I don't like being sensible!

I'm afraid it's not much of a post because my ankle decided to act up when I was on a walk on Sunday. In the process, I also twisted my hip, knee and back, but at leastI didn’t fall flat on my face! Best of all, I made it proudly home, and the weather was awful yesterday, so it was no hardship to sit in a comfy chair with my feet up, a mug of Christmas tea in my hand, and a biscuit or two while I directed the Christmas trees being putting up.

This morning (Tuesday), I got out for a walk around the block before I accepted ‘not yet’ and came back indoors. This afternoon I’ll supervise putting the decorations up. My husband and daughter go for roughly the scale of Blackpool Illuminations or some of the gorgeous You Tube videos we’ve been watching. The ones of a Milan shop are so elegant, and we’ve nicked a few ideas on a much, much smaller scale.

I’m also happily writing the 2026 Christmas stories because then they feel right, so it’s a perfect time for the weather to keep me indoors and the rheumatoid arthritis to make me slow down.

It’s also the first Thursday of the month so on top of the usual special offers (99p in the UK, 99c in the US) there are two new books out.

The first one is an Amy Hammond called ‘The Best You Can’. It’s set around Christmas, and so there’s lots of getting ready and celebrating at Swansmere. On top of that, there’s a trip to Windy Bay after someone claims to have been poisoned after a foraging class. Amy’s ashamed of herself for thinking that it makes a nice change for it not to happen at Swansmere, then realises she shouldn’t have tempted fate, and that one of Peter’s young fledglings is in far more trouble than he wants people to realise. That’s ironic, because he’s been doing good, and having bad done unto him, but Peter, Amy and the team are there to help him save the day.

The second book is one of short stories from all my universes, which I'm having a lot of fun linking together, and it’s called ‘Home for the Holidays.’ It seems amazing that that’s the third book of Christmas short stories I’ve done, and that I’m working on the fourth, with a summer collection underway. As always, please let me know if there are any characters you’d like to see more of, because this is where my ‘minor’ characters, who are actually the ones who haven’t yet moved centre stage, get their chances to shine.

Till then, take care, and I’ll see you on Sunday. I’m determined to be recovered enough to be an elf, so I’m breaking the habits of a lifetime and being sensible and practical. I hope you get to have more fun.