Portobello Book Blog

Well, there are only a few more days till Christmas and here we are with the final Author in the Festive Spotlight for this year. I’m delighted that another of my favourite authors is joining me to round off the series. I unfailingly love Jane Lovering’s books which are witty with a real depth of emotion too. I’m likely to laugh and cry when reading her books, often on the same page! Jane’s latest book isn’t actually out until early January so it’s one you can put on your list for your New Year reading. You can pre-order a copy here: There’s No Place Like Home

Welcome back to the blog Jane. First of all, would you tell my blog readers a little about yourself?

I live in Yorkshire, where most of my books are set, I write books with flawed and damaged characters, who see their flaws and become less damaged throughout the novel, and there’s a little romance but nobody is ‘saved by love’. I’m also a runner, although I hate every step, and am deeply in love with Tony Robinson and waiting for him to whisk me away any day now. ANY DAY NOW, Tony… Also a little too fond of biscuits.

In a nutshell, what is your Christmas book about?

Six people, camping on the North York Moors and being filmed for a Reality TV show. They each have their separate reasons for being there, which gradually come out as they get to know one another. There is mud, snow, truly awful tents, quite a lot of arguing, some interesting revelations – and the answer to a question that many people argue about. It’s not really a ‘Christmas’ book, it’s set just before Christmas, but it does have a lot of the Christmassy themes in, snow, where to celebrate the day and love.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

Without giving too much away about the content of the book, it was HARD! There’s a lot going on in this one, homelessness is a major theme, but we didn’t want it to sound depressing. In the end my editor came up with the title. I was just calling it ‘The One With The Tents’ for a long time. Or ‘The One With The Cat’.

How do you plan to celebrate Christmas this year?

My daughter is over from Australia this Christmas with her Australian partner, who, poor soul, has never experienced a proper, British Christmas. So all the stops will not just be pulled out, but removed and thrown away. My son and his partner Emily are hosting this year, and Emily is a mega-Christmas fan (as am I) so there will be much decoration, treeishness, food and games. I am promised Bananagrams, and have been practicing daily to make sure my vocabulary is up to it. Oh, and Cards against Humanity.

You have £5 to buy a Secret Santa gift – what would you buy?

If I know who I’m buying for, I will always try to tailor it towards that person’s interests. I hate ‘generic’ presents, so if it was someone who loves dogs I’d buy a calendar for that dog breed or a picture frame so they can put in a picture of their own dog. For sewers, some thread and needles, for a runner, gloves and socks. If I don’t know who it’s for, then I’m afraid I’d have to go generic, but maybe some nicely packaged chocolate or some posh biscuits.

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

I work in a supermarket. By Christmas Eve we’ve heard just about every Christmas song available, on repeat, for months. It puts you off a bit.

What’s your essential Christmas food or drink?

Cheesy Footballs. I love them, but nobody (apart from my eldest daughter) else does, but they are little balls of delicious cheesiness that you can nom down but barely touch the sides. They are quite hard to get these days. They probably contain some hazardous-to-health ingredients or something. But I don’t care.

What Christmas book are you looking forward to reading this year?

The two I re-read every year in the run up to Christmas – Terry Pratchett’s ‘Hogfather’ and Susan Cooper’s ‘The Dark is Rising’.

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

I’m on Facebook as Jane Lovering and Twitter as @JaneLovering.

And finally, what’s your favourite Christmas tree decoration?

When I moved into my little cottage a few years ago, my children gave me a glass bauble with a house in it and ‘First Christmas at XXXXX’ (only it didn’t say XXXX, it had my house name in, obviously). This was during Covid and we weren’t sure if we’d even HAVE a Christmas that year, although we did manage to get some of us together on the day, and I love my little cottage so much that it’s a very meaningful decoration. So it’s either that, or the little felt dog that I bought because it looks like my terrier, Teal.

And that’s a wrap, if you’ll pardon the pun, on #AuthorInTheFestiveSpotlight for 2022. I hope that you have enjoyed reading the posts, that they have helped get you in the mood for Christmas and most importantly that you have perhaps been inspired to read some of the lovely festive books featured. A huge thank you to the 16 authors who have taken part in the #AuthorInTheFestiveSpotlight for 2022. Big thanks to the many publicists who helped as well. If you want to catch up on any of the posts you might have missed, just pop the hashtag in the search box and they should all pop up.