again! The market is just too busy for me (too short to feel comfortable in moving hoards!) and The Shambles was the same.
I returned to York shortly after to meet with fellow Boldwood author, Samantha Tonge, which was lovely. We’ve been Facebook friends for several years but had never met in person. We had lunch together and a good old catch-up.
I’d gone in early to meet another friend but she was unable to make it so I had some time to kill. It was a gorgeous day so I went for a wander, including a visit to Clifford’s Tower using my English Heritage membership. My goodness, it was breezy up the top. My eyes were streaming! But look at that gorgeous blue sky!
I absolutely loved the polar bear outside The Ivy. Isn’t he amazing?
After that, hubby and I went to Leeds Christmas markets. He’d read an article promising 150 stalls but there probably weren’t even a third as many as that. They were spread out at different points around the city centre in clusters of a few huts at a time and what a disappointment. The only decent part was the fairground where there were a lot of food huts together and a lovely atmosphere because of all the lights of the rides but, other than that, it was a complete let down. I’d been really looking forward to it because I do love a Christmas market. Next year, we’ll maybe try Manchester or even Birmingham were they do put on a huge market.
I did manage to grab a few pics of me out and about in Leeds.
CRAFTING
Finally, I’ve done a fair bit of crafting this year at the workshops in a village near us in Ebberston Studios. I’m not naturally talented at crafting so I’m focusing on one type of craft at the moment – needlefelting – and hope that practice will improve my abilities before I move onto something else. I’ve also tried wet felting – same materials but a completely different concept. Jury’s still out on wet felting as there are so many stages to the process and I can’t remember the order of them all, but I haven’t given up on it yet. I made a wet felting heart earlier in the year but I still haven’t finished it. It needed to spend several hours fully drying out before we stuffed it so that last part had to be done post-workshop and it’s still waiting to be stuffed. I might try to do that over Christmas. This is the equipment needed, the fluffy pic is the start of the process and the heart in the middle is the end product which I did inspired by the cover on Healing Hearts at Bumblebee Barn with a sunrise, lavender and bee.
It was back to needlefelting after that with an owl. I’m super proud of the barn owl I created.
Next was a mixed project with some wet felting and a small amount of needlefelting. I’m not going to reveal what I did as it’s connected to my next book release, A Breath of Fresh Air, so I’ll post about it around publication day. Having said that, subscribers to my newsletter have seen it and we might even have posted on Twitter (refuse to call it X!) at the time.
After that, I had a couple of workshops in quick succession with a Christmas theme. The first was to make tomte (Sweden) / tonttu (Finland) / nisse (Norway and Denmark) or gonks as we tend to know them in the UK. I use tonttu because we were in Finnish Lapland just before Christmas 2019 when I completely fell in love with them and purchased several. My tonttu collection has grown a fair bit since then although hubby always calls the ones not purchased in Lapland ‘imposters’. So I made my own little imposter and I’m delighted with him.
I want to do a slight tweak to his hat, putting a couple of stitches in about halfway down to create a kink in it – perhaps another job for over Christmas.
My final workshop of the year was to make Christmas decorations. It’s the only one Emma at Ebberston runs where it’s a bit of a free-for-all to make what you wanted but we were told that, if we went for smaller decorations, we should be able to manage three so that was my goal.
I started with the cutest penguin hanging decoration followed by a bear’s head wearing a party hat. There was time to do one more but nothing complicated so I decided to do a snowman as the shape was very simple, as was the colouring. I was going to make him into a hanging decoration too but Emma had some wooden plinths and little Christmas trees we could buy so I made him a standing decoration on a plinth instead.
I’m really pleased with how they all turned out. I wish I could say I’d made the knitted hat on the snowman and the scarves on him and the penguin but they were pre-made for purchase. Everything else is by me, though. Check out the snow! I was worried at first that I wouldn’t make it when it started coming down but, thankfully, the main roads were clear.
I’ve got some needlefelting kits and various spare materials and hope to do some crafting at home next year. I’m not intending to create anything to sell – it’s just for my own pleasure and to give me a break from writing.
That’s it! All caught up on the many posts I planned to write but didn’t get around to doing.
This is my final post before Christmas (or at least I think it is!) so I’ll finish by thanking you for all your support for my writing this year. It’s been another amazing year and none of the things that have happened this year like achieving one million sales could have happened without you. I’m so very grateful for how you’ve embraced the worlds I’ve created.
Wishing you a peaceful, relaxing, joyous Christmas and hugs to those for whom this festive period is going to be difficult.
For several years, it was on my bucket list to speak at a writing festival and, this year, I achieved that three-fold.
My first ever festival appearance was in June at the Crossing the Tees Festival where I ran a workshop and appeared on a romance panel. You can read more about it here.
My second appearance was at the Richmond Walking & Book Festival last month. This should actually have been my first ever festival appearance last year but it had to be cancelled as it clashed with the date of the Queen’s funeral so I was re-booked for this year.
Richmond is roughly a two-hour drive from where I live in Scarborough and is therefore absolutely do-able as a day trip, but I decided it would be a nice treat for hubby and me to stop over the night before rather than have a really early start. We stayed in a hotel on the market square called The King’s Head which bought back memories of when I had my teddy bear shop in Richmond twenty years ago. I won the Best Newcomer award in the Best Retailer Awards and was presented with it at an event in that hotel. At the time, I’d just started writing my debut novel and was learning my craft. I never dreamed I’d be back at the same hotel years later with a successful career as an author!
Back to the festival, I’d contacted the organisers earlier in the week to see how ticket sales had gone and was told that they’d been very slow for the daytime events with only eleven sold so far. They were hopeful that they’d sell more last minute. They didn’t. I arrived to the news that there were still only eleven takers and, as I knew two of these attendees were my parents, this was a bit disappointing. The lovely organisers advised me that they’d really struggled with ticket sales this year – something they attributed to the cost of living crisis – so it wasn’t just me unable to attract an audience. At the festival itself, they tole me that last year they’d sold more than 30 tickets for my appearance and that had been with time still to go for last-minute purchases so it could well have been in excess of 40 tickets if we hadn’t had to cancel. Same author, same date, same time, same venue – but not the same level of ticket sales. It wasn’t anyone’s fault; just circumstances.
It was a shame but at least I was pre-prepared for a small audience. And, let’s face it, nothing could be worse than the time I appeared at a writing event in Scarborough when nobody turned up! Although, to be fair, I was a struggling indie author at the time so nobody would have had a clue who I was.
The venue was lovely. We were in one of the cinema screens at The Station which was perfect as the audience had comfy sets and a stepped view, although there were going to be a lot of empty seats! It was even cosier than expected because four of those eleven attendees were no-shows! A couple of members of my Facebook Group, Redland’s Readers, joined us – thank you Ros and Joanne – and Ros brought a friend along who was a fan of my books so it was lovely to be able to chat to them before the talk started.
The talk itself went very well and I sold a few books afterwards which is always a bonus. Overall, I had a lovely couple of days away. I met up with my friend, Lucy Pittaway (super talented artist) the evening before for a good catch-up, and I had a wander round Richmond with my parents after the talk, with a sneaky ice-cream because the weather was gorgeous. A huge thank you to James, Judith and the other volunteers for including me and being brilliant hosts.
Yesterday, I had my third and final face-to-face festival appearance of the year at the East Riding Festival of Words. I was a delegate before being a speaker as there was a ‘Morning of Murder and Mystery’ on Saturday which I went to with my bestie, author Sharon Booth. It was held in Beverley, East Yorkshire. We were very excited to see our names on the festival brochure on our seats.
There was a fabulous line-up for the crime part of the festival with the super successful multi-million bestselling indie author L J Ross speaking first. Ross is most famous for her DCI Ryan Mysteries, set in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham, although she has a couple of other series out including her ‘A Summer Suspense Mystery’ series which are set elsewhere.
I made a couple of purchases afterwards and got them signed. When it was my turn, I was stupidly nervous and garbled something about my parents being from the north east. Isn’t it bonkers that I can be a million-selling author myself but go to pieces when I meet author authors? You can find L J Ross on Amazon here or read more about her on her website here.
The second session was with two authors – Kate Evans and Kate Rhodes – with a theme around setting novels by the coast. I like crime novels but struggle for reading time so mainly read romance and I therefore wasn’t familiar with either of these authors but really enjoyed learning more about them. Kate Evans is actually Scarborough-based like me and her DC Donna Morris series is set here. Kate Rhodes has written lots of books but her latest series is set on the Isles of Scilly and that’s the series she was focusing on at the festival.
I made a purchase of Kate Rhodes’s latest book but I was a bit slow getting to the book table and Kate Evans’s books were all sold out!
The final slot of the day was with T M Logan who has had some phenomenal success after one of his books, The Holiday, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. It has since been made into a Channel 5 series, as has a subsequent book, The Catch. Spookily enough, his most recent release, The Mother, was next to The Start of Something Wonderful in the charts on the morning of the festival with my book at #20 and Tim’s at #21 in the overall Amazon UK chart. I wanted to take a screenshot but I am so incompetent at using my phone and couldn’t work out how to do it (the ‘usual’ buttons didn’t work for it) so I couldn’t take one. Since then, his book has risen and mine has dropped but it was a lovely moment to have us both – as speakers at the same festival – side by side in the Top 100.
There was a big queue for T M Logan’s books and as I’m actually a Kindle reader and had already bought three books, Sharon and I didn’t stay. We also had a table booked for a late lunch at a nearby pub so needed to get there anyway.
All four speakers were excellent, as was the facilitator – author Nick Quantrill – and I really enjoyed hearing them all speak. There was a sci-fi/fantasy session on the afternoon and, while we didn’t attend this, I love that the festival were embracing so many different genres. There are more events on Saturday 21st October so do check out the festival website if you’re local and would like to attend.
Yesterday my appearance was at a different venue – Hornsea Hub – in the small coastal resort of Hornsea. I didn’t really know where I was going so I got there well in advance and had a little wander down to the beach (right beside the venue) to take some photos.
The contemporary panel went first, we had a break for drinks, cake and book signings, and then the historical panel were on. Both panels had great conversations with some excellent questions from the audience.
I was thrilled to have several attendees purchase my books and get them signed, with some telling me they’ve read some or all of my books on Kindle.
A huge thank you to all the amazing festival and library staff for putting on such a fabulous, well-organised event and for including romantic authors as part of the line-up when there are festivals out there who sadly dismiss this genre. Lovely to have #RespectRomFic demonstrated.
Photo Credit: Linda Acaster
On that subject, Sharon and I attended the same festival several years back and there was a full crime day. We were really disappointed that several of the authors speaking dismissed the romance genre at some point in their talks or in the audience questions. This year, L J Ross actively spoke about the romantic relationship in her Summer Suspense Mysteries and how relationships of all types are so important in literature as those connections are what we all know and desire. Yay! How refreshing to hear that.
Back to yesterday, I had a quick look at the sea before I left as the tide was right in and there was some serious overtopping going on. Several young children were playing by the sea wall, letting the sea crash down over them. There’s a solid sea wall at Hornsea which I’m imagining made the adults feel ‘safe’ that their children/grandchildren wouldn’t be pulled into the sea, but the sea is powerful and should be respected. While it perhaps wasn’t quite strong enough to pull someone in over the wall yesterday, it could do on another wilder day. And the water isn’t the only risk. When the sea crashes against the wall, it frequently hurls debris onto the promenade. A small child of maybe age three or four was dressed in an all-in-one waterproof and his parents or grandparents were allowing him to get drenched. Fun right? Yes, but extremely dangerous! A man standing nearby where the sea wasn’t crashing over had to warn them that the child needed to stop playing because an enormous stone had just been thrown over. Thankfully the adults heeded his advice and took the child away but this could so easily have ended in disaster. If that stone (and we are talking a huge one here) had struck the child on his head, he might have been badly injured or even killed. Why do people take such chances with the sea? Yes, it’s amazing watching it crashing over the walls … but from a safe distance. No amount of play or photo opportunities are worth that dice with death.
And from that serious note, onto something lighter. I have one more festival appearance this year but it’s a virtual one. I’ll be on a Christmas panel on Monday 18th December at 2-3pm GMT. It’s run by Northumberland Libraries and I’m joined by fellow RNA authors Sue Moorcroft and Kiley Dunbar as we talk about our latest Christmas releases. The event is free but participants need a ticket. You can secure one here.
That’s it for my festival appearances. I have nothing lined up for 2024. I haven’t contacted any festival organisers about speaking and don’t plan to do so. If anyone approaches me, I’d think about it as it is lovely meeting readers, but it does take a lot of preparation and time spent travelling is time away from writing and the family, so it’s about finding a balance. I’d be flattered if I was approached, but I’m okay if nobody does as I’ve ticked off that bucket list item several times over this year. A huge thank you to anyone who has come to any of the events I’ve appeared at. I’m so very grateful for your support.
If you’ve read The Start of Something Wonderful, you’ll know it features two main characters – Autumn and Rosie – who have been close friends for twenty-four years after becoming penpals when they were eleven. Until Autumn accepts Rosie’s invitation to stay with her in the Lake District, they’ve never actually met in person.
I didn’t have to go far from home to understand what it’s like to have a longstanding penpal you’ve never met because I ‘met’ my penpal, Liz, when I was fifteen, and we didn’t actually meet in person until I was maybe 28/29.
With busy lives, demanding jobs and the convenience of social media, we don’t write very often now but we have stayed in touch for all these years. We’ve also met in person several times but never for more than half a day. In the summer, Liz stopped off in Scarborough on her way to a family holiday in the Lake District and time flew by. We mooted the idea of meeting up for a weekend and that then grew to our husbands joining us as well as our dog, Ella. We’ve just had that weekend in the Peak District – chosen for being roughly halfway between me in the north and Liz in the south.
We were staying in Bakewell and arrived during Friday afternoon so had a little wander round the town, a drink and a delicious slice of cake in a local pub – The Wheatsheaf – and then booked to go back to the same pub for our evening meal which was also yummy.
There’s a bridge over the river covered in love locks and there was a gorgeous shop selling scented candles, wax melts, natural soaps etc called Willow & Thyme. How fabulous is the autumnal hedgehog display and the needlefelted hare? My bestie, author Sharon Booth, adores hares so I had to take a photo to show her. Made a couple of purchases there.
The following day we went on a walk which Liz’s husband, Ian, had found. It started in the nearby tiny village of Hollinsclough where we had some breakfast in the Chapel Tearooms to gear us up ready for the five-mile circular walk. Check out the sheep looking directly at the camera in that first photo!
The walk was to Chrome Hill which looks a bit like a sleeping dragon, and Parkhouse Hill. You can find a bit more about it here. Our plan was just to climb the Chrome Hill part but we’d see how we did and potentially take in Parkhouse Hill too.
The weather couldn’t have been more ideal. Despite being a week into October, it was warm and bright. A bit of a breeze on the climb kept us nicely cool for a spot of exercise, and the sun only really properly came out on the descent which was great timing as it meant we weren’t melting while climbing.
I’m working on my fitness at the moment and this didn’t look too high or scary, but it was still a fair climb with some parts requiring a scramble. I have little legs (cos I’m only 5 foot 2) so scrambling up hills isn’t very easy or dignified, but I managed it and really enjoyed that part. The descent was hard in parts. It was mainly grassy so not intimidating like the scary slate which had given me the fear when I summited Blencathra in the Lake District over Easter, but it was hard work on the knees. I should have taken my walking poles with me which would have given that bit of extra confidence to walk at a better pace.
As we were on the final descent, there was a discussion about whether we climbed up Parkhouse Hill as well or skipped it and went back to the Chapel Tearooms for cake. Hmm. Mountain or cake? Tricky one! (Yes, I know it’s not really a mountain but mountain or cake sounds better than hill or cake). Anyway, as you probably won’t be surprised to discover, I voted for cake, as did Liz. We were proud of ourselves for our climb but we’d done enough. Ian – who is super fit and amazing at this sort of thing – was keen to continue to Parkhouse Hill so both husbands went on ahead with Ella while Liz and I slowly continued down the slope.
In the photos above, Parkhouse Hill is the one with the very sharp-looking peak.
Ian had gone for a tough scramble climb to the right of Parkhouse Hill and Mark had opted for the steadier grassy slope to the left but, when it rounded a corner, it was ridiculously steep and he decided to call it a day. Ian aka the mountain goat, continued to the summit and was down again in a phenomenally short time. We waited at the bottom and all continued for cake together. As this was a very late lunch, I had a cheese scone followed by chocolate cake, all homemade by the women who ran the cafe and, my goodness, they were amazing. The cheese scone had pumpkin seeds baked in it and roasted ones on the top. I’d never have thought about including them in a cheese scone but they were absolutely delicious.
We were all a bit pooped after that. Well, Ian wasn’t, but the rest of us were and I wasn’t sure I’d manage to get up again once I sat down in the hotel room. All I wanted was to lie on the bed in front of Strictly so we suggested doing our own thing that evening. And I did lie on the bed watching Strictly … and The Wheel … and Blankety Blank while my aching muscles objected with every move! We were staying in a lovely place called Bagshaw Hall which was a short (but steep) walk into Bakewell, so perfectly situated. The rooms were lovely and the beds very comfortable.
Earlier in the week, I’d asked my lovely reader group, Redland’s Readers, if anyone lived in/knew the area well and what they’d recommend. The historic village of Eyam (pronounced Eam like cream) came up a few times so we decided to check it out en route to Chatsworth. I’m so glad we did. What a beautiful and fascinating place.
When the great plague was rife in the mid-1660s, tragically believed to have been brought to the village in infected fleas on clothes shipped from London, the villagers – led by the Rev. William Mompesson and his predecessor Rev. Thomas Stanley – isolated themselves to prevent the plague spreading to other nearby villages and towns. It was an incredibly brave move but the tactic worked as none of the surrounding villages reported any cases of the plague.
Villagers would place coins dipped in vinegar (to sanitise them) in holes cut into a boundary stone outside the village where food and provisions could be dropped off for them. Sadly, Eyam was badly hit with 260 lives out of approx 800 residents lost to the black death. Entire families were wiped out with several cases of just one family member surviving. In one case, this was a three-year-old child. Heart-breaking.
We visited the Eyam Museum which was fascinating (only assistance dogs allowed so Mark and Ella went for a walk) and had a wander round the village where there are lots of plaques explaining the history.
Having been through a global pandemic and lockdown, personal experience made this visit all the more poignant. The volunteer in the museum said that, when schoolchildren visit, they can completely relate to what happened all those centuries ago whereas only a few years back, the idea of a highly contagious disease keeping people in their homes to prevent spreading would have seemed alien.
I highly recommend a visit to both the museum and the village. It doesn’t feel eerie or sad as it’s very much a thriving village with some beautiful properties.
You can read more about the village today here and the history here. There were several fabulous-looking cafes in the village centre. We chose Eyam Tea Rooms and sat outside to have a delicious breakfast.
Our final trip was to Chatsworth. Mark and I have been before but it was pre-pandemic so a few years back. We only bought tickets for the gardens as they are sizeable and there’s so much to see in the whopping 105 acres.
Again, the weather was gorgeous for us – warm with some sunshine. We’d been looking forward to seeing the fabulous cascade fountain but the water had been shut off for a major repair project. Everything else was open though.
The weekend away was perfectly timed for me as it has been a tough couple of months with some big deadlines and a few non-work challenges thrown at us. I just met my latest deadline a couple of days earlier and it was great to go away and be able to completely switch off. Thank you, Liz and Ian, for your great company and to the Peak District for being so kind with the weather.
Have you visited the area before? Perhaps you live there. What are your favourite places? Please do share in the comments.
Big hugs Jessica xx
Photo Credit to Mark Heslington for all the best, most colourful pics. The rest are taken by me!
My amazing publisher, Boldwood Books, are a digital lead publisher. This means that, although my books are available in all formats (digital, print and audio), the print formats are not a big push. The traditional big publisher model is to print off a large run of books which go from warehouses to bookshops and hopefully home with readers. WIth Boldwood’s big emphasis on digital media, they don’t do this. Anyone who would like a print copy can order it from Amazon or any high street or local bookshop, but it will be printed off specifically for that customer – known as POD (Print On Demand) – rather than retrieved from a warehouse. Readers won’t therefore find my books on the shelves of Waterstones, WH Smith or any other non-discount retailer, but you will find them stocked intermittently by The Works.
I love The Works. Yes, they offer books at an extremely low cost, but they work on a low cost, lower volume, sell-them-fast model which is very effective. Lots of readers have discovered my writing through The Works, having taken a relatively inexpensive punt on a low cost book from a writer unknown to them.
I’m really fortunate to have been one of the first Boldwood authors to have been stocked by The Works and have been honoured to have nine titles online and in shops so far. Christmas Miracles at Hedgehog Hollow is my tenth title to go in and can be found online now here and in your local branch of The Works.
I nipped into Scarborough’s branch last week to see if they had their stock in. Not only did they have it in, but they’d almost sold out of it! They usually get about 12 copies at a time but they only had 2 left on the shelf which was very flattering. I signed those two and hopefully they’ll get more stock in really soon as they look really lonely there!
While I was in there, the lovely manager Jamie, mentioned to a customer that I was the author and had just signed them. The customer had already read the whole series and loved my books. How amazing is that? Very special moment for me.
Please excuse my appearance. I’d actually just been to the hairdresser but it was chucking it down so I’m looking somewhat dishevelled with wet hood-squashed hair, no make-up on and wearing my cagoule!
The Works have stocked books 1-4 in the Hedgehog Hollow series and I’m sure they would have stocked book 5 if the timings had worked but book 5 being set at Christmas release has kind of dictated that one going in for this time of year. I have no indication as to whether they will stock Chasing Dreams at Hedgehog Hollow after this to have had them all in, but I doubt they will – probably doesn’t make sense to have book six in then five. Still, five out of six titles is amazing and I’m very honoured.
I love seeing my books out in the wild so if you are in The Works and you spot Christmas Miracles at Hedgehog Hollow, please do snap a shelfie (a photo of it on the shelves) and share it on the socials, tagging me in and letting me know which store it was.
There are another six Boldwood titles in the Christmas campaign so do watch out for these too from Lisa Hobman, Beth Moran, Tracy Baines, Jo Bartlett, Jill Steeples and Ross Greenwood…
I went to Teesside Park last week in the Middlesbrough/Stockton area but there were no hedgehogs there so either the stock hadn’t made it or had already sold through. I think probably the latter as most of the others were in there and the stock appeared to be rapidly depleting so there’s clearly a thirst for the Christmas titles already.
Speaking of hedgehogs, I also visited my Auntie Gwen last week who was the inspiration behind me writing about hedgehog rescue. She’s rescued thousands of hedgehogs over the past 45 years or so and had two hoglets in needing her care. One had been found on its own and brought in inside a poo bag (obviously made so the hedgehog could breathe!) My auntie said there would likely be others and the finders returned and found one more but a thorough search of the undergrowth didn’t find others. Both were wet, cold, hungry and dehydrated so needed heat pads, fluids and food. They thankfully didn’t have any fly strike or ticks but they both had cuts under their front paws as though they’d been trapped in something (metal fencing?) so she’s treating them for the cuts and keeping careful watch to ensure there’s no infection.
She doesn’t usually name them so, as there was a boy and a girl, I decided to call them Samantha and Josh in homage to Hedgehog Hollow. Hedgehogs should have minimal handling – only when cleaning and treating them – but I got a chance to have a quick hold when they were getting their cuts cleansed and was able to see them in their crate afterwards before the settled under the towels.
A huge thank you to our CEO, Amanda Ridout, for championing our books with The Works and having such a great campaign. There are always additional books included in the print run which find their way into other discount bookshops, Post Offices, local supermarkets, garden centres and so on so do also watch out for them in other places and send me a shelfie (or table-y as may be the case!)
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!
Some traditionally-published authors don’t have any say in what the cover of their books look like and it can be a huge source of frustration. I’m very fortunate in that one of the many amazing things about my publisher, Boldwood Books, is that they do ask for my thoughts on the cover. Obviously I’m not an expert and art is not within my toolbox of skills (no idea how I scraped a C in my Art GCSE and no idea why I took it in the first place as I can’t draw!) but it is nice to be asked for my thoughts. I didn’t have any strong feelings for what would go on the cover of The Start of Something Wonderful but I had one request: make it look like the Lake District. I sent over various photos the hubby and I had taken of the area where the book is set – Derwent Water – to give some inspiration.
We also talked about this book looking a little different from my other ones because it’s the first in a new series, it was the first cover to be designed after I hit a million sales, and it was a milestone book, being my twentieth release. By sheer coincidence, I had a brand new cover designer, Lizzie Gardiner, so this was perfect timing for something a little different.
I could not have been more thrilled when the proposed cover came to me for my thoughts. I had a ‘squee!’ moment at the million-copy bestseller banner (still doesn’t feel real!) and the image was absolutely perfect. Not only did it capture the stunning Lake District, but it captured Autumn’s journey perfectly. In my book, there was a part of the story where Autumn mentioned having gone for a walk by the lake, beneath Cat Bells and, inspired by the cover, I tweaked that to turn it into an actual scene where she walks along the wooden jetty and takes in the view, a moment of calm and belonging enveloping her.
A couple of weeks ago, hubby and I went to the Lakes for a weekend, staying at the southern end of Derwent Water (opposite end to Keswick). My mission for the weekend was to recreate the front cover and I’d even taken a reddish-pink hoodie with me (sleeves rolled up) and put on my dark leggings so I could look a little more like Autumn. I didn’t go as far as getting a wig but I think it’s close enough!
There isn’t an exact match for the jetty and fells and it can be a challenge to find a jetty with nobody milling around, but we managed to recreate a jetty one near our hotel. We did a portrait one…
And also a landscape one, getting in more of the view…
My special Boldwood mug wanted to get in on the act too!
We went for a walk further round the lake to see if I could find a jetty which had a fells view which matched the cover a little better. The next one along had a few people on it and it wasn’t quite right but, when we returned, hubby spotted a stone which did so I did the ‘Autumn pose’ on that too.
Again, we did portrait…
And landscape… (and yes, the area around the rock was as squidgy as it looks!)
I think the landscape one on the rock might be my favourite of them all. Which do you like best? (Please don’t say the mug, hee hee!)
Hope you enjoy my recreations of the front cover. If you’d like to watch a short video of me reading out the relevant passage from The Start of Something Wonderful and doing the pose, you can find it on my Jessica Redland Romance Author Facebook page.
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.
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
Easter was quite a while ago now, but I’ve had a couple of back to back deadlines and this is my first opportunity to write the final post about our family holiday in the Lake District. Splitting the post across four has made me really appreciate how much we managed to pack in during that fortnight.
We’re onto the second week now where we didn’t get out and about quite as much because the weather turned and there were several wet days, and also because I had second edits back on my July release, The Start of Something Wonderful, so I needed to do some work.
On Easter Monday we drove to Ullswater – north-east in the Lake District National Park. We started at Pooley Bridge and had a little wander but it was raining on and off so we didn’t stay for long. We moved onto Aira Force – a waterfall I haven’t visited before. It was lovely but some erosion meant one of the best paths for getting to the biggest drop was closed off, which was a shame.
We then travelled to the southern tip of the lake to Glenridding (which sounds to be like it should be in Scotland) which is a small but pretty village. It’s in a really lovely position on the lake with the river Ulls Water running through it, and surrounded by fells, but the photo really doesn’t do it justice on an overcast day.
As hadn’t been as long as expected in any of the places we visited but the cleaner was coming to the holiday cottage late that afternoon (a freshen up and change of bedding/towels with us staying for a fortnight) so we didn’t really want to go back and look like we were watching her work, bless her. We headed back to Keswick but continued south to Grasmere. We’d made it as far as walking into the village when the heavens absolutely opened. Hubby and I hid beneath the trees in the graveyard while the daughter went to get some Grasmere gingerbread. We decided to brave the open, figuring we could move between gift shops, but they were all closing. I don’t know if it was early closing because of the bank holiday or because of the appalling weather so that fettled that and we turned back to the car and went home, very soggy!
The following day, the daughter and I had something very special booked – an alpaca experience at The Lingholm Estate. I’ll talk a lot more about this estate when The Start of Something Wonderful comes out as it has been hugely inspirational for me creating my new setting in that book but, for now, I’ll share a few pics of our walk.
The alpacas are managed by a social enterprise called Alpacaly Ever After which you can find here. We’d paid to go on a private walk round the estate rather than a group walk. I was given Ralph and the daughter had Jebediah and they were both absolutely gorgeous. Ralph was so excited to be out and he made the cutest chirping sound.
If you are in the area, I’d highly recommend taking an alpaca for a walk. They do it elsewhere in the Lakes too, and you can go on more adventurous treks with them such as up Cat Bells. For us, a leisurely walk through the grounds of the estate and by the lake was just perfect.
The guide was incredibly knowledgeable so we learned loads about alpacas and she also took some fabulous photos of us which were then sent to my daughter’s phone by some technical wizardry and I’ve realised she still has them all so must get those from her at some point!
The following day was another experience and, this time, it was hubby’s turn to join me while the daughter stayed in the holiday cottage with our dog, Ella, and revised for her GCSEs.
We woke up to snow! It had come down during the night and looked beautiful on the fells. We’d have loved to stop to take some photos but would have needed to get up earlier to do that. By the time we came back, much of it had melted away.
We’d swapped alpacas for sheep, specifically Herdwick sheep, a hardy breed which thrives on the Lakeland fells. This is run at Yew Tree Farm near Coniston which is another of the farms Beatrix Potter bought and gifted to the National Trust in her will. If you’ve seen Miss Potter, Yew Tree Farm is used inside and out for filming, acting as Hill Top. I hadn’t realised this so I’m going to need to watch Miss Potter yet again (any excuse!) now that I’ve visited it.
We were joined by an older couple and a family of four on this experience which started with a talk about the breed in a barn before moving out to one of the fields on the farm to feed and cuddle them. There were five roaming who we had a stop-off with first.
In the destination field were Herdwicks specially chosen for being friendly and loving being around people. They were so gorgeous. We were asked to sit on the ground (mind the sheep poo!) and they’d come to us and, sure enough, they did!
Aren’t they the most beautiful creatures? Their faces are so beautiful and they look like they’re smiling. The white one with me was called Madge and she got very close! She also had a little munch on the toggles on the zips on my jacket. Apparently she has a fondness for toggles and zips. Thankfully I came away with them all still intact!
I could have spent hours with them but our time was up and the weather was coming in too – more rain! Getting up was a bit of a challenge – little, round authors aren’t designed for getting down on the ground and back up again without help!
You can find out more about Yew Tree Farm here and discover more about/book yourself on a Herdwick Experience here. I’d love to do it again on another visit.
We had one more day in the cottage working then packing, before heading back home. What a lovely fortnight away. We had four seasons in one week, as is often the case in the Lake District, and did lots of things we’ve never done before … but now want to do again!
Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all the photos across the blog posts.
Jessica Redland Author 