Monday 22 December 2014

Christmas Magic

Tucked away in the Devon countryside is Killerton House – a gem of the National Trust – and at this time of year it is one of my favourite places to visit.

Every year in December they deck out the house for Christmas, tinsel and Christmas trees, baubles and lights. It’s a chance to be transported back in time to Christmases a hundred years ago, and it’s lovely.

This year the house was decorated to the theme of the Nutcracker, we had the land of sweets and a Russian and a Chinese room to stroll through. In the Russian room the tree was festooned with spoons. In the Chinese Room there was a large red dragon on the ceiling, and when you went upstairs you walked between wintery branches and silver lights. It was like walking into Narnia – and there was even a wardrobe that you could go through to get there.

But by far the best part was the roaring fire that greeted you when you first went into the house, seats set out for the visitors to sit on and soak up the warmth and admire the decorations, and, in the corner, around the piano, was a choir singing Christmas songs. Their voices swelled and filled the room and everyone gathered around the fire to watch and listen.

And even when the music stopped and the other people wandered off to explore the house, we sat on, by the fire, watching the glowing embers and wondering what sort of a Christmas the people who once lived here must have enjoyed.

Outside the rain was lashing and it was windy and bleak, brown fields, grey skies. But here in the warmth was a little piece of Christmas magic.

Thursday 11 December 2014

Books for Christmas

The festive season is upon us and for many this is a time for giving – and of course – what better to give than a book! Books really do make wonderful presents! So in order to help you make up your mind I would like to make a number of recommendations.

I’ll start by introducing you to my fellow Dorset authors, the Littoralis. We write in a variety of genres.

If you like romance then I suggest you check out Laura James’s books. Follow Me Follow You is her most recent.

For a charming fantasy inspired by the Isle of Portland then look no further than Kathy Sharp’s Isle of Larus and the sequel, Sea of Clouds.

For children’s books you won’t go wrong with Carol Hunt’s Portland Chronicles. There are four books in this series, the first being The Portland Sea Dragon.

But I won’t stop there. There’s one more recommendation I have to make – Bone Jack by Sara Crowe is a superb book – aimed at the Young Adult Market – but adults will enjoy it just as much – I know I did.


I could go on – but maybe you have some recommendations you would like to add?