Oh my goodness, it’s December! How did that happen? I know the shops have been full of Christmassy stuff for ages, but now they seem to be playing the Christmas tunes and shoving the tinsel in people’s face with serious intent. I’ve got the advent calendar out (you’re never too old for an advent calendar, right?) It’s made me realise that actually there’s not all that much time before the big day to get in all the shopping, card writing and sorting of stuff that I need to do, gulp. I’m starting to have to make lists of my ‘to-do’ lists!

However, I don’t mind as I love this time of year. There’s always something magical in the air, and the glittering lights and sparkling decorations make even the most ordinary scene special. My own tree and decorations are somewhat on the modest side at the moment, but they’re work in progress, and at least I don’t have  a huge sprawling mansion to decorate, unlike the main character in my book ‘Who Does He Think He Is?’ The lovely Aurelia lives in a manor house called Leydale Park. It’s a grand Regency home, but it’s more of a pile in a state than a stately pile. The poor girl is at the end of her tether trying to keep the place from falling apart, but I do like to imagine that at this time of the year she might get the chance to put her feet up for a little bit. After all, Christmas decorations can hide all kinds of cracks in the floors and damp patches on the walls. Alas, chaos has a habit of following Aurelia around…