Bella’s Scribblings: Christmas Hiccups

So here it is, my last Novel Kicks column of 2014. I have had a brilliant time doing Bella’s Scribblings and I truly hope someone has been reading them (if it’s you Thank you!.

Now it’s time for Christmas!

We three kings of Leamington Spa, one in a taxi, one in a car… Oops sorry got carried away with the festive spirit (it’s Baileys again this year although I did find myself teetering near the Sherry which is a worry.) So here we are, you can almost smell the turkey. I am getting more excited by the day as I count down the sleeps till Christmas! We are munching our way through the advent calendars and ticking off the jobs on the festive to do list. Only a couple of hiccups so far:

We merrily skipped off to the local garden centre last Friday after school to see Father Christmas (I did take the child in case you were wondering – but only because they wouldn’t let me in last time without one) but our trip was cut short as we were told that he only works weekends! Seriously? He only works one month of the year as it is – this flexible working thing has got totally out of hand!

I was also lucky enough to be able to go to the RNA Winter Party a couple of weeks ago, which was a lot of fun as always. However, my journey there was not without a hiccup.

I was dressed in my party gear as I stood on the crowded tube train. Usually I am OK standing up as I’ve been proficient for a while now and at this point no alcohol had been consumed. I was hanging on to one of the poles with both hands as the tube train accelerated away and then immediately slammed its brakes on. The violent momentum made me lurch forwards but as I was clinging onto the pole instead of flying up the carriage I pirouetted gracefully around my pole like a professional pole dancer (but with more clothes) and landed neatly and squarely on the lap of an unsuspecting woman! I quickly got up and apologised profusely but she was rather lovely about it even though she then spent the rest of the journey studiously trying to avoid any eye contact.

Whatever else happens to me on the run up to Christmas I know I will be just fine because at the end of the day as long as I have my family with me, something to eat (there are only three of us but I will buy for circa seventy-four like I do every year) and maintain my sense of humour, it will be a perfect Christmas.

The lovely Laura has invited me back for 2015 so I look forward to seeing you all on the other side! Now will someone please pass the sherry!

Bella’s first novel, It Started at Sunset Cottage is due to be released in February 2015 by Harper Impulse. She was a runner-up for the New Talent Award at the 2013 Festival of Romance and a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Every fortnight, Bella will be sharing her experiences and advice as a new author. She also has her own blog – www.bellaosborne.com

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Novel Kicks

About Novel Kicks/Laura...
Novel Kicks was founded in 2009 and is run by Laura who is currently living in Hampshire, and lives with husband, Chris and her cat, Buddy. She would love to be a writer. She’s trying to write the novel she thinks so much about. She’s loved reading and writing since ‘Creative Writing’ classes in primary school. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything she can get her hands on, she loves reading, dancing like a loon, and watching Project Runway and Ugly Betty (her two TV guilty pleasures.) She also has an obsession with chocolate and Jammie Dodgers.