PublicationDay FLORA’S CHRISTMAS OF NEW BEGINNINGS by KIRSTY FERRY #BookExtract @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry

Greetings!! Happy Tuesday one and all!! And I have a real treat for you today, with an exclusive extract to share from FLORA’S CHRISTMAS OF NEW BEGINNINGS by the lovely KIRSTY FERRY, which is celebrating PUBLICATION DAY today!!!  Go grab your copy now!!!

Publication Day Extract: Flora’s Christmas of New Beginnings by Kirsty Ferry

To celebrate the release of Kirsty Ferry’s fun and festive Christmas novel, Flora’s Christmas of New Beginnings, here is an exclusive extract from the book!

In this short excerpt, we join Flora for ‘her Christmas that Never Was’ – but is Flora destined for bad Christmases forever more? Hopefully not! Have a read and see …

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Last Christmas

(Which was horrible and turned into the Christmas that Never Was)

I hated January!

I hated London!

And I definitely hated Carter “dump-your-girlfriend-at-Christmas” Hayton-Smith.

Because, dear reader, I was that girlfriend.

Carter “dump-your-girlfriend-at-Christmas” Hayton-Smith (okay, let’s just call him Carter from now on) did the deed on Christmas Eve.

Bloody Christmas Eve.

I had wondered, I must say, as the days wore on, where my Christmas present was. I’d given him his so it wasn’t like I was being selfish; more just curious, as we’d originally intended to exchange them at the same time.

I started thinking that perhaps he just wasn’t as super-organised as I was, on the basis that, for days after I’d given him his gift, he kept saying stuff like, ‘Oh Flora, I’ll get around to it. I’ve just been … busy.’ Then he’d smile at me and try to distract me by snogging me or similar.

We’d arranged to spend Christmas together and everything. He’d booked lunch at a restaurant in Mayfair (he said), and apparently the destination was going to be a big surprise. I’d always had my Christmas lunch at home, or with my parents, and, if I was very honest

with myself, I didn’t feel I was really a “Hotel Christmas Lunch” sort of person. But he made it sound really exciting and fun and easy, so I agreed.

Due to this plan, my parents decided to have Christmas at the other end of the country – my sister Beth lives in a tiny village in the Lake District with her partner and two small children – and they checked and double-checked that it was okay to go.

‘Beth said she’ll come to us,’ Mum had said, looking super-concerned, ‘but if you’re definitely going to have Christmas with Carter, we’ll go there. It’s better for the children if they think Santa is coming to their own house. Routine and all that.’ Mum was a great one for “routine”, and it had obviously ingrained itself into her daughters. I worked in events management at Bloomsbury Bright’s in, well, Bloomsbury, obviously, and that involved a lot of organisation and planning; and Beth was a teacher, so she spent weekdays herding small children, and evenings and weekends herding even smaller children. I didn’t know how she managed. Her house ran like clockwork and I was sure that Trixie and Tabitha would have been perfectly compliant if Beth and Tony had decided to drive to Pinner and ensure Santa showed up there instead.

I’d always failed to see why she’d given her children the same names as the cats we’d had when we were kids though.

But, anyway, off to the Lakes they went on the 23rd, and I promised I’d send them a photo of my lovely Christmas lunch.

Then on the morning of Christmas Eve, I woke up to a text from Carter:

Babes. Been thinking. Getting too serious for me, y’all know I’m scared of commitment lol lol lol. Christmas Day together, man, just seems kinda – intense. You know? Gonna cut you loose, so you can have fun with the fam-a-lam tomoz instead. Don’t feel bad about it, we had fun, yeah? The swimming and the waxworks. Oh and the theatre. Awesome.

So yeah. Not you, it’s me lol lol. Cancelled lunch, so don’t stress over it. Love n light n peace. Thanks for the last few months. Been fun. Xxx

‘What the … what the absolute …!’ I screamed into the empty bedroom. Three mentions of “fun” in one bloody text and I was currently failing to see what had been “fun” at all, in retrospect. Yes, we’d been to the water park at London Royal Docks and he’d zoomed off swimming and left me trailing behind. Yes, we’d done Madame Tussaud’s and I’d been scared witless in the Chamber of Horrors, but he’d “had to get up early the next day” so wouldn’t stay over and I spent the night a gibbering wreck with the lights on in the lounge binge-watching comedy movies. And he’d fallen asleep in Les Mis, which was certainly a talent few can claim to own.

I was aware that he had a very punchy sort of job in finance; I’d always known he would be working long hours and that was fine. He constantly seemed to move at a million miles per hour and treated everything as a joke, just a bit of light relief. We’d only been together six months and I thought it seemed a bit wild arranging something so, well, intimate for Christmas Day. But I was happy to go along with it, all caught up in the new relationship and thinking that it was one day we wouldn’t have to rush through for once; that we could enjoy a lazy morning and a lovely lunch and a cosy afternoon.

But I was wrong.

By then, Mum and Dad were at Beth’s – I had told Carter that was happening, which made his text even more thoughtless – and even as I phoned Mum in desperation, thinking I could maybe drive all the way up there, deep down I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

‘Oh darling,’ said Mum. ‘We’ve got blizzards up here, and they’ve got a weather warning up for today and tonight. We’re basically snowed in and being advised not to drive. It’s supposed to ease off tomorrow…?’ There was a little note of hope in her voice, a tiny query in the word “tomorrow”, but I was already shaking my head, tears dripping off the end

of my nose by that point. I realised I’d have to speak eventually because we were on the phone and she couldn’t see me. But that was maybe a good thing because I’d always been an ugly crier.

‘No, Mum. It’s okay,’ I managed. ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s only one day.’

‘Sweetheart. Are there any friends you can spend it with? I’m so sorry we’re up here.’

‘I’ll find someone. It’s fine.’

‘If you’re sure.’

‘I’m sure.’

But obviously it wasn’t fine, and I didn’t even try to call any friends. Most of them were spending Christmas Day with their families and, of course, I didn’t want to gate-crash.

In the end, I lied. I told Mum I’d spent the day with my colleague Claudia, because her partner, Dieter, was a doctor and had to work, so she’d be on her own too. Claudia was a person far enough removed that they were highly unlikely to meet her, they weren’t friends with her parents, and they basically didn’t know her at all. After Christmas, I told Claudia to uphold that lie if they ever did end up meeting her and explained why. I knew she would do it, bless her.

In reality, that Christmas Day was the most pox-worthy, crappy day I have ever spent in my entire life. It may only have been one day, but the TV adverts don’t let you think that. They always fill the screen with happy people and families around a massive turkey on a table. I cried every time an advert came on with a mum and a dad and a child. Which is stupid because I’m twenty-eight!

I had a going-out-of-date microwave chicken curry for lunch which I’d bought at the corner shop on Christmas Eve, ate an entire Christmas pudding for tea and drank a bottle of prosecco for supper, just to try and make myself sleep.

I told Mum I’d “forgotten” my phone when I went to Claudia’s, so that was why I had no photos of the lunch or the super-fun day we’d had playing Pictionary and singing along to musicals on TV, etc, and that was also why I only FaceTimed them at 8 p.m.

She held the phone up to the window of Beth’s house so I could see the thick covering of snow, almost like she thought I might not believe her about the weather, but the worst part was seeing my dad with his paper hat on and Tabitha curled up asleep in the crook of his arm.

I so wanted to be there with them.

And thus Christmas Day passed, eventually, and thankfully I went to bed, fell asleep and shut the door on that awful day.

It was a crying shame because I loved Christmas, normally – but that one went down in my memory bank as the “Christmas that Never Was”.

And then we were into January, which I always hated anyway, because it’s grey and miserable – and who’s a size four, to grab bargains in the sales?

So now you can probably understand why I particularly hated last January. I was still getting over the awful Christmas; still getting over – and getting enraged on a regular basis about – Carter.

But when I met Paul Tanner at an event the following month, I thought that at least it had to mean that February was going to be much better than January!

🎄🎄🎄

About the author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

FOLLOW THE AUTHOR……

www.twitter.com/kirsty_ferry 

https://www.facebook.com/kirsty.ferry.author/

 Kirsty’s website: www.rosethornpress.co.uk

 Kirsty’s blog: www.rosethornramblings.wordpress.com

About the book:

It was meant to be a romantic Christmas getaway …

Except Flora’s boyfriend Paul is more interested in whether there’s WiFi in their holiday cottage than he is in the pretty village of Padcock where it’s located. It seems he’s incapable of taking time out from his work for gossip mag darling Maxine Marling – or Maxine Marmoset as Flora not so secretly calls her (well, she does look like a marmoset!) – to spend time with his actual girlfriend.

But as Flora discovers the friendly and festive community of Padcock with its eccentric but lovable locals – including dreamy musician Geraint Davies – she begins to question her London life and lots more besides. Especially as a certain marmoset becomes ever more present on her Christmas break for two …

But luckily Padcock is a village where fresh starts happen – and maybe Flora is in line for her own Christmas of new beginnings.

 Buying links: 

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3VFmG9P

 Kobo: https://bit.ly/3CFI4mI 

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3P58DWu

 Nook: https://bit.ly/3vGxOaW

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#GuestPost Edie’s Summer of New Beginnings by Kirsty Ferry @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry #Excerpt #PublicationDay

Excited to be with you today to share an exclusive excerpt from the fabulous Kirsty Ferry, to help celebrate Publication Day for EDIE’S SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS!! Go grab your copy ASAP!!

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Release Day Extract: Edie’s Summer of New Beginnings by Kirsty Ferry

Edie’s Summer of New Beginnings is the wonderful and quirky new romcom from Kirsty Ferry – a book that’s bound to put a smile on your face this summer! To celebrate publication day, we thought we’d introduce you to Edie and her world on Karen’s blog this morning. But who is Ninian Chambers, and how is he about to shake up Edie’s idyllic village existence?………..

The village I lived in was quite a small one. In a small village, of course, your business is everybody’s business. And that was why everyone in Padcock’s tiny corner shop stopped and went ‘Ooooh!’ when Sally announced a certain piece of staggering information …

‘A film crew is coming to Padcock Court in the summer!’

‘Oooh,’ I said, joining in and edging closer to the counter to listen a little better as Lilian commented, ‘Ooooh. But however will Mrs Pom-pom stand that? Won’t she set her hounds on them?’

Mrs Pom-pom wore hats that looked like tea cosies all year round and shouted at a people a lot. She especially liked shouting at people who walked past her gate too closely, and definitely liked shouting at cars. Her real name was Mrs Pomeroy, but, well, her hat choices informed her nickname.

Mrs Pom-pom’s hounds were two great big Labradors, who always stared at her and drooled whilst she shouted.

‘Get them! Get them, boys!’ she’d screeched when my friend Cerys and I had rolled back from the pub one evening and had the audacity to do snorty giggles when we passed Padcock Court.

‘Arf!’ went Arfur, and lay down.

‘Umph!’ went Umbert, and also lay down.

Fortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Cerys and I survived the attack.

‘I don’t know,’ said Sally, back on the subject of the film crew. ‘Perhaps she’ll be a bit more flexible if it’s going to make them some money.’

Everyone nodded sagely. Money was definitely something Mrs Pom-pom needed in shedloads. Padcock Court looked impressive – an ancient familial manor house in our picture-perfect village – but beyond the white plaster and dark wood beams, roofs dripped, ceilings were bowed and windows rattled as the wind came rushing down the lea to hit the back of the house.

I knew this because when I was little, and my granny still lived in Padcock – before I inherited her house – she had been quite friendly with Mrs Pom-pom, who wasn’t quite so shouty in those days. Although even back then she’d owned a series of impressive tea cosy hats.

I’d always spent most of my life shuttling back and forth between Padcock and wherever I found myself next. My mum, Bridget, had me when she was very young and sent me to boarding school as soon as she could. She was never hands on, and my gran basically brought me up.

Gran’s heyday had been in the sixties. She had loads of stories about that time, but had never had a husband. I had no idea who my grandfather was, just as I never knew who my father was. I’m not sure if my mum ever knew either. It probably wasn’t surprising, really, that my personal style was like I’d been spewed out of the sixties and dumped into the twenty-first century, what with Gran’s influence in my life. For some reason, the thought of that era made me feel happy and secure, and I’d clearly absorbed more of Gran’s history than even she thought possible.

It was no wonder I’d started dressing like one of Andy Warhol’s muses in my rebellious teens, when all I was bothered about at my expensive school was bunking off any class that wasn’t art. My style was simple yet effective – black mini skirt, black polo neck, chandelier earrings and boots. My hair, naturally quite a dark brown, was chin length and bleached, and I usually wore it in a ponytail. I got some odd looks in Padcock initially as I grew up and developed my own style, but they soon just accepted me as “That Weird Artist Girl From London”.

I’ve always loved Padcock. Padcock suited my gran and it suited me for the moment – although the village was undoubtedly a bit of a tourist trap. So many films and TV series had been filmed in this sleepy little place in the South Downs, that hearing Mrs Pom-pom had a camera crew coming in shouldn’t have been quite so exciting – but then we could all remember the last time someone had come to film anything. It was a gardening programme, and Mrs Pom-pom had yelled at the celebrity gardener and chased him away with the loppers.

‘Edie.’ Sally suddenly addressed me, bringing me back to the present, even as I found myself wondering just exactly how far Mrs Pom-pom had chased that poor celebrity gardener. ‘You’ll be interested in the programme.’ The swivelling of the collective Padcock eyes towards me was almost audible.

‘What! Why?’ I was a little stunned. I’m as interested as any village local each time a new film crew rocks up. We once had a celebrity bingo thing going on in the pub. Lovely Sam, the barman and owner of the Spatchcock Inn, kept the official list of “things to spot” behind the bar and we’d whisper to him when we heard or saw anything relevant – for example, a film star furtively smoking behind the back of a building, or an actor having a tantrum about something and being ushered away to be soothed by the member of the production team.

‘Because, Edie, this film crew are doing a painting challenge.’ Sally leaned back in her seat behind the counter and folded her arms.

‘And…?’ I failed to make the connection.

‘And you could take part in it.’

‘I could not!’

‘You could. You paint. You draw things. You do art.’

‘Well … yes.’ I felt the colour rise in my cheeks. I would admit that forty per cent of the “local art” in Eclectically Yours – Cerys’ Craft Shop and Organic Tea Room was of my creation. I worked part-time with Cerys … well, Cerys would say I worked for her, but I would strongly disagree. She was technically my manager, but if she ever had to discipline me, I’m sure she’d just say that she was very “disappointed” in me and then I’d cry.

So yes, some of the artwork in her shop was mine, but that definitely didn’t mean I wanted to participate in a televised competition.

‘But that doesn’t mean I want to participate in a televised competition,’ I tried.

That panicky feeling that had become too much a part of me when I thought about doing anything more exciting art-wise than painting pretty little village scenes for the craft shop thumped against my ribcage. I used to do quite a bit of wild avant-garde art when I lived properly in London. I had a studio and everything, not too far from my Camden Town flat. The flat had been in my family since Mum was a baby, and it had become my base when I left Goldsmiths – the same place where Mary Quant studied – when I decided to pursue a career that embraced my creative side.

But the draw of London and the sense of my art being anything expressive and meaningful at all had shrivelled and died when Gran passed away. I couldn’t find the headspace to do it any more. As a result, I was in no doubt that my work now seemed slightly contained and small.

A bit like I felt – now that I was safely cocooned in Padcock, where the real world couldn’t touch me. I dabbled with perfunctory art for Cerys’ shop. That was it. That was what I felt capable of.

‘But I don’t want to do that sort of stuff. I can’t do that sort of stuff. I won’t do that sort of stuff—’

‘But they want local artists to take part. It says in the bumf.’ Sally looked at me with a dangerous, flinty glint in her eye. ‘Nobody more local than you. Your gran talked about you and your London exhibitions all the time. And—’ Again, everyone in the shop – including me, despite my reservations – leaned forward, agog ‘—there’s a celebrity judge.’

‘Ooooh.’ There was another chorus of awed agogness. ‘Who is it?’

‘Ninian Chambers,’ Sally finished proudly.

‘Noooooo!’ I howled.

Everyone swivelled those eyeballs towards me again, clearly horrified that I was looking and sounding so disgusted about the lauded and generally beloved artist Ninian Chambers.

But I couldn’t help it. That squawky denial had absolutely come from me.

What they didn’t know was that me and Ninian bloody Chambers had one hell of a history.

From: Edie’s Summer of New Beginnings by Kirsty Ferry

© Kirsty Ferry

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Can Edie rediscover her artistic mojo and become a ‘Watercolour Wonder’?

Edie Brinkley went from rising star on the London art scene to hiding out at her gran’s cottage in the little village of Padcock after a series of unfortunate circumstances leave her almost too panicky to pick up a paintbrush.

When celebrity artist Ninian Chambers rocks up in the village to film Watercolour Wonders, a new TV art competition, Edie is horrified – especially as he played no small part in her decision to leave London.

But, with the support of the Padcock community, and one very special fellow contestant, could Ninian’s show ultimately offer a fresh start for Edie and her art career? Or will Annabel the sixties’ style stealer, along with make-up artist Tallulah and her ‘Caravan of Hell’, sabotage her summer of new beginnings?

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Buying links: 

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3ly2s16

 Kobo: https://bit.ly/3z1bStQ 

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3x75XCB 

Nook: https://bit.ly/37pfQjY

About the Author:

 Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more. Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better. Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting. Kirsty writes for both Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction.

Find out more about Kirsty here:

Tweets by kirsty_ferry

https://www.facebook.com/kirsty.ferry.author

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#BookReview IT STARTED WITH A WEDDING by KIRSTY FERRY @ChocLituk

ABOUT THE BOOK

It’s one thing to be asked to plan your sister’s wedding; it’s quite another when your sister is Nessa McCreadie …

Alfie McCreadie wants his twin sister Nessa to have the best wedding ever, but he’s not happy at being roped in as wedding planner – especially as, unbelievably, his main assistant seems to be Nessa’s cat, Schubert. Anyway, Alfie is a scientist. He might know his protons from his neutrons, but what does he know about weddings?

It’s Nessa who points him in the direction of Bea’s Garden, just outside Edinburgh, where he’s tasked with picking a “very-relevant-bouquet”. It’s there he meets Fae Brimham, who might be prettier than any bouquet bloom but doesn’t seem impressed by Alfie’s sensible, scientific side.

But when Nessa and Schubert are involved, surprises are bound to happen and, despite less-than-perfect first impressions, perhaps something new and beautiful can still blossom for Alfie and Fae …

PUBLISHED BY CHOC LIT

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

Schubert is back and this time he’s helping to plan a wedding!! Maybe cats should always be involved with wedding planning if this book is anything to go by! This is part of a series but is easily read as a standalone – once you’ve read about Schubert you’ll want to read more!

This time we get to hear the story of Alfie, who is charged with planning the wedding of his twin sister, Nessa. Way out of his comfort zone, he’s more scientific than romantic, but gets a helping hand from Fae who he meets when he’s helping to choose flowers from Bea’s Garden. Fae is an apothecarist so places huge importance of the meanings and senses behind each flower – very different from Alfie’s approach to life and medicine.

Sparks fly between them instantly and there’s so many co-incidences and moments of deja-vu that you get the sense that the universe is working its’ magic on these two and wants their paths to cross! But will they take the signs and see things through?! Or are there darker arts at work to change their destiny?!

I loved watching the story play out and also loved hearing about the different folklore and meanings about different flowers! It was a lovely, magical and sweet story and Schubert has a wonderful starring role!! As, of course, he rightly deserves!! Brilliant!

★★★★★

#GuestPost IT STARTED WITH A WEDDING by KIRSTY FERRY @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry

Hello! Happy to be handing over the Blog today to the wonderful Kirsty Ferry to celebrate publication day for the fabulous IT STARTED WITH A WEDDING!! Raise those glasses to celebrate and go grab your copy NOW!! 

Over to you Kirsty….

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 It Started with a Wedding by Kirsty Ferry

Welcome to the fifth Schubert book, It Started with a Wedding! It’s actually, I think, the longest one so I hope people enjoy reading it as that’s one of the complaints I usually get – ‘if only it was longer!’ But there was a lot to cram into this one – and as the title might imply, we are building up to a wedding. It’s Nessa’s wedding, and her twin brother Alfie is assigned the task of organising it along with a little help from Schubert the cat.

If you’ve read any of these books, you’ll know that Schubert is a mystical cat, and all the members of Nessa’s family have their own quirks, shall we say. Alfie is in a bit of denial about his quirks, but then he meets Fae and she has her own quirks – so they’re pretty well matched.

The garden Alfie and Fae meet in is called, in the book, Bea’s Garden, and is based on Dilston Physic Garden in Corbridge, Northumberland. Dilston a very special place and has its own atmosphere and mysticism as well. In fact, I was once at a workshop there and someone commented that they could almost hear the plant spirits whispering, which is a beautiful way to look at it. I knew I wanted to set a book somewhere like it, so It Started with a Wedding was perfect. Where else could Alfie get a special collection of flowers for Nessa’s bouquet, and where else could Schubert enjoy a small rampage in a bed of catnip?

The ruined church I ‘borrowed’ for the book, where Nessa has her wedding, was based on a ruined chapel hidden within Egglestone Hall Gardens near Barnard Castle, in County Durham. The earliest tombstone there is dated 1607, but the chapel was closed in 1868. I love this phrase from the website: ‘In many ways it is a spirit echo from the past. It is a part of the garden shrouded with history and tranquility, a small space for meditation, contemplation and reflection. Yet there are voices for those that wish to hear.’

I have started writing a new book, using Bea, the owner of the garden, as my heroine. Originally, I wasn’t going to have Schubert in it – but now I’m not so sure. As I am writing it, I keep finding bits where a big, fat, black cat could easily slink in. I think I need to do some contemplation and reflection myself to see if he really does need to make his presence known … so all I can say to you as readers on that one, is answers on a postcard please! 

💖💖💖

About the book:

It’s one thing to be asked to plan your sister’s wedding; it’s quite another when your sister is Nessa McCreadie …

Alfie McCreadie wants his twin sister Nessa to have the best wedding ever, but he’s not happy at being roped in as wedding planner – especially as, unbelievably, his main assistant seems to be Nessa’s cat, Schubert. Anyway, Alfie is a scientist. He might know his protons from his neutrons, but what does he know about weddings?

It’s Nessa who points him in the direction of Bea’s Garden, just outside Edinburgh, where he’s tasked with picking a “very-relevant-bouquet”. It’s there he meets Fae Brimham, who might be prettier than any bouquet bloom but doesn’t seem impressed by Alfie’s sensible, scientific side.

But when Nessa and Schubert are involved, surprises are bound to happen and, despite less-than-perfect first impressions, perhaps something new and beautiful can still blossom for Alfie and Fae …

Buying links: 

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3L3Svnu 

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3pndWXM 

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3oY3OEt 

Nook: https://bit.ly/3Fn4rxp

About the author: 

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

Find Kirsty: 

on Twitter: @Kirsty_Ferry 

on Facebook: Kirsty Ferry Author 

on her blog: Rosethorn Ramblings

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#GuestPost CHRISTMAS OF NEW BEGINNINGS by KIRSTY FERRY #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @RubyFiction @kirsty_ferry

It’s beginning to feel a lot like … CHRISTMAS!! Hope you’re ready!!  And I’m excited today to be handing over the Blog to the lovely Kirsty Ferry, so she can share some thoughts about her newest book, CHRISTMAS OF NEW BEGINNINGS, on Publication Day!! 
Go grab your copy NOW! And get those festive songs playing!!
Over to you Kirsty..

🎄🎄🎄

RELEASE DAY: Christmas of New Beginnings by Kirsty Ferry

My new book, Christmas of New Beginnings, is new in a couple of ways. It’s the first book in a new series, it’s my first venture into Ruby Fiction, the sister imprint of Choc Lit, and it’s the first romantic comedy I’ve written in first person, entirely from the heroine’s point of view. The heroine in this case is Cerys, who relocates to Padcock, a charming village in the South Downs, and she tells her story over a series of Christmases where we trace her relationship with Sam, the owner of the local pub. We are also introduced to Edie, Cerys’ best friend, who we will meet again in the second book of the series which is due out Summer 2022.

I’d run out of series to write a Christmas book on for this year, as I think I’ve done one for each series now, so I was excited to start something new instead. I wrote the book in the winter lockdowns of 2020 and early 2021, so, as you can imagine, it was sometimes quite difficult to stay upbeat and cheerful while writing; but the good thing was that writing it and escaping to Padcock was a form of self-care and I began to enjoy my forays into Padcock. All the more important, as Christmas 2020 was so disappointing for so many people, I tried to make the Christmases Cerys experienced in Padcock festive and sociable, filled with friends and family. There is no inkling of anything lockdown-related in my book, and deliberately so.

The lovely thing I discovered about writing in first person point of view is that you can really get into the mind of the character and explore all their quirks, flaws and strengths. You can also create an “unreliable narrator”, which is maybe a bit literary and a bit clever for me, but the fun thing with the first person point of view process is that the readers experience everything through the eyes of the narrator and hopefully cheer them on, flaws and all!

I really enjoyed creating the village of Padcock. In my head, as I was writing, I was walking around the streets and knew exactly where everything was and had a real sense of the place. Padcock is very loosely based on Lacock, in Wiltshire. Lacock village is more or less owned by the National Trust and used a location for many television programmes and films. It also has a wonderful stately home called Lacock Abbey which was the home of Henry Fox Talbot who was a photography pioneer. There is a really interesting museum of photography there, and if you, like me, are interested in vintage photos, it’s well worth a visit.

I do hope you enjoy our first visit to Padcock in Christmas of New Beginnings – and that you’ll come back and visit Padcock again next year!

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Not all festive wishes come true right away – sometimes it takes five Christmases …

Folk singer Cerys Davies left Wales for the South Downs village of Padcock at Christmas, desperate for a new beginning. And she ends up having plenty of those: opening a new craft shop-tea room, helping set up the village’s first festive craft fair, and, of course, falling desperately in love with Lovely Sam, the owner of the local pub. It’s just too bad he’s firmly in the clutches of Awful Belinda …

Perhaps Cerys has to learn that some new beginnings take a while to … well, begin! But with a bit of patience, some mild espionage, a generous sprinkling of festive magic and a flock of pub-crashing sheep, could her fifth Christmas in Padcock lead to her best new beginning yet?

Buying links: 

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-New-Beginnings-warming-uplifting-ebook/dp/B09G38ZTV3/

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/christmas-of-new-beginnings/id1586450033

 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/christmas-of-new-beginnings

 Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-of-new-beginnings-kirsty-ferry/1140157522

About the author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

Kirsty writes for both Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction.

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#GuestPost SUMMER’S SECRET MARIGOLD by KIRSTY FERRY #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry

Always a delight to hand over the Blog to the lovely Kirsty Ferry! And today she’s celebrating the publication day of SUMMER’S SECRET MARIGOLD!!! Another must read from the Cornish secrets series!! Enjoy!!

Over to you Kirsty……

Release Day: Summer’s Secret Marigold by Kirsty Ferry

Summer’s Secret Marigold is the fourth book in my dual timeline/timeslip Cornish Secrets series, which is based at the fictional Pencradoc Arts Centre in Cornwall. In this book, readers who have enjoyed the previous stories may be happy to know that we have finally reached Lady Elsie Pencradoc’s story with the historical thread, and are focusing on Sybill and Coren’s story in the contemporary timeline. Sybill and Coren have been attracted to each other from Book 1, A Secret Rose, but they’ve never managed to do anything about it – so hopefully this story will tie up a few loose ends for people when they read it!

The ‘grown-up’ Elsie was a brilliant character to get to know – when I wrote the book I was really thinking ‘what would upset Society the most in a young lady from 1911?’. So, I basically made Elsie into as much of a rebel as I could. She works, as well as carving out a career as an artist, drinks too much champagne, has the occasional cigarette and her best friend is a young man with a few secrets of his own. There’s more, much more to her life as well, but you have to read the book to find out the biggest secret of all! It was great to revisit other characters as well, which is always the lovely thing about writing a series. For example, Holly, from Holly’s Christmas Secret is similar to Elsie and her rebellious ways in the fact that we find out she has been on a few suffragette marches, and, along with Pearl, the wealthy American girl we also met in the Christmas book, the three of them make up a very unholy trinity of young Edwardian women! It was an absolute joy to write about them all. And, to make it extra special (I wrote the book in lockdown, so I had to cheer myself up somehow and lose myself in my imagination) the story is also set around midsummer, which is one of my favourite times of year. I just love the long days and light nights, although to be fair I love the build up to midsummer most of all – the fact that we can see and experience the nights getting lighter. It’s ‘just wunnerful’ as Pearl would say!

Elsie lives in the very Bohemian area of Bloomsbury, London, and I did a lot of research about the Bloomsbury Group and the famous artists who were in that set at the time. I also read a particularly weighty tome (lockdown has a lot to answer for!) on Rupert Brooke and his Neo-Pagans – a set that moved in the same circles as the Bloomsbury Group, but to my mind the two groups were like a Venn Diagram. There was a little crossover between the two, but neither set seemed to mix fully with the other. By immersing myself in art exhibitions, books and also DVDs about the people who lived at that time, it was pretty easy to imagine Elsie in the middle of it all. Oh – and I have to mention the fact of Elsie’s bicycle. It has a basket on it, much like my beloved bike. I got it when I was a teenager and always wanted to be Myfanwy from the David Essex video – and by default from the John Betjeman poem the song was based on. The poem – and definitely the song – were a bit later in the century than my book is set, but I strongly recommend you read the poem or watch the video and drool over, I mean listen, to the David Essex version. The girl he describes is exactly the Elsie of my imagination. I do hope you enjoy the book, and are happy with the way things turn out. I know I am – and, for anyone who’s asking. I have left myself open for a fifth book and have a couple of characters in mind. I’ll never say never, although we are creeping up to WW1 in timescale, and I’m not sure I could do that time period justice, as I found writing about WW2 very difficult in Watch for me by Twilight. I’ll have to have a think … In the meantime, as I say, please do enjoy Elsie’s story and let me know what you think of it!

Summer’s Secret Marigold is available as an eBook and will also be out in audio/paperback soon:

  Kindle UK/Kobo/Apple Books/Nook

About the book:

 Can a summer secret from the past allow a new future to bloom?

For two people who run competing arts centres in Cornwall, Sybill Helyer and Coren Penhaligon get on rather well. So well in fact that Sybill often wishes the owner of Pencradoc Arts Centre would look up from his spreadsheets for a minute and notice her. Unfortunately, even that’s too much to ask from workaholic Coren.

However, when the pair join forces to run an exhibition on the wild and wonderful life of Elsie Pencradoc, a talented artist who lived at Coren’s estate in the early twentieth century, they’re in for a surprise. How will a secret sketchbook and an exquisite gothic dress from a long-ago midsummer costume ball lead them to the scandalous truth about Elsie – and perhaps encourage them to reveal a few long-kept secrets of their own?

About the author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

For more information on Kirsty visit:

www.twitter.com/kirsty_ferry

https://www.facebook.com/kirsty.ferry.author/

#BookReview IT STARTED WITH A PIRATE by KIRSTY FERRY

ABOUT THE BOOK

Coffee, cake and cats …

These are a few of Lexie Farrington’s favourite things, and when she walks into the Thistledean Café in Edinburgh, she’s delighted to find all three: coffee, cake, a big black cat on a purple lead being held by a very grumpy-looking pirate. Okay, maybe she wasn’t quite expecting that one …

Of course, Billy McCreadie isn’t really a pirate; he just knows a lot about them and is on his way to give a historical talk to school kids, hence the get-up. He’s also in desperate need of a cat sitter.When Lexie steps in, little does she realise that Billy will be the key to a hidden Edinburgh she would have never discovered herself, and he might also be the man to help solve a certain piratical puzzle of her own …

PUBLISHED BY CHOC LIT

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Started-Pirate-fabulous-romantic-Schubert-ebook/dp/B08R679NSB/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Started-Pirate-fabulous-romantic-Schubert-ebook/dp/B08R679NSB/

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/it-started-with-a-pirate

Apple: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/it-started-with-a-pirate/id1546080295

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kirsty_Ferry_It_Started_with_a_Pirate?id=V6kSEAAAQBAJ

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/it-started-with-a-pirate-kirsty-ferry/1138511497?ean=2940162708896 

MY REVIEW

The world always seems like a happier place when Schubert is around, so I was so glad to read the latest installment of the series – although these books are easily read as standalone!  

Schubert appears in the life of Lexie this time around and  he’s being looked after by Nessa’s brother Billy. It’s not the ideal situation for Billy as he’s got some historical talks to do and finds himself dressed as a Pirate …!  But the pirate look grabs the attention of Lexie when she visits the cafe he is in, and Schubert works his magic once more in introducing them to each other!

Their shared love of history and cemeteries bond them quickly, and they soon find themselves on a quest to find out more about a mysterious woman who appears in their life.  This is no ordinary search though as it opens up fascinating stories from the past and adds a twist to their time spent in cemeteries!!  The historical rabbit hole they find themselves disappearing down was brilliant!

I always love reconnecting with Schubert and the cast of characters around him – this is another fun read that you’ll find yourself racing through and wishing you had a chatty, helpful, meddlesome cat in your life!!

★★★★★

#GuestPost IT STARTED WITH A PIRATE by KIRSTY FERRY #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry

Hello!! Happily handing over my blog today to the lovely Kirsty Ferry, to help her celebrate publication day for IT STARTED WITH A PIRATE! Schubert is back and the world is a happier place when he’s around!!
Over to you Kirsty……

Welcome to the fourth instalment of Schubert’s series. I’m so happy that Schubert, my fat, black, mystical witch’s cat has garnered such a following in a fun little series which started with Every Witch Way.

When I started the series with Nessa’s tale, it was a rewrite of a long-ish short story that I did in a coffee shop, many years ago, when I worked in a bank and would get into town early. So I’d head off to Boskoops Café in Old Eldon Square, and have cinnamon toast and an Americano, and do a bit of writing in a notebook. The café where Nessa finds the mysterious book that starts the events of the story off is based on Boskoops and there would sometimes be a gaggle of middle-aged women sitting in the window seat, which was the seat I preferred, and also the seat they preferred. I’m ashamed to say that became a battle of wills each morning as to who would get that seat first…

Boskooops was situated on the first floor of an old Georgian house, one of the original houses in the square – number 1, Eldon Square. A few years later, I did a local history course and we had to choose a building to do a project on, and I chose that one. In a sale in the library, I found a book called A Doctor’s Diary. I randomly picked it up, flicked through it, and realised the chap who had written it had come as a young man in the nineteenth century to be a doctor in Newcastle upon Tyne – and he lodged at that very building! It was a weird feeling, thinking I might have been scribbling away, drinking coffee, in a room that he had walked around in.

I just love old buildings and the history attached to them, and I think that’s why I enjoy the historical research so much in my books. It Started with a Pirate was no exception with research. I’ve always loved the romantic side of pirates, but, in a similar way to my obsession with highwaymen, I doubt they’d be very good company really if you met one in real life, doing his actual piratical/highwayman-like job! However, fortunately, we can inhabit the world of fiction and enjoy these bad boys safely, which is lovely.

When I began the research for It Started with a Pirate, it kind of spiralled, and then all came together in the book. The further I dug, and the further I fell down the Google rabbit hole, I came to see a way that pirates, Edinburgh and even the Jacobites could all fit together – and they all do, in this book. Much of my character Mhairi’s story is true – I doubt it all happened to one girl, but the historical records, trials and locations in the book, as well as the connection to the Jacobites, the Orkneys and shipwrecks – were all based on fact. I must also give a shout out to Joanne Baird from Portobello Book Blog for helping me with those locations and answering my questions – so if an author ever messages you and says something like, “um, can you tell me what the Sands of Leith look like now, please, because I believe pirates got hanged there,’ then please be kind, like Joanne was, and answer them! They may have done what I did – found a really interesting article about the skeleton of a pirate turning up in a school playground, and suddenly decide they want to write about it! The culmination of that research is It Started With a Pirate – and I hope you love reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing and researching it!

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About the book:

Coffee, cake and cats …

These are a few of Lexie Farrington’s favourite things, and when she walks into the Thistledean Café in Edinburgh, she’s delighted to find all three: coffee, cake, a big black cat on a purple lead being held by a very grumpy-looking pirate. Okay, maybe she wasn’t quite expecting that one …

Of course, Billy McCreadie isn’t really a pirate; he just knows a lot about them and is on his way to give a historical talk to school kids, hence the get-up. He’s also in desperate need of a cat sitter.

When Lexie steps in, little does she realise that Billy will be the key to a hidden Edinburgh she would have never discovered herself, and he might also be the man to help solve a certain piratical puzzle of her own …

Buying links: 

Amazon UK . 

Amazon US .

 Kobo 

iBooks 

. Nook

About the author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting. 

Follow Kirsty on Twitter: @kirsty_ferry

 Like Kirsty on Facebook: Kirsty Ferry author

#BookReview HOLLY’S CHRISTMAS SECRET by KIRSTY FERRY

ABOUT THE BOOK

Once upon a Cornish Christmas …

It’s almost Christmas at the Pencradoc estate in Cornwall which means that, as usual, tea room owner Sorcha Davies is baking up a festive storm. And this year Sorcha is hoping her mince pies will be going down a treat at ‘The Spirit of Christmas Past’ exhibition being organised at the house by new local antiques dealer, Locryn Dyer.

But as Locryn and Sorcha spend more time together, they begin to uncover a very special story of Christmas past that played out at Pencradoc more than a century before, involving a certain ‘Lady’ Holly Sawyer, a festive dinner party and a magical secret encounter with a handsome author …

PUBLISHED BY CHOC LIT

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollys-Christmas-Secret-perfect-heart-warming-ebook/dp/B08GSM8519/  

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hollys-christmas-secret/id1529429721?itsct=books_toolbox&itscg=30200&at=11lNBs&ls=1

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/holly-s-christmas-secret

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hollys-christmas-secret-kirsty-ferry/1137551652?ean=2940162757702

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kirsty_Ferry_Holly_s_Christmas_Secret?id=G9j7DwAAQBAJ

MY REVIEW

We return to Pencradoc for another magical time slip story, and once again it just sweeps you away with the history and the mystery and I loved it!

This is book 3 in the Cornish Secrets series, but can easily be read as a standalone as each story follows a different character and experience.

This time Sorcha, the tearoom owner, is the main focus of this story as she helps get things ready for the Spirit of Christmas Past exhibition being held there. Locryn is the new local antique dealer, and he’s also involved so that means they have to start spending a lot of time together! And that’s when the fun starts!!

They both begin to watch the past unfold in front of their eyes and it’s always such a remarkable sight to see characters of the past play out their storyline. We get to travel back to 1906 for the ghostly goings on, and are introduced to Elsie Pencradoc and her friend Holly who are planning a big Christmas party!

This had such a fairytale feel to it throughout – from the setting to the storyline – and I just adored my time spent in the company of all these characters! A spectacular supernatural story!!

★★★★★

#GuestPost HOLLY’S CHRISTMAS SECRET by KIRSTY FERRY #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @kirsty_ferry

Christmas in October??! Yes please!! We need something to brighten our days, so I’m so happy to share this guest post from the lovely Kirsty Ferry to celebrate it being publication day for HOLLY’S CHRISTMAS SECRET!! So get some suitable Xmas music on your playlist and read on for more about this fabulous new release!! I’ve added the links too for you to grab your copy!!

Over to you Kirsty….

Release Day Post: Holly’s Christmas Secret by Kirsty Ferry

Holly’s Christmas Secret is the eighteenth book I’ve had published by Choc Lit, and my fifth Christmas book. The way it’s worked out that for each series I’ve done, I’ve produced a Christmas book. Next year could pose a bit of a challenge, as the book I’m currently writing is the summer Pencradoc book, and the final one in the series as it stands. So unless I can whip up a book to be written and published on top of that one, to have a new series started in readiness for a Christmas book, I’ll have to do a standalone – which poses its own problems! But for now, let’s think about this year’s Christmas book.

Holly’s Christmas Secret is the third book in the ‘Cornish Secrets’ series, and we have jumped ahead from Lily Valentine’s infamous visit to Pencradoc in 1895, to Christmas 1906. Lady Elsie Pencradoc, the precocious eight-year-old from Lily’s Secret, is now a young woman: beautiful, Bohemian and just as arty and dramatic as she was when she was eight. She invites her friend, Holly, to a Christmas party at Pencradoc and concocts a fun ruse to introduce her as “Lady” Holly, mainly to annoy one of the most irritating, snobbish guests there, but also because Holly has a deep-rooted love of fairytales and wants to enjoy her own Cinderella story that evening. Holly catches the eye of Noel, a down-to-earth party guest and sparks fly.

The contemporary storyline is focused on Sorcha, who was introduced in Lily’s Secret very briefly as the owner of the Tower Tea Room on the estate, and Locryn, a new addition to Pencradoc village. Locryn owns an antiques shop and has a very special family secret of his own. There’s plenty of festive baking in this book, and my mouth was watering as I wrote about the treats Sorcha was preparing for her Festive Afternoon Teas. It’s all so very clear in my head what the tea room looks like, and how she’s decorated the place like Santa’s Grotto – even to where the seats are placed in the tea room, and how the staircase curves up into the exhibition space which Locryn is using. I wish I could go there, to be honest!

I really hope that you enjoy visiting Pencradoc at Christmas as much as I did – even though I was still finishing the book off in April! And I promise I’ll get thinking about Christmas 2021, just as soon as I get Pencradoc number four off the table!

🎄🎅🎄

About the Book

Once upon a Cornish Christmas …

It’s almost Christmas at the Pencradoc estate in Cornwall which means that, as usual, tea room owner Sorcha Davies is baking up a festive storm. And this year Sorcha is hoping her mince pies will be going down a treat at ‘The Spirit of Christmas Past’ exhibition being organised at the house by new local antiques dealer, Locryn Dyer.

But as Locryn and Sorcha spend more time together, they begin to uncover a very special story of Christmas past that played out at Pencradoc more than a century before, involving a certain ‘Lady’Holly Sawyer, a festive dinner party and a magical secret encounter with a handsome author ... 

Buying Links: 

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollys-Christmas-Secret-perfect-heart-warming-ebook/dp/B08GSM8519/ 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/holly-s-christmas-secret 

Apple: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/hollys-christmas-secret/id1529429721

 Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hollys-christmas-secret-kirsty-ferry/1137551652

About the Author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting. 

Follow Kirsty on Twitter @kirsty_ferry

 Find her on Facebook: Kirsty Ferry Author

🎄🎅🎄