The Rushford Times - A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor
Sent on Wednesdays to paid subscribers and Fridays to free subscribers
This week we have:
Jodi Taylor’s tree troubles
An exclusive extract from Murder at Martingale Manor - this year’s Christmas Day short story
This week in history: Cromwell Takes Charge: The Day England Tried a New Kind of Power
Author interview with Jack Bale
December - Book of the Month: The Something Girl, Joy To The World and Storm Christopher
There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.
OK – if we could all pay attention, please, because this is a little complicated.
Some of you will have seen the photo on my Facebook page of my lovely Christmas tree this year. The pretty silver one, beautifully decorated by me. The Symphony in Silver as I like to call it
Unfortunately, the very next day – no, you haven’t been Whammed so don’t panic – the tree stopped working. I switched it on and absolutely nothing happened. The lights, which are an integral part of the tree, had stopped working for some reason and without them, basically, it’s just a silver stick. Words cannot convey my distraughtness.
However, I am not without resource and unearthing a couple of sets of fairy lights (battery operated) I draped those over the tree. The effect is not anywhere near as stunning as the original lights but it’s better than nothing.
I grumbled to various brothers as and when I encountered them, and, under strict supervision of one of them, I unplugged the tree, plugged it in again, and when that failed, I jiggled the cable – but in a technical manner. It wasn’t just any old cable-jiggle, you know. But all, sadly, to no avail.
Anyway, today a random brother turned up, bearing a plug. I have to say I didn’t think it would work because it was a different colour to the old plug but apparently that’s not the way these things function. Who knew? There was muttering and plug changing and dramatic switching on – you know what a meal blokes always make of these things – and – magical moment – the tree lit up. Success! I was actually conscious of unfamiliar feelings of gratitude towards him. But, however, this is me and nothing is ever that simple.
Firstly, the lights were flashing on and off – not something they’d ever done before and we were unsure whether this was intentional or a precursor to incineration.
Matters were further complicated when we discovered it wasn’t the tree lighting up at all but the fairy lights I had festooned it with as an emergency measure. Which is a little bit concerning because, as I’m sure I mentioned, the fairy lights are battery operated.
There followed intense fraternal discussion and to be strictly accurate, a fair amount of recrimination as well, most dating back to an incident in 1958. The details of which I am not prepared to divulge. The gist of the discussion, however, was that the tree now is very probably live, electrically speaking. This is not a Good Thing, apparently. I have been instructed to leave it alone for God’s sake and not to poke at it with wet fingers.
A new plug is on order – thank you, Amazon, and is due to be delivered tomorrow although the brother won’t be around due to an unfortunate encounter with his dentist. I’ve been instructed to ring him before I attempt anything electrical and then should the plugging-in result in a flash, a bang and prolonged silence on my part he will pop round and unplug everything before the building catches fire. According to him this will bring sibling standards of care to an unprecedented new level and render him eligible for the Brother of the Year Award. Apparently.
Watch this space for an update and a live (ha ha) update on the Christmas Tree Crisis of 2025.
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Exclusive Extract from Murder at Martingale Manor
Let’s be very clear about this. None of it was my fault. It wasn’t my idea to take a holiday. Yes, all right, it seemed a good decision at the time, but holidays never end well for me. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been persuaded to do something that is supposed to be good for me and ended up running for my life.
This particular holiday was no different. Blame Leon. I did.
‘Half an hour with the patient,’ said Nurse Hunter. ‘No longer.’
She closed the door behind her.
‘Well,’ said Leon, regarding me with his head on one side. ‘Just look at the state of you.’
This remark was not as incomprehensible as it seemed. I’d just returned from a stint in the future, working with – not for – the Time Police. It hadn’t gone well. Not for me, anyway. Hence Leon’s remark about the state of me.
I waved this aside. ‘All in the past. Well, the future, actually.’
He sat down at my bedside and began to rummage through my fruit bowl, which consisted of two apples and a banana rudely arranged by Markham and Peterson. Both of whom, you’d think, would be mature enough to be above that sort of thing.
Leon sighed. ‘Who shot you this time?’
I rather resented the this time.
CLICK HERE to pre-order from Amazon
This Week in History: Cromwell Takes Charge: The Day England Tried a New Kind of Power
On 16 December 1653, Oliver Cromwell accepted the title of Lord Protector and stepped into one of the most unusual roles in British history. The country had executed its king only a few years earlier, Parliament had torn itself apart, and the political experiment known as the Interregnum was close to collapse. Cromwell’s new position offered a bold answer to a question no one had ever had to solve before: how do you run a nation that has removed its monarchy but has not agreed on what should replace it?
Author interview with Jack Bale
Welcome to Jack Bale…
What inspired you to embark on a writing career, and how did your journey as an author begin?
My journey as a fiction author began late in life after 25 years in publishing. It started with the unsettling question : what if the voice inside your head wasn’t yours?
The answer to that question became Merlin’s Game, in which the character of Jean-Patrique was born and the consequences of his inner struggle has serious consequences for those unfortunate enough to be in his life. The character took control, and the writing began to flow while I was on a winter holiday in Mallorca, and eventually the plot extended to some of my other favourite locations around Europe.
December - Book of the Month: The Something Girl, Joy To The World and Storm Christopher
Please follow instructions. For once. I do *not* want to see a headline reading 'Popular Gloucester Author Immolated in Domestic Fire Drama'
I don't bother with Christmas tree lights, I have your books to brighten my dreary winter days. (Western Canada is at least as bad as England). So I am really looking forward to reading the rest of TP7 and is that TP8 at the bottom?