297 – Experience a Holiday Story and Peek into the Life of Bestselling Author Heidi Swain

Welcome to a special holiday edition of gift to biz on

rapt episode 297.

Well, I always wanted to write ever since I was little,

I always wanted to be an author Attention.

Gifters bakers,

crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.

Now you are in the right place.

This is gift to biz unwrapped,

helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

Join us for an episode,

packed full of invaluable guidance,

resources, and the support you need to grow.

Your gift biz.

Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.

Oh, Merry Christmas.

Not that I'm Santa of course,

but I'm here with a holiday gift for you.

This is a light hearted spirited episode inspired by the gentle,

joyful and peaceful intent of the season.

We're going to hear a snippet from Heidi Swayne's Christmas story,

mince, pies,

and mistletoe for the Christmas market.

It will warm your soul.

As you're busy scurrying around with the final preparations for Christmas,

the story you'll hear revolves around a small town craft market,

which reminds me to tell you that our virtual holiday vendor

village is still open.

Booths have been updated to include new year's products and even

some Valentine's offerings.

So if you haven't visited or you want to jump back

in to check out what's new,

you can get there directly through gift biz,

unwrapped.com forward slash enter vendor village.

The vendor village will close on December 31st in preparation for

next year.

And I can't wait to share with you what's up,

but of course that's all for later.

So now it's time to settle into a cozy little spot.

If you can break away for a few minutes or just

listen while you're wrapping and shipping,

you'll hear from Heidi with her beautiful British accent.

As she shares the life of a bestselling author and a

reading from one of her charming Christmas books.

I have a special treat for you today.

I'd like to introduce you to author Heidi Swain,

although passionate about writing from an early age,

Heidi acquired a degree in literature flirted briefly with a newspaper

career married and had two children before she plucked up the

courage to join a creative writing class and take her literary

ambitions. Seriously,

a lover of vintage paraphernalia and the odd bottle of fizz.

She now writes fuel good fiction with heart for Simon and

Schuster. Her debut novel.

The cherry tree cafe was published in July two 15.

And since then she's had a further 10 books published becoming

title, the winter garden,

Heidi, welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.

Hello, and thank you so much for inviting me.

I'm really excited to be here today.

So excited that you're here too,

and together let's wish everybody who celebrates Merry Christmas,

cause it's this week,

Merry Christmas,

everybody. I want to start off by asking you about your

motivational candle.

And I'm really excited to hear this because we chatted a

little bit in the pre chat that you thought this was

an interesting fun question.

So if you were to share with us what type of

a candle you would create that really would speak to you,

what would your motivational candle look like?

I love this question.

It's so unusual.

I've never been asked anything like this.

So I have given it some thought and the color of

my candle is green.

It's my favorite color.

It's so verdant and rich and I've gone for green really

because I just love to spend time outdoors,

whatever the weather,

whatever the season.

So I've got a nice green candle,

maybe with a pine scent.

I think that's perfect for this time of year,

but that would please me any time of year.

Really. So that's,

that's kind of what it would look like.

Love it.

Perfect. And do you have any type of a quote or

a mantra or a saying that you often go back to

that really resonates with you?

the most unusual year any of us have ever lived through.

So I'm keeping it very simple.

I've just got two words and they are be present.

I've already got it on a post-it on my desk.

And it's just a little reminder that every day I think

because of the industry that I work in and especially because

I write two books a year,

I've got to be super organized.

I've always got to be planning ahead.

And today,

for example,

I've had a meeting with my agent and editor about the

next book that I'm going to be writing and that won't

be published until Christmas 21.

So we're working a long way in advance.

So my working life has to be a bit of a

long-term project and it's full of dates and deadlines.

But as I said this year has really brought into focus

that sometimes it doesn't pay to always be looking too far

ahead because we can miss what's happening in the here and

now. So even though professionally,

I have to be organized on a personal level.

I'm trying to focus on the day that's happening right now,

be present in the here and now.

And I'm squeezing in lots of extra things and enjoying life,

simple pleasures.

I'm going for a walk every day,

which has benefited my mental health as well as my physical

health and I'm reading and baking and knitting and just making

sure that I'm getting as much as I can out of

each and every day and sort of living in the moment.

I love It.

And that's clearly how you focus and get so much done.

As you were saying that I'm also thinking specially this year

of all years looking and anticipating what could possibly be,

can just lead to a whole bunch of anxiety because none

of us really knew how this was going to play out

through the year.

We're hopefully walking into the end of this.

for sure is going to be different for sure.

Yeah. I agree with you and working because I've worked from

home and obviously being an author,

you work on your own an awful lot.

So not being able to get out and about as I

usually would.

We've had a couple of lockdowns here now in the UK

and I've kind of really missed socializing.

So my friends and I'm making more of an effort to

meet online.

We have zoom calls and we have kind of like private

messaging things going on just to make sure we're all keeping

in touch with each other,

looking out for each other.

And yeah,

just making the most of every opportunity really Go out walking.

Are you walking by yourself or are you meeting up with

a friend or what are you doing with that?

Pretty much walking on my own at the moment I get

up quite early and it's dark here in the mornings until

nearly seven o'clock,

but I kind of go out about 10 to seven in

the morning and then I can be back home by about

half seven,

quarter to eight,

and then I start my working day.

So it's an early walk,

but I'm making sure I'm getting those steps in and it's

just nice to get out there and watch the changing season.

Yeah, I completely agree with you.

So that's another thing that we have in common besides the

crafting and the love of snow,

which we talked about also I'm walking each day.

I'm finding that,

that just really sets my mind up.

Whether I do it in the morning or the afternoon,

I vary it,

but I usually get myself at least an hour walk in

every day.

Same thing.

There's such a huge mood lifter getting outside.

That's one of the really strong themes in the winter garden.

I was desperate to include that.

And it just felt like the right time to put that

into a book that's been scientifically proven now that if we

just spend a few minutes looking at green things growing every

day, it triggers off the serotonin in our brains and it

gives us a real boost.

So I'm all for encouraging people to do that,

even though the weather might not be great.

I still want people Wellington boots on and get outside for

a little while.

Yes, absolutely agree.

So you gave us a peak already into somewhat how you

create some of your information because you were talking about this

for the winter garden,

which is the most recent book that's been published,

right? Yeah.

Came out in October,

beginning of October,

this one.

Wonderful. So gift biz listeners,

you know,

that I always like to do something special on Christmas and

we have a treat coming up.

You're going to be in suspense.

Cause I am going to delay it for a couple of

minutes, but Heidi is going to be reading to us from

one of her books,

just a little clip so we can get a feel for

the style because how appropriate and fun and wonderful for the

holidays. But before we get into that,

Heidi, I have some questions for you.

Okay. Talk to me about the life of an author a

little bit more in terms how you got here.

I know what you were talking about in the intro,

but when you actually decided you were going to start writing

that first book,

how did that happen?

Well, I always wanted to write,

ever since I was little,

I always wanted to be an author.

I don't know if you're familiar with the film romancing,

the stone with Kathleen Douglas.

Oh yes.

There's the scene at the beginning where she's in the flat

and she's got her headphones on and she's typing away.

And I was really young when that film came out,

but I always kind of imagined myself being in a flat

with a cat and doing that.

It was ideal for me.

I didn't mind so much that I wouldn't go on the

adventure like Kathleen Turner did,

but I loved the thought of being able to sit and

write my stories and tell my stories all day.

So I've always wanted to do it.

So is that what it is?

It looks like behind the scenes where you write something similar

Alert to that,

to be honest.

Yeah. I have to say I'm in my sweat pants today

because you can be the bedroom,

but the cat's downstairs.

She's not okay with me today,

but she's downstairs.

But yeah,

it does actually look a little bit like that,

but, but I didn't do anything about it.

I think it was lack of confidence.

I didn't actually start writing for myself until I was in

my thirties.

I'd studied literature,

I'd worked on a newspaper.

I'd done parish magazines,

local blogs about my chickens and my gardening and all that

sort of thing.

But I haven't ever plucked up the courage to actually sit

down and write fiction.

And then eventually I decided I'd got a big birthday looming

and if I didn't make a start,

then I was never going to do it.

And I think we're all guilty of saying,

Oh, I'll do it when the time's right.

Time is never right.

We just have to kind of grasp the nettle and get

on with it really.

So that's what I did eventually.

I think that's,

It's a really important point for all of us.

And I'm going to just interject here for a second,

that as we start looking at a new year,

this is something for us to reflect on too.

Like what is something that we've been thinking we've wanted to

do and we've kept putting it off and kept putting it

off for maybe it's an excuse the time isn't right yet.

Or maybe it's not even an excuse.

Maybe that's just what you really think.

Yeah. But I love what you're saying.

You just have to decide like it's almost now,

we're never,

and I hate the idea of getting farther along in life

where maybe you wish you would have started earlier because now

you don't have as much time to enjoy and do what

you'd been wanting to do for so long.

And most of the time we are the ones who are

putting the wall up in front of ourselves.

You're totally right.

So many people say to me,

Oh, I'd love to write a book,

but I haven't got the time.

Well, you never gain more hours in the day when I

started out writing books,

when I decided that I wanted to have a go at

writing a novel,

I was working as a teaching assistant for children with special

educational needs.

My own children were quite young.

So I used to get up at five o'clock in the

morning and do an hour before everybody else got up.

And then I would sit in my car for my lunch

break, carry on writing then.

And then I would carry on in the evening when I

got home.

And I was doing that right up until about book fourth.

That was the routine.

And I didn't have any more hours in the day.

I just had snapped these little brief bits of time that

I could.

And then it sounds like it's changed now and you're doing

it differently today.

Yes. Now I'm writing full time.

So when I wrote that first book,

I became a member of the romantic novelists association and they

have a new writers scheme,

which means that you can submit a manuscript to them every

year to be critiqued.

I put the cherry tree cafe in and it had a

very, very good appraisal.

I was so excited about it.

And I decided that that was the book that I wanted

to launch my career.

And then Simon and Schuster had a one day call for

unsolicited manuscripts.

So you didn't need an agent.

You didn't need the manuscript to have been professionally edited.

And if they liked it,

they would all you and hopefully offer you a deal.

And that's exactly what happened or within the space of about

a year.

It happened very quickly.

Oh my gosh.

That is so exciting.

I have like the goosebumps over here.

Cause that would be like the perfect story,

right. That it would happen that way.

It's hard work,

but it was like a fairy tale.

It was amazing.

The best feeling in the world.

Yeah. But so were you anxious before you submitted it?

You had gotten confirmation that it was good,

but then when you were going to submit it to Simon

and Schuster,

were you like hesitant to push the submit button or like,

how did you feel at that time?

I was terrified.

I was absolutely terrified because it was a case of it.

Wasn't just me who was going to be reading those words.

It wasn't just the lady or Jen at the RNA who

would be reading those words.

This was going to a really,

really big publisher in the end.

It was just a case of it is now.

We'll never,

and this was such a fantastic opportunity.

I just press send,

I think it was something like the 18th or the 16th

of July.

It went.

And then I got an email back from them in,

I think it was September invited me to go down to

London to have a talk with an editor and the marketing

lady. And even then I still couldn't believe it.

And even then I was thinking,

you know,

Oh, well,

if I didn't want to go,

I'm sure I could talk myself out of it.

I always used to be very good at talking myself out

of things.

But thank goodness I did go to that meeting and I

had an offer of jail.

Oh my gosh.

Have you heard the saying,

just do it scared.

Yeah, exactly.

That and that horrible feeling that you get in your tummy

is just your body's way of preparing you to do something

thrilling, like bang.

Right. And what if you wouldn't have done it?

Oh, it doesn't bear thinking about it.

Really. Part of makes me feel really quite ill to think

that all these books that I've got sitting on my bookshelf

behind me,

they wouldn't exist because all because I just didn't dare try.

Right. Did you ever have a time when you had a

manuscript that was kicked back for one reason or another?

I wrote a book,

an effort of a book to see if could write that

many words.

I think that's all you need to do with your first

novel. Just see if you've actually got those,

that many words in a hundred thousand words is a lot.

So I wrote that book and post it to one side

and then I wrote the charity cafe.

So the territory was the second book that I wrote and

that was accepted.

And then the second book in that deal is summer at

Skylark farm.

And that was kind of,

there were elements of that very,

very first book that I pulled out to include in that

one. So I know I've been really lucky.

Everything's gone really,

really well.

And I haven't got anything languishing in a box anywhere,

but that's quite unusual.

I think I've just been really blessed For sure.

And I am so excited to hear more about it,

but I still have some questions for you as the author

and the questions that I'm asking,

I think relate also to people who make something,

because we have similar challenges,

especially initially when you weren't writing all day or a big

chunks of time,

you know,

when you had to fit it into your schedule,

like you were talking about in the morning or in the

car or wherever you were finding time,

that meant your time was so precious because it was so

limited at that point,

you know,

you always hear about writer's block.

I'm sure all of us have experienced it.

Sometimes we just feel more creative than other times.

Did you have any tricks so that when you were set

at the time,

when you could actually start writing,

you could actually dig in and do it versus staring at

a piece of paper?

Yeah, I think for me I'm a definite planner and that

has kind of really helped.

And I still use the same strategy even now that I'm

writing full-time.

So in the early days I would write quite a lot

long hand and that kind of gives your brain time to

think as you're writing,

whereas tight is much more instantaneous,

but I never end the day without knowing what I'm going

to be writing the next day.

So say if I was writing a chapter a day,

Oh, it was always then make notes on what the next

chapter was going to be.

I might even write the opening paragraph to that child.

I would never sort of stop not knowing where I was

going. And then I would use the rest of the day

to kind of mellow over how the next bit is going

to look.

So definitely planning helps me with that.

But also I think that if you do get a bit

of a block and you do this,

don't beat yourself up over it because I think the harder

you try for something,

the more difficult it becomes.

And I know we've talked about this already,

but I find that if I'm kind of having a bit

of a day where the words aren't coming,

if I just leave it and go for a walk,

get outside,

just pound the pavements for half an hour or so it

kind of frees up a different part of your brain and

you get back and you just feel calmer and then you

can carry on.

So I think taking a break is really good for keeping

the flow going.

If you like Fight it just release and more than likely

the ideas and thoughts will come to you.

Exactly. Just accept it.

We used to find that if I did get stuck,

I would tackle the ironing pile.

And that kind of,

I think because it was monotonous that would really help.

But this year I've realized because of COVID life is too

short to iron.

So we've kind of abandoned That that's so funny.

We do nice things denying that I'm walking.

I'm sure ideas get created and generated and expand than when

you're walking into.

Yeah. So if you've got somebody,

you can bounce ideas off.

If you've got people you can talk to.

I had a zoom meeting with my editor,

my agent this morning talking about this new book and we

were trying to solve one particular problem that I've got with

the planning.

And I started talking to them about it.

And as I was saying,

the words I knew what the solution was going to be.

So talking to people or talking at them sometimes can be

just as productive as going for a walk and doing the

planning. I think.

Well, that's a great idea.

Okay. So there's something that really makes me sad when I

read a book that I love.

And that is when it comes to the end.

I feel like I'm losing my friends because I've gotten so

entrenched in the characters and of course I'll have my favorites

and their journey.

And I don't want their journey to end.

I want to stay friends with them past the book time.

Yeah. This is a sign of a really good book.

Yeah. So how do you develop your characters?

Well, whenever the cherry tree cafe,

I wrote about a crafting cafe and one of the friends

was the Baker and the other was the Proctor.

So that kind of felt like a very natural amalgamation for

me. And it was fairly easy to kind of imagine these

two women pooling their resources,

joining forces to set up this business.

But when I came to write the second book,

which I wanted to be in the similar area to when

bridge, which is the town where a lot of the books

are set,

so then we had another female lead.

But what I found was I didn't want to write that

book in isolation.

I wanted to be going back into the pan and I

wanted to be going back into the cafe.

So in all of my books,

there are threads that run through all of them.

So that feeling that you get when you leave those characters

behind, at the end of the book,

you kind of know with my books that it's not the

end, because at some point in a subsequent title,

they're going to pop back up again and you're going to

get to him a little bit more about them.

And it just sort of happens organically.

Rarely. They just become fixed in your head.

Now, quite Lizzie Dickson,

who is the main character in the first book is a

huge fan of vintage clothes.

And whenever I'm out shopping and if I see something venture

to always think,

Oh, Lizzie would like that.

I can't tell her because she's not real.

But I kind of think about that.

There is real to me as my friends are.

So do you think when you were putting together the characters,

do you think that okay,

the Baker is going to be a little bit stingy or

very general?

Like, do you start giving attributes to your characters before you

start writing?

Or how do the personalities build up?

Stay tuned for Heidi's answer on how she develops her characters.

Plus don't forget,

she's going to be reading from her Christmas story in just

a few minutes.

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I such a difficult question to answer because when you've got

the idea of who you want to be the star of

the book,

if you like quite often,

for me,

they'll walk in and just present their personality.

They were ready quite fully formed.

But if I do get stuck,

I have like a character questionnaire.

So I will ask all these questions,

which will give me a much more rounded character that hasn't

got things on there.

Like what color hair have they got?

And what color eyes?

It's things like,

what would they be doing on a Saturday morning?

What food have they got in their fridge?

What book have they got on their nightstand?

And it's all these kinds of little questions helped you create

somebody who's three dimensional instead of two.

I guess I love that so much.

And I have to break here and say this to everybody

who's listening because often in the business world we're talking about,

well, who's your ideal customer.

And many times we just go very surface level.

Like there are certain age group women,

men, like all of that,

but what you just described,

what types of magazines do they read?

What do they do on the weekends?

All of that to the point that we can get deeper

to that level,

we can then speak to that person so much better.

Yeah, absolutely.

So it sounds like sometimes your characters just create themselves to

you as you're going.

Yeah, they definitely do to start the book.

So you start writing and you're kind of getting to know

them and then there's a point you don't even realize it's

happening, but there's a point where they just kind of take

over and you might want them to do one thing.

And it's like,

you really think I would do that.

You really think I would react in that way or talk

in that way or whatever.

And quite often they will end up running the show if

you like,

they can't,

I'm guided by them.

That sounds really weird.

Doesn't it?

No, it sounds fascinating.

It sounds like so much fun.

It is fun.

Yeah, it is.

Are you ever stressed by deadlines this year?

I have found it difficult,

not so much at the beginning.

I think at the beginning of the year we were all

right. We're to beat this.

We're all very optimistic and we're focused and we're driven and

we're going to get through it.

But kind of as the year's gone,

I found it harder.

I had a deadline for next summer's book and I also

had a family bereavement at the same time as the deadline.

And I had to ask for a week's extension,

which is quite unusual.

I don't usually ask for an extension,

but I kind of needed that.

Sure. Because you have to be in the zone and in

the mood to write properly Writing.

The first draft is fine.

I can breeze through that generally,

but this was writing the second draft.

So you'll find tuning at which takes a lot more concentration.

I needed that the extension,

but I've kind of got used to having a lot of

deadlines because I write two books a year.

You've always got two books on the go in effect.

I mean,

like at the moment I'm promoting the winter garden,

I am about to start the copy editor of a taste

of home,

which comes out next April.

But I am also planning and beginning to think about writing

the first draft of the book,

which comes out next Christmas.

So, you know,

you're juggling all these things and I think I've got used

to it,

but I have to be organized.

I have my schedule and I have my planner.

And if I know I've got X amount to do by

a certain day,

I kind of,

I feel comforted by that because I break it down into

chunks that I know I can manage.

It makes sense.

The only reason I was asking you,

if you were feeling stressed about it is because your character

sounded like they come and the writing comes so naturally that

you almost wouldn't have any pressure for a deadline,

but you're also human.

You're like all of us and Oh my gosh,

I can't even imagine working on three books at once.

Your mind has to flip back and forth to whose part

of that book,

where am I in the story?

And especially because as if your characters evolve and they jump

from book to book,

you might present something with a character in a book that

like coming up in the future.

So you definitely can't say anything about it.

If you're working on a book that's before that,

You know,

the strange thing is this book in the winter garden,

there's quite a lot of Christmas in there.

It's not a Christmas book or say like the others,

but it's definitely got Christmas in there.

And there's a lot of talk about,

I'll say what it is,

but there's a lot of talk about one particular thing.

And when I was talking to my agent and editor this

morning, we kind of realized that actually this thing that we're

talking about in the winter garden is going to be able

to come out and play a really important part in the

book that comes out next Christmas.

So it's almost like my brain is doing it automatically and

thinking X number of books ahead,

because they've all sat in similar area,

you've got all this,

just like one massive,

big community,

really? So we've got the setting of wind bridge,

which is a town in the fence.

We've got Nightingale square,

which is set in the city of Norridge.

And then we've got the new setting of women myth,

which is at the seaside,

but all of these places have characters that link them together.

So you've got to gotta be as familiar with it all

as you are with your own family.

Really? Yeah.

I can imagine.

I am so excited to dive into these.

I can barely even stand it.

They sound marvelous.

Okay. One more question.

Before we have you read a little bit from your book.

Okay? Yeah.

Do you have a favorite character?

Oh, that's a rotten question.

I have to push you a little bit.

That's right.

Okay. No,

you'll love them all.

I do love them all,

but actually I think my favorite character is probably Gemma who

owns the cherry tree cafe.

Now she is never been a main character.

She is always a supporting lady,

but I just love how she runs the cafe.

She has kids.

She has a marriage.

As you read through the books,

there are other side businesses that she launches to be running,

as well as the cafe.

She's very strong and she's very supportive and she is kind

of like the hub of the community.

Yeah. She's an amazing character.

I felt going to have a t-shirt with be more Gemma

printed on it.

I love her.

She's amazing.

I'm going to say to him.

Okay. And are you feeling like a little guilty about all

your other characters right now?

So I can see them all kind of lining up behind

me with a bit of a scale on that.

It's not trying to get you to choose your favorite child.

That's just impossible.

People often ask me,

which is my favorite male character.

And my standard answer to that is that I'm always in

love with the leading man that I've just written about.

I guess it's because he's all shown in new and fresh

out of the box.

I love that.

It's always the most recent male character.

All right.

Well, virtual hugs to all your characters because they're all important

and they're all special.

I get that.

Well, you've classified them now.

They'll kind of recede into the background again.

That's grant.

Okay. All right.

Perfect. All right.

Well, I am going to hand it over to you and

this is our special treat to everyone.

Who's listening a little bit of a Christmas gift to them

from you.

Mostly. I'd love for you to read a little bit and

I gave you free reign,

whichever book,

whatever you wanted to do.

So Heidi,

take it away.

Thank you.

I'm really excited about this.

I spent ages this morning trying to decide what to read.

And I have gone for a scene from my first Christmas

book called mince pies and mistletoe at the Christmas market.

Now this is book three in the wind breech series.

So we've already got the cherry tree cafe set up.

And the main character in this book is called Ruby.

Now, when the cherry tree opened,

Ruby was doing her a levels.

So she was kind of 17,

18, and getting ready to go to university.

And by the time mince,

pies and mistletoe was written,

she had been to university.

She had finished her degree and she had moved back to

the town to live with her parents for a while.

She was just taking a bit of a break and Gemara

and Lizzie.

They encouraged her to set up a market store on the

wind bridge market.

The market was flagging a little bit and it needed revitalizing.

So Ruby took on the challenge of setting up the store,

but she helped out with lots of other things.

Well, and because I know lots of you craft,

as I thought it would be nice to read a scene

today that actually takes place in the cafe at one of

the crafting mornings.

So here we go.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to

the cafe,

hoping that my day indoors would warm my heart as well

as my hands.

And set me back on track.

Hey, you are being Lizzy throwing me my apron.

The second she heard the little bell announcing my rival.

You all sat there.

You have no idea how ready I am for this.

I told her I quickly tied.

My eight print in place,

looked up again and then stood open mouth.

All thoughts of what I had been going to say next

quickly, forgotten.

I spend around on the spot trying to take in the

magical transformation that had somehow happened overnight.

Wow. I grieved,

Oh wow.

The entire cafe had been decorated for Christmas in keeping with

the vintage style that Lizzie loved so much.

But with such finesse that it looked more like a cat

kits than inspired set for a photo shoot than a real

business paper chains in pretty pastoral shades.

Get the ceilings and doorframes along with pictures and napkins featuring

the little Rudolph that Lizzie had scaled down from the one

she painted with this Christmas swept on the crown and glory.

However, was her collection of vintage snow Globes,

which you had arranged along the shelves in the crafting area

and festooned with old-fashioned cotton balls,

snow looser,

and fairy lights.

The entire cafe looked like a very grownup grotto.

And I couldn't wait to welcome the customers and listen to

what they have to say about it.

It's cute.

Isn't it said Lizzie,

her own outfit,

cleverly matching the decor every year.

I say it,

but I don't think this place can get any prettier.

It's gorgeous.

I've been absolutely beautiful.

Thank you.

She blushed.

And in about half an hour,

it's going to be evening.

So let's get everything ready rather than just waiting on tables.

I was going to be helping out with the first festive

crafting session of the season.

A dozen keen crafters had signed up almost as soon as

the details of the event have been made available and they

were going to be making bespoke Christmas crackers in the crafting

area. Lizzie already had everything organized and arranged neatly in boxes,

much as I'd expected and beyond setting everything out.

There was actually very little left for me to do.

We're only going to have three tables that aren't set up

for craft is today said jammer as she rushed through the

basket of cutlery and I can easily manage to wait on

those myself.

So don't worry about spreading yourself.

Thin Ruby.

You just helped with the crafting what's on the menu.

I asked my mouth already watering in anticipation.

Simple said Gemma,

let's see.

Well, we've got Kesha's.

The triple cheese is to die for cutting Liberty,

a avocado and Walnut salad.

Gamma continued spiced,

butternut and sweet potato soup,

fresh hot buttered rolls.

Oh, Jemez stop.

I said stop.

I've been looking forward to today all week.

I don't want to wish the morning away just to get

on with lunch.

Gemma was delighted by my reaction.

There was no time to hear what she was going to

say though,

as the little bells sang out and the first of the

crafters arrived,

the noses were pinched and red and their fingers blue they're

spread for a steaming mug to warm them up and return

them to a healthier,

whew. Oh,

girls cried one.

As she took in the pretty theme before her,

this all looks adorable.

Lizzie, you are so clever.

I wish you'd come and decorate my house.

Now there's a thought said another eyeing Lizzie in an evidently

new light thought about offering combined services beyond the cafe.

Right? I said,

stepping forward in an attempt to get the session started,

why don't you all find a seat and I'll help Gemma

with the drinks half an hour later.

And almost every seat in the cafe was filled.

The chatter had risen above the level of the Christmas CD,

which was playing in the background and all thoughts of expanding.

The cherry tree empire had been forgotten for the time being

at least looking through the supplies and equipment.

I could see that Lizzie had cleverly chosen a huge variety

of papers in all sorts of colors and patterns for the

main body of the crackers.

My personal favorites with a pretty pastoral floral and polka dot

sheets, which matched cafe decor,

along with the more traditional roles which were patterned with Holly

IBM mistletoe,

there were ribbons and bows to match all options.

Along with the obligatory snap,

paper, hats and cardboard innards.

Some of the group I noticed had decided not to use

the novelties and jokes applied and came prepared with their trinkets

and treats of their own,

which they spread out on the table for everyone to admire.

These bespoke crackers were going to be given to their owners

with matching labels,

with a recipient's name in Lizzie's neatest handwriting written on them.

So the gift was guaranteed to get to the right person.

Once everyone has had a trial run and refined their technique,

they settled down and the chatter gradually quietened as they focused

on their work.

The crackers didn't take all that long to put together a

once practice inside the beautiful matching boxes.

Lizzie had sourced and tied up with ribbon.

They looked extremely smart.

I particularly liked the sets which had the ends of the

paper shaped by dextrous use of some clever scholar.

Bladed scissors.

Lizzie had presented with a flourishing,

started the session.

Most of the boxes held six crackers together,

but practically everyone was making more.

And I guess that a lot were going to be given

away as gifts just as I had hoped the hours spent

in the soothing embrace of the cozy cherry tree cafe that

proved a calming balm for my storyboard mind and watching Gemma's

zipper about with her competent skillset and efficient organization made me

realize that with her at the helm in the town hall

kitchen, the bake sale next week was bound to be a

success. In fact,

by the time I helped clear away the empty plates and

bowls, I was really Beginning to look forward To it.

There you go.

And that was a little taste of life for the cherry

tree cafe.

I want to go.

What's the address?

Isn't it gorgeous.

And it has a flowering cherry tree out the front with

tables and chairs that you can sit outside.

So if you've got your dog,

you can sit there with the dog and Oh,

it's just,

it's lovely.

Oh, I can see it.

Thank you so,

So much for reading that it was marvelous.

I love your style.

I was here Just with my eyes closed,

totally drawn into the story 100%.

Oh, I love that.

Thank you.

It was beautiful.

Thank you so much.

You have an amazing,

Easy writing style and you read wonderfully as well.

Do you also transition things into audio books?

No, I don't.

I have a lovely reader called Karen Cass and she reads

the audio books for me.

And do you know what I have to admit that when

the paperbacks arrive,

I opened the box and I read the dedication and I

read the acknowledgements in the back and I very,

very rarely dive back into the book.

Yeah. Once it's out there,

I kind of,

I don't know.

I know I'm going to be happy with it,

but yeah,

I never read them,

but actually,

because it's a long time since I wrote mince pies and

mistletoe, I really enjoyed it.

And I realized now why everybody's still in love with the

cherry tree cafe.

That's right.

Yeah. And we all are going to be too,

because I know they're going to be a lot of people

who are going to want to grab all these books and

read them.

So where would people go to find your books?

I think where you are in the U S I think

your best bet is to go to Amazon.

I had a look on amazon.com

this morning and they are all listed on there.

They're all on ebook and paperback and audio too.

So I think you should be able to get them just

as easily as I can here in the UK.

Beautiful. Okay.

And I'm like,

not even kidding you when we are done recording,

I'm going onto Amazon.

Wonderful. I'm really serious about that.

I am.

And I'm glad you're not going back and reading because I

want you writing more.

I want more already.

Well, I can't remember if it was this year or last

year. I think it was the end of last year.

I signed a full book deal.

I usually sign a two or three,

but this time we went for a full book deals.

There were three more to write in that deal.

So there are loads to come and every time I kind

of get to the end of a book,

the idea for the next couple of already starting to come

in, which is great.

Are they all the type of thing where they merge characters,

one character transcends or appears?

Yeah, they are.

So I wrote the first few set in when bridge and

then I moved to Norridge in Nightingale square.

And there was the main character who moved there,

had relatives back in when bridge,

there was kind of like crossover.

And it's the same with the seaside setting in wind methods.

Well, there are characters there who are linked to other places

and in the winter garden,

a couple of the characters take a day trip to the

seaside. So you briefly cap that with people in the pub

and on the beach and yeah.

So they're all kind of,

they're all interlinked.

Okay. Oh my gosh.

So excited.

Thank you so much for sharing.

And as we wind down here,

will you talk with us a little bit about what Christmas

looks like for you over in the UK,

how you traditionally celebrate,

we're going to skip this year,

but as a traditional Christmas,

how would you be celebrating over there?

To be honest,

you know,

it's not going to be all that different for me.

I am going to miss going into the city.

I love going up to the city.

I love Christmas shopping as you might've guessed.

I'm a bit of a list-maker.

So my Christmas shopping is spread out along a good few

weeks and I will just shop for one person at a

time. Everything else is the same.

I love Christmas.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

And for me,

it always centers around home and family and food and films.

It's just such a wonderful opportunity to all come together.

And I'm a pagan lady as well.

So I celebrate the solstice on the 21st.

So we've got lots of greenery in the house,

lots of Holly and Ivy and mistletoe and candles,

but my one tradition that I won't break for anything.

And I'm hoping it's going to happen this year is that

I always listen to perils from Kings,

which happens here,

issue to screen here on Christmas Eve,

I guess about five o'clock in the evening,

perhaps a bit earlier than that.

And I always have to be sitting down with a glass

of mowed wine and a mince pie,

and I have to watch that.

That's one thing that I like to do exactly the same

time every year,

but everything else is kind of fairly flexible.

Yeah. I do a lot of baking and I love it.

I love it.

And what is your Christmas tree look like?

Christmas tree is we don't have a real tree.

We have an artificial tree and we've had it forever.

I mean,

it probably needs replacing,

but it's tradition and our tree is mostly gold and burgundy.

And I like to collect little form,

little deers,

and I've got so much,

you've got glitter row and they're all quite Ketch and some

which have velvet.

So we've got lots of those on there.

And lots of hand made decorations.

My mom's a great sower and she made some gorgeous decorations

recipe years ago and always on the top,

we have two angels and they're made from a kitchen roll

cut in half,

and they've got paper doily around them.

And I think one's got a crown,

which is made out of a yellow pipe cleaner.

And these are made by my kids when they were kind

of in their first year at school.

So like they were four and five.

And if I tell you that my children are now 20

and 25,

you kind of get an idea of how batter these angels

are, but they're always on top of the tree.

Beautiful. I can envision all of that now.

So wonderful.

Well, thank you so much,

Heidi, for coming on this special holiday week and sharing with

us a little bit within the book I said to you,

I'm so excited and gift biz listeners,

just jump over to Amazon and look for Heidi Swain,

just put in her name as the author,

and I'll also have links in the show notes page,

I'll link your first book and then the cherry tree cafe.

And then the one you just read from,

and then all your other books,

I'm sure will pop up there as well.

We'll show up and I'm on social media a lot as

well. And I love chatting to people on social media.

So if you search for me online,

I'm more than happy to chat with people and Connect beautiful.

So all traditional places,

Facebook, Instagram,

Pinterest. Yeah.

Wonderful. Well,

Heidi, a very,

very Merry Christmas to you.

And we're all going to look forward to the books that

are coming out in the future.

Thank you so much.

I'll just quickly take the opportunity to wish you all a

very, very Merry Christmas and a safe,

happy, and healthy new year.

So I have to tell you if I lived in the

UK, Heidi and I would be fast friends,

as we talked before and after recording the podcast,

we found more and more that we have in common,

but since I'm here and she's there,

I'll have to do with her books,

make no mistake.

The small clip,

it of the story she read is full of fancy and

Christmas fun,

but there's drama and emotion threaded throughout too.

I've been in chanted.

It will do your heart.

Good to experience Heidi story for yourself.

And then we could compare our favorite characters next week is

the final countdown of the year.

And I'm going out on a limb here,

but I'm thinking we're all looking forward to the calendar.

Rolling over.

a new year brings motivation and a revitalized sense of opportunity.

And that's the vibe I went for with our next guest.

We're freshening things up for the new year.

Thanks so much for spending time with me today.

If you'd like to show support for the podcast,

please leave a rating and review.

That means so much and helps the show get seen by

other makers.

It's a great way to pay it forward.

Have a beautiful,

peaceful and memorable Christmas,

even though it looks different this year,

we can still find beauty in the season.

Even if you celebrate a different holiday appreciating time with those

we can be with being in the moment and experiencing the

flicker of the fire.

Truly listening to the words of your favorite carols.

So many wonderful things to take in,

be safe and well.

And I'll see you next week on the gift biz unwrapped

podcast, Merry Christmas.

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

group called gift is breeze.

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

support each other.

Got a really fun post in there.

That's my favorite of the week.

I have to say where I invite all of you to

share what you're doing to show pictures of your,

to show what you're working on for the week to get

reactions from other people and just for fun,

because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody

in the community is making my favorite posts every single week,

without doubt.

Wait, what,

aren't you part of the group already,

if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search

for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.