Celebrations Galore

It doesn’t feel like two minutes since I was last writing a blog, but that’s mostly because I was so late in May! It does mean you already know some of my May news but there is still plenty to write about, starting with publication day for my new book My Daughter’s Lies on the 23^rd. 

It’s funny, sometimes publication day itself can be a bit of an anti-climax after all the build-up over the previous weeks, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Things kicked off with a beautiful bouquet and a card from my husband. It might be my eleventh book, but he never lets me down. Another bouquet arrived a couple of hours later from my publisher, Bookouture just as I was about to do an Instagram Live, something I haven’t done for ages. I almost couldn’t manage it because of the cough and chest infection which was still grimly hanging on but I managed to get through it although I wasn’t able to read an excerpt later in the day as I’d hoped I might.

Incidentally, I’ve only just had to part with my publisher’s flowers – well done Waitrose, they lasted the best part of two weeks!

I also filmed a little video of me opening up my box of paperbacks. To be honest, I’d had them for just over a week but was feeling so rough that I delayed the ‘unboxing’ until it couldn’t be postponed any further. Wilfie, the cat calmly strolled into the bottom of the shot and just after I ‘cut’ he promptly jumped up onto the box of books and refused to budge. What is it with cats and cardboard boxes? My daughter’s cat, Milo is exactly the same.

So, a pretty busy morning on social media but the afternoon was more of a celebration. Some of you might remember that Chris and I went to Pennyhill Park for afternoon tea to celebrate his birthday last year? 

We enjoyed it so much that we organised a return visit. It was just as good second time around with delicious finger sandwiches and delightful cakes, not to mention the scones with cream and jam.

Bookouture, and specifically Sarah Hardy had organised a book blog tour for My Daughter’s Lies so the evening was mostly spent thanking the bloggers who’d been involved in day one of the tour and also fellow authors who’d sent their congratulations. I needed an early night as the next morning I’d been asked to appear on Riz Lateef’s BBC Radio London Breakfast Show to comment on a couple of stories that had featured in the news in the previous week. It was really good to be asked to do something different. If I’m not being interviewed about my books, I’m being interviewed about QVC, so it was great to not be ‘selling’ but instead voicing an opinion on topics that affect our day-to-day lives. I hope I get asked back.

Friday also saw me take part in a feature on Jill’s Book Café called Five on Friday which I also loved. Not only did I have to choose five songs/pieces of music and give my reason for liking them, Jill also asked for five things I would find it hard to live without, five things people may not know about me, five pieces of advice I’d give to my younger self and five things I’d like to do or achieve. If you’re interested in the answers, you can check them out on Jill’s blog… after you’ve finished reading this of course!

I also recorded part one of an interview with Sarah Booker for her programme on Real Life Radio which is based in Brighton where My Daughter’s Lies is predominantly set. The interview is pretty comprehensive covering my early life, my career in showbiz and my books, not to mention dealing with the various different health issues I’ve had. It is scheduled to be played out between 5 and 8pm on June 23^rd and there will be the opportunity to win a signed copy of the new book.

By the way, as I write this, I can report that My Daughter’s Lies hit the Amazon UK top 100 bestsellers chart this morning at number 47 and is top 10 in each of her subcategories (in one sitting at number 2 just beneath Jeffrey Archer… no comment) not to mention no 1 in all three of her Hot New Releases charts. I’m so grateful to everyone who has already bought a copy and if ebook is your ‘thing’ do take advantage of the Kindle Countdown Deal price of just 99p which ends at 9am tomorrow June 7^th.

I finally got to celebrate the release of my new book with my family on the Saturday after publication day. It’s difficult when everyone is working, so we agreed on the Saturday even though I was actually at QVC until 4pm. As such, I made my famous veggie lasagne before I left for work in the morning. I didn’t need to make a dessert though as Chris had had a publication day cake made for me as has now become the tradition. 

There wasn’t a lot left to take into QVC the next day, but it was well received by Alice and Rosie and the rest of the backstage team. Can I just point out that neither Alice nor Rosie are my daughters as the picture might suggest. I do believe my colleague and fellow author, Jackie Kabler may have snaffled a piece too before it all disappeared in record time.

I had Bank Holiday Monday off which was lucky as it meant I was able to meet up for lunch with an old friend from the Nora Morrison Dancing School in Nottingham where we were both pupils in the 1960s and 1970s. She’s lived in Australia for many years and wanted to catch up with a few old friends while she was over visiting. This is not Margaret, who I haven’t seen in over fifty years because unfortunately the photograph the waiter in the restaurant took was too blurry. This is Linda, a former ballerina with The Royal Ballet who I have seen more recently, however it’s still eight years since we last met up. The funny thing is, there were no awkward pauses in conversation we just nattered away like we always used to.

I finished recording the interview for Real Life Radio on the Tuesday morning before going over to my daughter’s house to help with some painting having finished the gardening I wrote about on my May blog. She was trying to get the house presentable for her stepson, Taylor’s 21^stbirthday party last Saturday although his actual birthday was on May 30^th, the day after my granddaughter’s first birthday.

I’m not able to post photographs of my granddaughter on social media which I must say I’m fully supportive of, but I can show you the little shrug I crocheted for her as part of her birthday gift. My husband was nothing short of incredulous when I got the wool and crochet hook out a week before her birthday. I mean, it’s not as though I had much else on !

We also bought her a Steiff year bear 2023 to commemorate the year she was born which is a tradition my grandmother started in our family when my sister was born. We all (as in me and Chris, Sophie and her partner Reece and his daughter, Amber) went over to my son, Daniel’s house for a lunchtime afternoon tea for which I’d made some cheese scones and a chocolate birthday cake for the adults. It was so lovely for us to spend precious family time together especially as India has now started walking and is making sounds related to cat, dog and dad. It is such a wonderfully receptive age for children.

I was working Thursday and Friday so was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying Taylor’s party. Chris’s phone rang before 10am – it was Sophie. I’ll tell you what I heard and then what she’d actually said…

‘Baxter’s gone!’ Baxter is my daughter’s dog whose name I ‘borrowed’ for the dog in My Daughter’s Lies. What did she mean gone? Had he run off or worse still had he died? My heart was thundering, and I was on the point of tears.

‘My back’s gone,’ was what she had actually rung to tell us I discovered after I asked her to repeat what she had just said.

Does it make me a bad mother that I was immensely relieved that it was the latter? She’d rung to ask if we could go and help Amber clean and tidy in readiness for the party guests arriving as she was en route to the chiropractor! BTW, it’s much better now in case you were wondering.

So, all in all, what a manic couple of weeks it has been since I last wrote a blog and it’s not over yet as I’m going to be on Marlow FM radio this coming Sunday at 8pm with Julia Herd for her show, On the Edge. I think most digital radio stations can be listened to from anywhere in the country if you ‘Ask Alexa’ nicely and again there will be a signed book to be won.

Then I have a few days off work. Chris and I are going to visit Jersey where our paths first crossed fifty years ago – lots about that on my next blog.

Before I finish, a couple of things. Congratulations to Elaine and Sue who were the randomly selected winners of signed copies of My Daughter’s Lies. Elaine should have received hers as it has already been posted but we have yet to hear back from Sue.

As so many of you entered the last competition, I thought I would do another ‘double’ giveaway, but this time it’s two books to the same winner. It’s my birthday on Monday and I was going to give away my 6^th and 8^th books as I’m going to be 68, however that would have meant What He Did (the middle book from the Rachel Hart series) and My Mother’s Secret. I then thought I would do my 6^th and 8^th Bookouture books, but My Daughter’s Lies is only my 7^th, so…. I decided on a signed copy of my 6^th and 7^th Bookouture books as 67 is my current age. To win signed copies of The Dilemma and My Daughter’s Lies you need to answer this question:

I was born in 1956 as was a very famous doll. Was it:-

a)      Tiny Tears

b)      Sindy

c)       Barbie

Please leave your answer in a comment at the bottom by the deadline of midnight on June 30^th.

And talking about midnight on June 30^th, that is when the UK Kindle Monthly Deal ends for The Woman on the Beach. I’m delighted she has been selected for a 99p deal for the whole of June, but remember the reduced price on the new book, My Daughter’s Lies ends Friday June 7^th at 9 am – load up your Kindle for a couple of pounds in readiness for some summer holiday reading.

Eek! Almost forgot, Melanie Crawley has done a fantastic job on the audiobook. I’m at chapter 22 and looking forward to my next car journey!

That really is it for now

Much love

Julia xx