This is the 24th of 25 blog posts to celebrate my 25th published novel, A Skye Full of Stars. It only seemed right on day 24 that I tell you how I like to spend the 24th December…
One Christmas Eve, I spent struggling to get to the end of a first draft of a book so I could mentally sign off and enjoy my Christmas/New Year break. At four p.m., when my husband – who’d finished work the day before – wandered in to see how much longer I’d be, breaking my thread of concentration, it led to a spirited exchange of views. And that didn’t speed up the ending of the first draft at all! From then on, I decided Christmas Eve would become part of my Christmas break too, even if it meant working a weekend beforehand to make sure I was at a place in my writing where it meant sense to break off.
It’s not all relaxation, of course. I might have some shopping left to do or ‘Oops! Nearly forgot!’ cards to deliver. But mostly, I try to chill. It might involve taking a Christmas wreath for lost loved ones, or meeting friends for a cuppa. If I’m lucky, Christmas Eve might fall on a Zumba class day, and we all dance in Christmas T-shirts or wearing reindeer antlers.
It often includes my son and his family coming for dinner and staying to open gifts in the morning. Another time, it was a brunch of home-made pancakes, fruit jus and yoghurt (I passed on the yoghurt, and gave myself double fruit). I made sixteen pancakes for four of us and every single one of them disappeared, so that particular brunch might have to be repeated. With, maybe, chocolate sauce …?
In whichever way Christmas Eve passes, the evening ends up the same way – a good book, a glass of wine, and (no matter how much I’ve already eaten) chocolate. It fortifies me for Christmas Day and Boxing Day to come.
A Skye Full of Stars is out now!
