My kids might call me the Grinch from time to time. I do not embrace Christmas – until it’s Christmas. To me, that occurs sometime around the 20th of December and lasts until Boxing Day.
I shudder when I see tins of Quality Street in the supermarket at the end of August, despair when the Christmas jingles are played in November. The reason it all ends on Boxing Day (for me) is because that’s the back to work day for those working in pantomimes. Christmas seemed all the more precious when you knew you had to be on the road again on Boxing Day morning. The theatre would be full of families who were in the very best of moods, full of food and fun. A time filled with joy and excitement – and laughter, lots and lots of laughter.
Hopes and Dreams for the Seaside Girls features a pantomime – because when you are working in variety theatre, Christmas is panto time. As this is the second book featuring the Seaside Girls, I already had my cast – I just needed to choose a panto.
I toyed with Cinderella – the most popular panto. I could have the Fairy Godmother give everyone a happy ending. I thought of Babes in the Wood, not a favourite, but it would tie in nicely with evacuees and children being all alone. In the end, I chose Aladdin – it fitted the theme perfectly – war had been declared, and it was the first winter of the blackout. The darkness of life under threat and the light and sparkle of the theatre were the perfect blend. Oh, yes it was! And a magic lamp would light the gloom for my girls.
Christmas in July
I was writing Hopes and Dreams for the Seaside Girls one summer when temperatures soared, much like the one we’re experiencing now. The sweat on my brow was accompanied by the sweat that trickled down my back – this lady did definitely not gently glow. I sat at my keyboard trying to think of cold and frost, of fog and ice. In the end, I just wrote the story and added the details and the winter layers as I began my edits.
And that’s the wonderful thing about the first draft. You don’t have to get it all perfect; you just have to get it written – everything can be polished afterwards. And so I carried on, windows wide open and not a breath of fresh air flowing through them, knowing I had plenty of time to add the wintery feeling. By the time I came to the second draft it was already October and much easier to conjure up images of Christmases past.
When I wrote short stories for women’s magazines, I always kept a small selection of Christmas magazines to hand, saved from the recycling bin once the season was over. Flicking through pages of brightly decorated houses and tables laden with perfectly cooked food propelled me into the right frame of mind. These days I can do the same on the internet. It’s so easy to generate the Christmassy feeling by looking at Instagram feeds and playing carols courtesy of Spotify. Everything is to hand at the click of a few keys.
But, but … the most important place to find Christmas is in your memories, and in your heart. It’s always there, ready to tap into if you simply sit quietly for a while and give yourself the space to remember.
Hopes and Dreams for the Seaside Girls (book 2 in the series)
Will Christmas bring an unexpected reunion?
Frances O’Leary has always dreamed of being a dancer. But after war is declared and the theatres begin to close, Frances and the variety girls must search for work elsewhere.
However, Frances is hiding a secret. As far as her best friend Jessie knows, Frances is a young aunt who adores her niece, Imogen – but what she doesn’t know is that their relationship runs much deeper. Now, with the sweetheart who cruelly abandoned her returning to England, will her secret finally be revealed…?
Available on Amazon, Kobo, and wherever you buy your books
A heartwarming festive saga for fans of Katie Flynn and Elaine Everest.