No! Don’t panic!

Covers ears at the deafening groans.

There are a couple of months to go before we need to start to panic, but the groans are undoubtedly justified.

The children have only just gone back to school, the supermarket aisles are full of the momentary distraction of fake pumpkins and Halloween costumes, but they are already piling up the Christmas chocolate. (I took these two photographs just this morning.) And greetings cards are on sale for those organised enough to get them written before they get swept up in the season.

But forget the stress…

This is the time for anticipation, planning. Not panic.

Pinterest and Instagram are buzzing with Christmas crafts; and those pretty cookies that you always mean to make and never get around to.

Make them now while it still seems like fun, and stick them in the freezer!

A couple of my very first published pieces were about making felt tree decorations and I love my Christmas Pinterest page;  It excites me and always has me reaching for felt and wool.

This year I’ve been knitting bobble hats for Innocent smoothie bottles in aid of Help the Aged!

If you’re a romance writer, the season offers so much in the way of inspiration. The holiday, for many, is a time of stress, amplified by the perception that every one else is having a good time.

Some people want to escape and forget all about it. Some have no one with whom to celebrate.

How they deal with that is the stuff of stories.

Christmas for readers?

And if you’re a reader, it’s the time of year when publishers and authors are revealing those sparkly, snowy covers to set you up for the season. And Hallmark reveal its holiday movie schedule.

Who isn’t waiting for an update on the Christmas With a Prince storyline? Dig out your holiday socks, snuggle up on the sofa and indulge yourself in some wonderful stories.

The season is heightened for me this year by the fact that I am working on a Christmas trilogy with authors Kandy Shepherd and Susan Meier. My book is set in Paris, the City of Lights, in November. It’s when the beautiful stores unveil their holiday windows and there are Christmas markets in the Tuileries and Montmartre.  It’s been a very long time since I was in Paris so here’s where it gets exciting. Obviously I need to do some serious research.

To be sure that I get the details right, I’ve renewed my Passport and I’m going to board the Eurostar for Paris at the end of November to soak up the atmosphere, do some shopping, eat macarons from Pierre Hermé and take a dinner trip on the Baton Rouge. Purely in the name of research.

Christmas to be avoided altogether?

Meanwhile, if you find the whole Christmas thing a nightmare, two members of Libertà hive are writing novellas on the theme of “Christmas is Cancelled” which should be available soon.

They might be just what you’re looking for!

Liz