Last year I wrote a story for my goddaughter, Holly, who had starred as Mary Lennox in a production of ‘The Secret Garden’ based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnet. She loved the part, so for advent I wrote her a 24 part Christmas story, based on the book and with Mary at its heart. It was a huge amount of fun to write, so I thought this year I would share it.
So, if you’d like to read a longish story, one page for each day of December finishing on Christmas Eve, I’ll be publishing Winter Comes to the Secret Garden here as a fiction advent calendar – for free, no subscription or payment of any kind required. You can follow this blog for updates, and I’ll also be publishing the links on my author page over on Facebook, so if you’re not already following it, please do. And do tell anyone you think might enjoy it!
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Holly as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, photo from Billingham Players.
It’s got to be Bolognese. It’s the only meal both boys will eat without one of them complaining.
1lb of mince
1 tbspn of Olive oil (take label off bottle first, so that Oliver and Harry won’t see the word ‘olive’ written on it and refuse to eat the Bolognese.)
1 tin of tomatoes
1 onion, cut up small enough that Oliver won’t notice there’s onion in this.
2 carrots, grated, so that Harry won’t notice there’s carrot in this.
1 tbspn. of red pesto
1 tbspn soy sauce (Matt mixed up the bottles of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce in Amy’s kitchen, and because both boys said it tasted better, now there is always soy sauce in the Bolognese).
Oregano, Basil and Parsley. If Amy’s cooking, they’ll probably be fresh herbs from the pots on her windowsill. If it’s Matt’s kitchen, they’ll be dried.
A squirt of ketchup because of a long and tedious argument last year about what constitutes ‘tomato sauce’. Turned out that the easiest thing to do to stop Harry arguing about it was just to put a bit of ketchup into the Bolognese and say There, that’s proper tomato sauce now, isn’t it?
4 helpings of pasta shapes. Don’t ever cook spaghetti Bolognese for Oliver and Harry using actual spaghetti, or it’ll end up all over their faces, clothes and the table.
In a big pan, fry the onion and carrot, hopefully before either of the boys comes into the kitchen to ask what’s for tea? and sees the vegetables. Then add the mince, and once the mince is browned, the tin of tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are in the pan they won’t notice the onion and carrot hiding in the sauce and it’s safe to let the boys see the pan. Once it’s bubbling, add the pesto, soy sauce and ketchup. Make sure the boys do see the ketchup and soy sauce going in as they’re the best bits and you can’t ever leave them out. Now cook the pasta while the big pan is simmering, and steam some broccoli to accompany it. Both boys will probably try and hide the broccoli, so remove from the room all plants and bunches of flowers that could conceal a piece of broccoli.
Be prepared to answer the question is it time for tea yet? at least four times. The answer, should you be in any doubt, is nearly. Once tea is ready, be prepared for the boys to race through it and be finished before you’ve even raised a fork to your mouth. Make sure that the answer to what’s for pudding? is either yoghurt or chocolate mousse. Under no circumstances suggest a piece of fruit.
Congratulations! Tea is over, and now there’s just the washing up to do …
Last week was frantic for two reasons – firstly I went to London to visit my son (I haven’t seen him since June, so this was a long-awaited trip!) and secondly I was on a blog tour for the publication of ‘Winter Snowfall …’ If you don’t know about blog tours, this is where you ‘visit’ several different book blogs/bookstagrammers accounts during a week, and they either read and review or post content that the author provides. I’m always apprehensive about blog tours – what if everybody hates the book and all the reviews are awful?
At King’s Cross station, combining the virtual blog tour and the real visit to London
Blog tours can also be very illuminating – if everybody comments on the same thing, you know you are doing it right – or wrong. So, what did my reviewers and early readers tend to agree on?
One thing came through resoundingly. Harry and Oliver, Amy and Matt’s sons, were almost universally popular. I had thought about cutting down their parts in the next novel because I thought people might get a bit bored of their high-jinks, but now … Harry and Oliver possibly need their OWN novel!
I had hesitated over a rather sad moment in the book (I won’t say what it is as this might spoil the book for anyone who wants to read it) – I wasn’t sure if this would be too much for a Christmas novel. Enough people have told me that they were touched by it to make me think that I made the right decision in putting it at the heart of the story. Although I love everything about Christmas novels I like them to have something more thought-provoking than simply tinsel and hot chocolate. So I was relieved to hear that other people thought the same way as I do.
Several people told me that they didn’t like the character of Diane. Now, this was the point, because Diane is not a likeable person. However when I was writing about her, the story developed as I wrote – it wasn’t planned. Diane was one of those characters who leaps off the page, grabs the pen and starts to write her own story. She was an absolute joy to write about, and I’m quite glad that people didn’t like her!
A couple of people also said that Amy and Matt were a bit annoying too. I like all my characters to have flaws, and both Amy and Matt have their issues, and communicating is a problem for both of them. Yes, the story could have been less tense if they’d communicated better from the start – with each other and with Diane – but then they wouldn’t have had to learn about the importance of being honest with each other and there would’ve been no story!
I’m more than happy with the early responses of readers and reviewers – a novel that for a lot of last year had become a millstone around my neck now becomes a gleam of festive brightness!
Here is my diary of the most glitzy and rewarding day in an author’s year – publication day, which was yesterday.
7.00 am. My alarm goes off. I award myself a 30 minute lie in as a reward for publishing my book.
7.30 am. I get up. Look at my ‘to-do’ list and immediately regret the lie in.
7.30-9.00 am. Laundry. Dishwasher. Breakfast (a celebratory bowl of granola with cranberries. Very festive). Put away yesterday’s laundry. Sort more laundry. Realise that I can’t possibly get all the remaining 3 loads of washing done today. Sigh.
9.00 am. Open Canva. Lots of posts to create for today (even though I did some of them yesterday, I reckon I’ll be needing about 12 different graphics for today). Then try and take photos of my competition prize. Even the best one looks a bit wonky. Never mind!
9.30 am. Off to the post office with some very special parcels to post! Then another load of laundry for the washing line.
10.00 am. Scheduling the posts for the rest of the day (with a break for Popmaster at 10.30 obvs.)
11.50 am. All the posts are scheduled. Make sure my daughter is awake for her job interview.
12.00 noon. Look at my ‘to do’ list. Realise that I’m not even half way through and it’s nearly lunchtime. Check my position on Amazon. Find that I am a resounding number 229 in the ‘Parenting and Family Humour’ category, which wasn’t quite where I was expecting to find my romantic womens’ fiction novel …
1.00 pm. Nudge daughter to leave the house. Lunch. Reply to comments on all the posts which I posted this morning. Check Amazon again. Realise I am at number 8 in the ‘Parenting and Family Humour’ hot new releases chart and therefore have AN ORANGE FLAG. Squeak with excitement. I’ve never had an orange flag before – but then I’ve usually been in much more competitive categories.
2.00 pm. Tea with next door neighbour who doesn’t know that I write books. It’s quite refreshing after a morning of thinking of nothing but writing books. Daughter appears and her job interview went well. We won’t know if she’s got the job for a while, but she’s more positive than after the last one. Some things are more important than books.
3.30 pm. Check ‘to do’ list. Cross off a couple of items. As we’re off to Watford tomorrow for an away match, I put my other hat on (the ‘Up the Boro’ one) and sort out food, clothes, charge headphones and make sure I’ve got some change for the golden goal draw on the coach. Lose ‘to do’ list. Spend at least ten minutes hunting for it.
4.00 pm. Check ‘to do’ list again. Panic. I haven’t done ANY of the housework – no dusting, no cleaning out the fire, no washing the windows. Sigh and decide to leave all that for another day. Fetch the washing in. It’s dry!
4.30 pm. Put the oven on so that we can have an early tea and get ready to go out – we’re off to the theatre tonight. It wasn’t originally planned for a publication day celebration, but why not? Check Amazon again. I’m now number 2 (number TWO!) in hot new releases – Parenting and family humour and number 55 in parenting and family history bestsellers – I’m on the same page as Milly Johnson! (Okay, her book has been out for months, if not years, but even so …) Those of you who share my obsession with Come From Away have to imagine I’ve said that like Janice says ‘Oprah Winfrey!’. Those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a good thing. I’m no longer worried about being in the wrong category.
5.30 pm: At least being all dressed up for the theatre means that I can pose with my book in my best clothes and some make up!
6.00 pm: Remember to post competition before heading off to the theatre. Have a final look at my housework ‘to-do’ list. Move most of it to Monday!
As today is publication day for ‘Winter Snowfall at Elder Fell Farm’ I’d like to introduce you to the characters. Or rather, I’ll let them introduce themselves!
Matt: I’m Matt. I’m Oliver’s dad, and also Amy’s partner. All I really want is a quiet life and for my lad to be happy. He’s had such a lot of problems in the last few years, after his mum died, and I just want to make things easier for him. If that means sacrificing my own peace of mind so that he can be happy then that’s what I’ll do. Amy will understand. Amy always understands, that’s why I love her so much.
Amy: I was very unhappy before I met Matt. Everything seemed to be going wrong – first my marriage disintegrated and then my mam died. James, my ex, always said I was too soft and I was starting to believe him. But my son Harry kept me going – even though he can be a bit naughty sometimes, he always makes me smile. But meeting Matt made me feel as if life could be good again. He gives me the strength to be myself knowing that he’s got my back.
Harry: I am very nearly nine years old and I’m the best at sports in this house. I can run the fastest of everyone. Oliver is my best friend, though sometimes he can be dead annoying, especially when he doesn’t want to play. I love stories, though I don’t like reading them. Mam reads the best stories, and Matt’s quite good too. I liked the Titty book which we read on holiday last year. Dad thought it was something rude, but it’s not, it’s just about a girl called Titty who sails boats and has adventures. That’s the best thing about the Lake District, having adventures. I hope me and Olly are going to have some adventures this time!
Oliver: I am nearly ten years old because my birthday is in November and Harry’s is in May so he’s nearly a WHOLE YEAR younger than me, really, even though we’re in the same class at school. I’m the best student in our whole class and sometimes I help Harry, but not if he’s being irritating. I think Harry benefits from having me around to set a good example of how to behave. That’s what all the teachers say. I’m looking forward to Christmas because I’ve got the lead part in the school play. I’m going to be The Elf that saved Christmas, and I’m really excited – and a bit scared too. Perhaps Harry’ll help me because he’s not scared of anything.
Diane: I am Oliver’s grandmother, Diane. His mother, Stella, was my daughter. Since she died … well, never mind that. I like to keep positive. God moves in mysterious ways, as they say. Oliver has been my whole world since Stella .. since she … I’m very fond of him. And Matt has been a very good son-in-law, and I feel a certain responsibility for him. He’s vulnerable, you see, a grieving widower, he’d be the ideal target for the wrong sort of woman. I just want to make sure that Oliver isn’t hurt any more, if anything happened to him I’d …
Peter: The farm has been in my family for generations, but I’ll be the last of the Thompsons at Elder Fell. An only son, I never married. Never cared to, not since I lost Jen, Amy’s mam, the only woman I ever loved. I asked her to marry me, but she said no. Of course, I understood it. She didn’t feel she could move to Elderthwaite, didn’t feel it would be fair on her daughter. I’m a sheep farmer, first and last, I could never be owt else. Hefted to the land, that’s me, like my dad before me, and his dad before him.
Liz Taylorson 