The one with the two literary festival appearances

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

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.

My session was an ‘Afternoon Tea with a Chapter of Romantic Novelists’. Jeevani Charika (also writing as Rhoda Baxter), Sharon Booth and I were representing contemporary romantic novelists and Val Wood, Sylvia Broady and Rowan Coleman (also writing as Bella Ellis) were representing historicals. We’re all part of the Beverley Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA).

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.

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I went on a lovely weekend to the Peak District

Jessica Redland Author3 Comments

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!

The one where I thank the lovely reviewers on the blog tour for Christmas at the Cat Café and talk about being derailed by the early negative reviews

Jessica Redland Author6 Comments

August and September were a crazy couple of months in our household both writing-wise and personally so I’ve fallen behind on so many things. I’ve been ridiculously late in posting a couple of birthday cards (i.e. on the day of the person’s birthday) and even missed a friend’s birthday completely which is very unlike me as I’m normally completely on the ball with things like that.

One of the writing-related things to fall by the wayside has been the blog tour for Christmas at the Cat Café.I’ve been very slow in thanking bloggers for their posts, haven’t shared everything on Twitter (yes, I know it’s really called X but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it!) and I’m nearly a week behind with my end of tour thank you post. The tour ended on 30th September. Eek!

Better late than never, here’s a huge THANK YOU to all the bloggers/reviewers who took part in the blog tour for Christmas at the Cat Café and Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it.

I was really apprehensive about this blog tour because I received some scarily negative early reviews for this book. Thankfully my fears that I’d written a dud have been unfounded and there has been a lot of love for Castle Street, the cat café, my hero Tabby, and all the cats and kittens. Phew!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m always honest and transparent about the lows of my writing journey as well as the highs, so I’d like to talk about the negative reaction on the early review site.

First thing to put out there is that I don’t like the early review site at all. In my opinion (and it’s an opinion shared by a lot of authors I know), it’s broken. It started off as something really good and positive – an opportunity for bloggers/influencers to get an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of books which they could read for free in exchange for sharing their honest opinions with their following. Hopefully they’d pick books which appealed to them, they’d love what they read, and their reviews would be positive. They’d give authors quotes which could be used in the early promotion and they’d help create a buzz ahead of and around release date because they’d amassed a big following. This is not so much the case anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of genuine site users who do have a strong following on the socials and/or on their own blogs/websites who use the site properly. But there are way too many who completely abuse the system, using it as a way of bagging free books and, scarily, often grabbing books that aren’t within their preferred genre. It’s often obvious from reviews that they’ve not read the blurb because they declare their dislike for things which are spelled out in the blurb as being part of that book. They then give the book a 1 or 2-star review to keep their feedback rating high (they don’t get approved by publishers if it’s low).

There seems to be a culture of skim-reading books to presumably achieve self-set targets on sites such as GoodReads. A case in point of this recently was where a reviewer gave an author friend a 3-star review for her latest release which she had claimed to read in an hour. An hour?! I know there are some very fast readers out there, but that’s ludicrous. Skimming and skipping out chunks is not reading and what on earth is the point in that? You’re not actually getting to know the characters or immersing yourself in the nuances of their unfolding stories.

Anyway, back to the negative reviews for Christmas at the Cat Café, let me explore what they were. 

Complaint #1 – There were cats in it

I don’t know about you, but if I saw a book with seven cats pictured on the front cover, with a title that includes the words ‘cat café’, a blurb full of cat puns and frequent mentions of cats, I’d kind of expect to find cats in the book. And if I really didn’t like cats, it probably wouldn’t be a book I’d choose to read. 

I’ve been stunned by how many early reviewers have given negative reviews because of the cats. A scary number of these negative reviews include the words: I don’t like cats / I’m not a cat-lover / I’m not a cat-person. For example this 3-star one: I’ve loved all of Jessica’s books and whilst I didn’t hate this one it is probably my least favourite. Not sure why. Maybe it was the cat theme, I’m not a cat fan

It turns out there are a lot of people out there who don’t like cats. That’s fine. But if that’s you, then step away from the cat book about cats! It’s not for you!

Which takes me onto the second complaint…

Complaint #2 – There were too many cats in it

As well as the cat-haters, there were reviewers who could have maybe coped with a few cats but not the volume in my book, as demonstrated in this 2-star review: I’m afraid this one wasn’t for me. I like cats but this was over the top – 15 cats! I mean, seriously! 15!

And in this 3-star one: Finally a cat lady story with an ACTUAL cat lady. And I loved all our feline friends, though with 15 cats, I’ll admit even I was on a cat overdose…

Again, if a book is set in a cat café, what did readers expect? One cat asleep in a corner really isn’t going to make fifty customers very happy! A responsible cat café owner will ensure there is a safe space for their cats to go for some peace and quiet away from customers and won’t expect all the cats to be present each day the café is open. This is why Tabby needs 15 cats (it’s actually 16 but one of them is older and was never going to go into the café).

Clearly the early readers complaining about too many cats didn’t get the concept of cat cafés, which takes me onto complaint number three…

Complaint #3 – Cat cafés

Some readers don’t like the setting of a cat café like in this 1-star review: Sorry but did not like this [the book] at all… The concept of a cat café did not sit right either. 

If someone doesn’t like the idea of a cat café, I again cannot understand why they would choose to read a book set in one. Even if somebody mistakenly thinks that ‘cat café’ is just the name of the café and there are no cats in it, the cover and blurb should confirm that’s not the case *sighs*

Complaint #4 – Not enough Christmas

I love writing Christmas books but, as those who’ve read my other ones will know, they don’t always purely focus on Christmas. Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes is the only one of my six Christmas releases which is purely set in December and carries a focus on Christmas throughout the entire book but even that includes lots of other themes and ends with a Christmas wedding … before Christmas Day!

This particular story starts in October and follows Tabby’s journey of opening up the Castle Street Cat Café in the lead-up to Christmas. 

I personally don’t see the need for a Christmas book to be purely about Christmas but, if it’s marketed as a Christmas book (which this is), I would expect there to be plenty of references to Christmas and Christmassy activities. 

There are. 

Christmas is mentioned throughout – 185 times, in fact – and the whole book is about gearing up ready for Christmas. We have scenes putting up the Christmas decorations, planning Christmas-themed baked treats for the café, going Christmas shopping, and the annual Castle Street Christmas lights switch-on ceremony which is magical. Granted, Christmas Day is only a small part of the story near the end, but Christmas does feature throughout.

However, you can’t please all of the people as shown in this 3-star review: Lacked any significant Christmas magic … really the book could have been set at any time of year.

Ouch! 

I personally think there’s a great balance there – 185 mentions of Christmas (and a whole host more where the word ‘Christmas’ doesn’t specifically appear) gives a pretty great flavour of Christmas but, for readers who prefer not to dive into a Christmas book until November/December, there’s enough of this story set before Christmas to dip into it earlier. Best of both worlds!

Complaint #5 – Not enough romance

I’m a British author who writes women’s fiction set in the England. In the UK, women’s fiction falls under the umbrella category of ‘romance’. Illustrated covers like mine can cover a massive range of styles from light-hearted romcom to emotional women’s fiction. I write the latter.

Women’s fiction can be emotional, typically handles some challenging subjects, and is all about the journey that the (usually female) protagonist goes on. All of my books have the big focus on the journey, the setting, the community. There’s a romance in all of my books but it doesn’t necessarily take centre stage because the story is about the protagonist. 

In the USA, romance books are separate to women’s fiction. They are purely about the romance and are probably more aligned with what we’d call category romance in the UK e.g. Mills and Boon books which are strongly focused on the couple from the start. This is often where the problem starts as the early review site is used across both sides of the pond and quite often the reviews criticising the romance do come from US-based readers.

There is a romance in Christmas at the Cat Café. It is a love story. But it’s also a lot more than that because that’s what I write.

The romance in this book is slow-burn but it’s absolutely there and the development of the relationship between the couple progresses across the entire book. But several early reviewers disagreed and here’s some examples of the reviews:

3-star: This is meant to be a romance, and while there are slight romance vibes at the very end of the book, the rest is romance free

3-star: This is also being marketed as a romance when the real hints of the story going that way don’t start until well after the 50% mark. I would have set my expectations differently had I known

2-star: There was nothing to keep me interested. I was reading thinking “where is the romance? I thought this was romance.” I double checked and it is a romance. We don’t see a romance until basically the end. It feels like it is thrown at us

Will just point out that it WAS marketed as women’s fiction, not romance. Will also point out that the romance is there throughout and is slow-burn. I do sometimes wonder if readers are reading the same thing that I wrote because I know it’s there because I put it there!

Complaint #6 – Too much fibromyalgia

This is a story about a chronic pain condition and I’ve been very vocal in identifying this as fibromyalgia. There have been loads of positive reviews from readers with fibro or other chronic pain conditions thanking me for the accuracy of my representation of this and for making them feel visible in literature. There have also been loads of positive reviews from readers who were unfamiliar with this condition and feel they’ve learned a lot, and from those who know someone with the condition and feel they have a better understanding of what their friend/family member is going through as a result of reading Tabby’s story.

But there are plenty who didn’t enjoy this. Here’s just a small selection:

2-star: …feel like I was being taught about fibromyalgia at times

[Yes, you were!]

2-star: I had to drag myself through a lot of it. I found the constant reference to the main characters [sic] fibromyalgia quite draining after a while

3-star: I do think it’s very important that people understand the difficulties experienced by sufferers but felt it took over the story at times

[That was the point. It’s about what it’s like to live with chronic pain!]

3-star: …love Jessica’s books but unfortunately this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me, there was a bit too much about her illness for me and not enough about the cafe and what goes on in one

1-star: Sorry but did not like this at all. I felt the first part of the book was a medical lesson in fibromyalgia which I did not like at all. Really disappointing as I like Jessica Redland

Complaint #7 – I failed them by writing a story they didn’t want to read

That last quote was one of several which effectively told me off for writing a dud! It wasn’t the story they wanted. It wasn’t a repeat of anything I’d written before.

Again, just a small selection…

2-star: I’ve enjoyed a lot of this author’s books but I’m afraid this one wasn’t for me

2-star: I normally love Jessica’s books and was so excited to read this one but…

I do get it. There’s always going to be a book that doesn’t resonate, even with fans, but it still hurts.

Publication day usually brings a combination of excitement, nerves and exhaustion. I’ve done a lot of these now, so the nerves aren’t usually too bad but these negative early reviews made me actually dread publication day for Christmas at the Cat Café. I felt weary and reluctant to check the charts. I opened the blog tour postings with a pre-prepared wince just in case they started with the words, I usually love Jessica’s books, BUT… 

But they didn’t, and I couldn’t be more relieved. 

The frustrating thing is that I love this book. I believe in this book. I am extremely proud of this book. Yes, this book teaches readers about fibromyalgia, but no more than the Hedgehog Hollow series educates readers about the plight of hedgehogs, no more than Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop teaches about chocolate-making, and no more than All You Need is Love explores Parkinson’s and dementia. 

I would argue that ALL books teach something – sometimes major, sometimes minor – and I’m sorry if there are readers out there who would prefer that an invisible illness remains invisible because I don’t regret for a moment that I wrote a book about a character living with this condition.

I actually got really upset on my Facebook Live after publication day when we were talking about how I felt on receiving gorgeous messages from readers who have fibromyalgia about how much it meant to them to see a protagonist with it, presented realistically and sympathetically. This led me onto how much the early negative reviews had upset me – not because they were negative (I can certainly laugh off the comments about not liking cats, not liking this many cats, and even the accusations of no romance or very little Christmas because I know that’s not the case) – but because the comments about not wanting to learn about fibro gave me yet another heart-breaking insight into what it must be like to live with a chronic pain condition. The disinterest of others. The lack of understanding. As if there aren’t enough challenges to face. It all seems so unfair to those fibro warriors out there.

And breathe!

To end on a positive note, it’s nearly three weeks since Christmas at the Cat Café was released and there are 356 reviews/ratings on Amazon, 80% of which are 5-star and 14% of which are 4-star – a very different story to the early review site.

Thanks again to all the amazing bloggers/reviewers on the blog tour and to all those who’ve left lovely reviews or ratings on Amazon, Audible and elsewhere. I’m delighted you’ve loved Tabby’s story. And thank you to all those who’ve sent me messages of gratitude. You’re why I keep writing!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the cat facts and the blog tour quotes I’ve interspersed around my little rant! And I have some good news too. If you haven’t already read Christmas at the Cat Café but you’re a Prime Reading subscriber, it has just gone into the Prime Reading programme today. Woo hoo!

Wishing you a purr-fect end to the week.

Big hugs from the cats and me
Jessica xx

The one where the hedgehogs go into The Works for the 5th time and I met a couple of hoglets

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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!)

Big hedge-hugs
Jessica xx

The one where it’s publication day for Christmas at the Cat Café

Jessica Redland Author5 Comments

Happy publication day to me! Christmas at the Cat Café is OUT TODAY in all formats so thank you to anyone who has pre-ordered any format or bought/borrowed/downloaded it today. So very grateful!

The blog tour starts today and the first couple of reviews in have been gorgeous which is always a relief (especially when I’ve had a lot of negative early reviews on this one – more about that in a future post!) Thank you to all those wonderful bloggers/reviewers taking part and to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it.

I asked our Head of Marketing, Claire Fenby, if she’d design me a logo for the Castle Street Cat Café. Claire is a massive cat lover and has two gorgeous felines of her own – Freyja and Sybil – so this was a dream task for her. How much do I love this?

I’ve already had lots of lovely messages on social media and just adore this photo that blogger and author Karen Hollis sent me of her cat, Socks, who was clearly desperate to dive into the story and meet some new friends. Isn’t Socks gorgeous? Thank you, Karen and Socks. Karen tells me that Socks is convinced that the cat on the bottom right of the cover is her 🙂 Awww.

The publication biscuits have arrived so I’ve just done a quick photo shoot with them. Confession: there might be only three of them left now! Probably should have checked the photos had come out okay before I scoffed any!

Do keep an eye on my author page for content shared across the day including a video and a giveaway of a signed paperback, notebook and coaster. The character is Klaus by Alex Clark Art. How adorable is he? And what a purr-fect name for a cat on a giveaway of a Christmas cat book!

Hope you have a purr-fectly gorgeous day.

Big cat hugs
Jessica xx

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Paperback UK: https://amzn.to/3Rj4gvX

Audible UK: https://adbl.co/46fvO9N

Kindle USA: https://amzn.to/3PETajy

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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 The Secret to Happiness celebrates its 4th birthday

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

Today I’m celebrating a book birthday. It’s four years since The Secret to Happiness was released on 3rd September 2019 but this is an extra special book birthday because The Secret to Happiness was the book which secured me my publishing deal with the amazing Boldwood Books who then went on to find me loads of wonderful readers and help sell over a million copies of my books globally. Eek!

In interviews, authors are often asked ‘What’s your favourite book?’ and this is a really hard question to answer because there are typically different reasons why we love each and every one of our books. I can certainly give a reason for every single one of my books, whether that’s a plot point I particularly loved, a character, a setting, a twist, the journey of self-discovery the protagonist goes on, or because of where I was in my own journey when I wrote it. I do, however, have a handful of extra special books and The Secret to Happiness is one of them.

As you can probably imagine, I love this book because it secured me my publishing deal but there are several other reasons too. It’s the only book I’ve written from three viewpoints so it was more complex to write. It’s the only book of mine written in third person which was also a new challenge for me. And it’s a book with a complex plot interweaving the lives of three women with challenges in their past and present to face up to, along with a few twists and turns.

When I finished writing The Secret to Happiness, I genuinely believed it was my best work and, even though I was feeling very bruised by how unsuccessful I’d been as an indie author, I felt quietly confident that, when I started a round of submissions in the second half of 2018, it would find a publishing home.

It didn’t. Well, not at first anyway. I’d been to the RNA’s conference in July (Romantic Novelists’ Association) and had received some positive feedback from four industry professionals who wanted to see the full manuscript. I came back from the conference buzzing. The buzz of excitement soon became the whimper of tears when, one by one, they – and a couple of other publishers – all rejected the manuscript.

Feedback included:

“[I’m] looking for in-depth emotional stories that can be pitched in a single line [and this book] didn’t quite hit the mark for me.”

“I struggled to empathise with the characters. Rather than being invested in their journeys I felt they lacked the necessary depth and layers. Sadly I just couldn’t find myself getting lost in Alison or Karen’s story as I couldn’t connect with them.”

“Concept wasn’t ‘hooky’ enough to stand out in a very crowded market.”

“While the premise is fun and engaging and original, we just feel the bootcamp idea is not quite right for us… very well written, however, so please don’t let this stop you – you just need a cracking idea and you’ll be on your way.”

Fortunately Boldwood Books thought that this was ‘a cracking idea’ and the bootcamp set-up worked for them. They also thought it did have depth and layers and that they had (and readers would) connected with the characters and get lost in their journeys.

Rejections can be difficult but every editor will see something different in a book and it’s about finding that person who loves what you’re offering. Having the right manuscript landing in the right inbox at the right time requires a lot of stars to align and it can take quite some time to get there.

I’m a great believer in everything happening for a reason and those rejections were absolutely right for me because my publishing home hadn’t even opened for business yet and I can’t imagine a more perfect place for my books than Boldwood Books.

The Secret to Happiness has done me proud in the four years it has been out and I love that it had a brand new cover to celebrate me hitting a million sales earlier this year. It’s still the same concept as the previous cover but it’s more in-line with my other books and looks much fresher.

I wrote a post celebrating three years last year and reported nearly 72,000 copies sold as at end of June 2022. This has risen to just shy of 77,000 in the space of a year so sales have definitely slowed down but it’s still selling.

The sales figures aren’t fully reflective of actual sales as the audiobook version has spent two years in Audible’s Audible Plus programme where members get access to a catalogue of audiobooks for free as part of their subscription. Sales are reported back on a quarterly basis in terms of minutes listened and it would be extremely difficult and unwieldly for Boldwood to try to convert this into units sold because every audiobook in the programme is a different length. We therefore get ‘1 unit’ recorded each quarter for the royalties payment on each audiobook in the Audible Plus programme. Audible halted the programme in August and my titles all came out. I’m waiting for the final breakdown of minutes listened across my six titles for the two years they were in Audible Plus but, based on a previous breakdown I had, my guestimate is that we’re at about 100,000 full listens of The Secret to Happiness through Audible Plus which blows my mind! That means that sales for this book are really more in the region of 177,000. Not too shabby!

Last year, I reported 3,820 ratings/reviews on Amazon UK, 92% of which were positive. At the time of writing, it’s a whopping 6,659 and 93% of those are positive.

I didn’t report it last year so I can’t compare but there are 5,075 reviews on Audible UK. It’s a little harder to comment on a positive rating as listeners can rate overall, performance and story or just overall and I’m too lazy to get my calculator out to work them all out but here’s the graph.

Because this audiobook was free for two years, the figures are likely to be a little skewed against it as lots of listeners would have tried it when it’s not normally their thing and been quite scathing about it when that was proved to be the case. ‘Just as well it was free’ is a comment which appears against several of the 1-star haters! But those averages are still really decent.

So The Secret to Happiness has made lots of readers and listeners happy and it has certainly made this author very happy because it was the book that started my journey towards being a full-time author and hitting a million sales. It was the book which stopped me from walking away from writing. Thank you Alison, Danniella and Karen – my three brave women who found friendship and a whole lot more.

And thank you to you the readers who have read or listened to this story. Thanks for the recommendations to friends and family and for the gorgeous reviews and messages on the socials. Happy 4th birthday to The Secret to Happiness. And thank you to Boldwood for loving it and believing in it and my writing.

If you haven’t already tried it, it’s on a special offer of almost half-price on Audible UK at £5.99 for the whole of September. Another three of my former Audible Plus titles are in this offer at various price points too – Making Wishes at Bay View at £3.99, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms at £5.99 and Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow at £4.99.

It’s currently in Global Prime Reading on Amazon so is free to Prime Readers and it’s also free in Kindle Unlimited, as are all my titles.

Have you read The Secret to Happiness? What did you think of it?

Big birthday hugs
Jessica xx

THE TOP 10 BESTSELLER

Everyone deserves a chance at happiness…

Danniella is running from her past, so when she arrives at the beautiful seaside resort of Whitsborough Bay, the last thing on her mind is making friends. After all, they might find out her secrets…

Alison is fun, caring and doesn’t take herself too seriously. But beneath the front, she is a lost soul, stuck in a terrible relationship, with no family to support her. All she really needs is a friend.

Karen’s romance has taken a back seat to her fitness business. But she doesn’t want to give up on love quite yet. If only those mysterious texts would stop coming through…

When the women meet at their local bootcamp, a deep friendship blossoms. And soon they realise that the secret to happiness is where they least expected to find it…

An uplifting story of friendship and finding the strength to come to terms with the past, from million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland.

What readers are saying about The Secret To Happiness:

‘An emotional but uplifting page turner.The Secret to Happiness is a beautiful story of friendship and love’ Fay Keenan.
‘I loved how realistic and flawed the characters were, no perfect people, just honest characters with real problems.’

‘Easily Jessica Redland’s best novel so far. The amount of heart and depth that has gone into it is astounding.’

‘This is a story that will have you enthralled from the start to the end with its many twists and turns. Jessica has the knack of drawing you into her “heroines”. She always includes some humour in her books but wow, does she know how to bring you to tears as well.’

‘Reading this book is the secret to happiness. Wow!’

‘Loved the characters and didn’t want it to end.’

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!