The Rushford Times - A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor

Sent on Wednesdays to paid subscribers and Fridays to free subscribers

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Oct 15, 2025

This week we have:

An update from Jodi
A David Sands Writing Competition entry: Banking on Hope by Sasha Grojean
This Week in History: Florence Nightingale - Social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing
The St Mary’s Short Stories Christmas Reading Challenge - Story Two in the Read all the St Mary’s Christmas Short Stories before Christmas Day Challenge is CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Jodi Taylor’s book recommendation: Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre.💙📚
October - Book of the Month: Out of Time
There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything new on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.

A busy week this week because it was my birthday on Monday. I am now 73 years old. If I were a dog, I’d be 219 so not being a dog is something to be grateful for. And 73 is Sheldon Cooper’s favourite number if I remember rightly. I myself do love a good prime number. In fact, I was 43 for two years running because I didn’t like the look of 44.

We marked the day with a family lunch, combining that with the pre-Christmas visit to Laithwaites for the purpose of replenishing the family wine lake.

While we’re on the subject of alcohol, the slightly-more-normal-brother-than-the-other-brother has moved into annual cider-making mode. There are apples all over the place and his garage is, more or less, a giant still. We have high expectations for this year’s crop.

In other news – as they say in much classier articles than this one – I’ve started on the next book – St Mary’s 15. Well, That Could Have Gone Better. I have an awful lot of notes for this one. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not. I often wonder whether it’s better to plan ahead – and we’ve all seen how rubbish I am at that – or just sit down with a mug of tea and start writing.

Speaking of writing, I’m still wrestling with Windows 11 which, in true Microsoft fashion, isn’t anywhere near as friendly as Windows 10. Do you think there’s any chance of them bringing back Windows 7?

The one good thing about the new version is that someone has put in a lot of work on the Voice to Text function. I flirted gently with this in Windows 10 but that function was either completely unable to cope with my accent or it was actually deranged. I was unable to get anything sensible from it but this version is brilliant.

Except it’s been programmed not to accept naughty words So instead of arse I get ***. Markham’s Spotted *** is hilarious. Even bitch is off the board. Nothing but censorious asterisks. It would appear I have been judged and found wanting by Microsoft ‘s AI which you might find useful because, obviously, whenever the machines rise up, they’ll all be coming for me. Save yourselves, my friends. Save yourselves.

Moving on from the deficiencies of Windows 11 – many thanks to everyone who turned up for the joint book launch with Caimh McDonnell at the Battersea Bookshop last Tuesday (CLICK HERE for a video of the event). It was lovely to see so many old friends there and many new faces, too. Plus lots of Caimh’s readers. The chairs had been laid out in rows with a central aisle, rather like a church, and I had visions of the bookshop staff greeting each guest with a glass of wine and saying, ‘Caimh or Jodi?’ Like ushers at a wedding. You know – the bride’s side and the groom’s side? Presumably those who’d come to see us both had to swap sides at half time.

And finally, huge thanks to all the wonderful people who have bought a copy of Out of Time. An astonishing number of people have FINISHED IT ALREADY. Again, people – six months to write, six months for Headline to put it all together, and you lot finish it in less than 24 hours!

But thank you anyway. Have a good week.

Love Jodi x

Banking on Hope by Sasha Grojean

Wake up, lay in bed, and stare at the ceiling in existential dread for a good half hour before summoning up the energy to face the morning. This had been my life for the past few months. Two years ago, my daily routine had started with energy and joie de vivre, bounding out of bed and straight into the kitchen for that first cup of delicious, sweet nectar of the gods - I think you might call it tea. I had been the textbook definition of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, all excitement and motivation.

It had been my dream job, working for a university. Culture had always been my passion - understanding how people worked, what brought them together, what tore them apart. I truly believe culture is the basis for how we operate within the world - religion, language, government, fashion and more all build upon it and interact with it, but they all tie into this wonderful holistic, often intangible concept of culture - of who we are, the sum of our parts, bigger than just one being. Stronger together, and all that.

Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 into a wealthy and well connected British family in Florence, Tuscany, from which she took her name. The family returned to England the following year, dividing their time between Embley Park in Hampshire and Lea Hurst in Derbyshire. Her father, William Nightingale, believed strongly in education for women, and Florence and her elder sister Parthenope were taught history, mathematics, Italian, philosophy, and classical literature, an unusually broad curriculum for girls of their class.

From an early age, Florence displayed a talent for collecting and analysing data, a skill that would later underpin her reforms in healthcare. Yet her intellectual ambitions set her apart from the expectations of her mother and sister, who were dismayed when she rejected the traditional path of marriage and social duties. Instead, she devoted herself to nursing, a profession that at the time was considered unsuitable for women of her standing.

The St Mary’s Short Stories Christmas Reading Challenge

Story Two in the Read all the St Mary’s Christmas Short Stories before Christmas Day Challenge

Who’s up for joining in the St Mary’s Christmas Reading Challenge? You simply need to read the 11 St Mary’s Christmas stories and leave a comment below each story as you finish them. We will feature one story a week up to Christmas.

This week’s book is Christmas Present

CLICK HERE

Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre.💙📚

Journalist Jack Parlabane leads an investigation into supposed medium, Gabriel Lafayette, who apparently possesses almost magical psychic powers. There’s a lot of power and prestige at stake and Jack does his best to expose Lafayette as a fraud, despite the minor inconvenience of being dead.

Brilliantly plotted, entertainingly told, and with the bonus of a couple of classic Brookmyre rants as well.

Fun and very enjoyable.

Buy on Amazon

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