Hello from a Christmassy Cornwall . . . 

and Looe, or Pendrym, at Christmas -

with fishing boats and tractors and lights.

The inspirational Looe, not only the setting for The Golden Sword and The Time Smugglers in The Camelot Inheritance, but now also for the acclaimed television series, Beyond Paradise. This lovely fishing port's reputation is growing. Every time Pete and I pop down there I'm inspired.

Yesterday evening we were there for the annual Tinsel Tractor Charity Run. More tractors than I could count, wonderfully decorated, driving through the local countryside and villages, it was brilliant. 

I'm thinking that a tractor is going to to be a part of Daisy and Josh's story in my currently-bubbling book. More on this towards the end of this post, but for now back to Looe.

Rather than just talk about Christmassy Looe and equally Christmassy tractors, here are a few photos:

Looe's narrow streets are crammed with folk on holiday in the summer -

 in winter they're delightfully quiet.

We walked through the streets, down to the beach, as featured in The Golden Sword, and then turned back to walk along the tidal river . . . 

 and past moored fishing boats waiting for their next expedition.

Then we waited while the sky darkened and caught just a glimpse of the moon above the town.

Finally we heard tractor horns and saw approaching lights. The tractors were coming!

Then it was home and time to warm up by the fire with a hot chocolate and Oz and Pete's cat, James.

This little excerpt is from the next book, and new series. 

In this part Daisy is in Paddinton Station, London:

Daisy Tailor and Time are getting to know one another. (I'm having so much fun writing this!)

In Paddington station, Daisy looked up at the clock above the platform and caught her breath. The hands were whizzing round and round.

‘No…’ Daisy said.

A crowd was gathering.

She moaned. ‘They shouldn’t be doing that.’

A woman in uniform, presumably something to do with the running of the place, ran over.

‘This is just not fair,’ Daisy groaned.

Not only were the hands spinning through the hours … the clock was chiming and Daisy was pretty sure that it never chimed.

She watched, glued to the spot as the station manager hurried over and began ushering the crowd away. Two young men in high viz jackets followed, lugging orange barriers and slid them between the people and the clock.

‘Please stop,’ Daisy begged. ‘It’s too much.’

And then the crowd watching, laughed and a few cheers went up because the hands were slowing and rearranging themselves … until they were at exactly the right time.

The station manager scratched his head and stared at the clock.

‘Was that really me?’ Daisy said. ‘Did the clock really reset because of me?’

The minute hand touched the thirty and chimed once more and the clock face winked - at Daisy. 

More will get written in 2024, but maybe you've read The Golden Sword and enjoyed it and are wondering what to read next. The Camelot Inheritance has four books, click on the titles and you'll be taken to their Amazon pages and meet more magical and menacing characters. 

The Golden Sword

The Time Smugglers

Merlin's Vow

(and perhaps my favourite)

Arthur's Kingdom

A very Happy Christmas to all my wonderful readers. 

May you enjoy your celebrations but perhaps also find a quiet, cosy place to curl up and lose yourself in a word-spun piece of magic.