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 - You’ll never guess what I got for Christmas!

• Author interview with Eva St.John - author of The Quantum Curators and The Norwich Map Runners series

• Jodi Taylor’s Book Recommendation: The Murder at the World’s End by Ross Montgomery💙📚

• This week in History: 29 December 1170: The Murder of Thomas Becket

• 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.

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You’ll never guess what I got for Christmas!

Oh – sorry, where are my manners? I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I really should have led with that because it’s polite. Having apologised, I normally go on to say I was raised by wolves, but every time I do that, my mother comes around and gives me a good talking to. So I’m not going to.

But back to my Christmas.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it but I do have a bit of a crush on Matt Damon. The Martian, We Bought a Zoo – great music, The Great Wall and countless others – I’m there for all his films. Mug of tea, slab of chocolate only slightly smaller than the coffee table – that’s me all set to go on yet another Mattfest.

Anyway, contrary to my oft-expressed opinion, it would appear that my family actually do listen to me! Occasionally. Who knew? Because ripping open a small and apparently innocuous package what do I find?

Yes, you’re right – Matt Damon. Well done. What was your first clue?

You have to blow him up first. (Don’t start – all the jokes have already been made, the comments uttered, the gestures gestured. No one can possibly have anything new to contribute.)

A great deal of blowing later … will you stop laughing … Matt is inflated and all ready to go. I swear I will throw buckets of cold water over all of you if you don’t calm down. He’s taken up his rightful position in the armchair in my bedroom where I anticipate sparkling dialogue and intellectual chats on the burning issues of the day. Chaperoned, obviously, by my other big pressie – Alexa. So that’s three of us in there now.

So far, Alexa has read to us, played some white noise – not sure why but hey, who cares, given us a Minion fanfare, done the Scaramouche Scaramouche thing, performed a chapter of Out of Time, and established the square root of 1,467,834.114598. Which, admittedly, took her some time. In fact, she came out with the answer at about 4.30 this morning and frightened everyone to death. Unlike the absolutely no trouble at all Matt, I feel Alexa and I might need to work on our relationship.

So, anyway, best wishes to everyone for the upcoming New Year. Matt and I will see you very soon.

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Author interview with Eva St.John - author of The Quantum Curators and The Norwich Map Runners series

What inspired you to embark on a writing career, and how did your journey as an author begin?

I own a bookshop and found that customers kept asking for suggestions for a local walk. After a while of scribbling directions on scraps of paper, I decided to pull everything together to write a walking guide. From there, I decided to try writing fiction as well. I’ve always loved telling stories, so I thought I would give it a go.

Can you describe your writing process? Do you follow a structured outline, or is your approach more organic?

I try to follow a plot. I certainly know how a story ends - mostly. But sometimes it’s a single scene that grabs my attention, and then I build a story around it.

Which authors or books have significantly influenced your writing style and thematic choices?

I don’t know that any writer has influenced my writing style, that’s such a tough question, but if I could throw a sentence together the way PG Wodehouse can, I would be delighted. His prose is so light and delivers whopping great punches that have me laughing out loud.

Thematically, I was first captured by Asimov. I loved his ideas and puzzles, and then I discovered Le Guin; her ability to question the human condition was eye-opening. Those were my first great loves and I have always been a voracious reader of speculative fiction in all its genres.

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The Murder at the World’s End by Ross Montgomery💙📚

As you can see, I’m still on the mass slaughter at Christmas thing – and I thought I’d give this one a whirl. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s pretty good so far.

Set in England 1910, Halley’s Comet is on the way – the population is reacting with its usual calm good sense – and everyone is preparing for the end of the world and the annihilation of all life. The World’s End of the title is an island frequently cut off from the mainland – obviously – and Tithe House is the scene of the murder. To protect the residents from the comet’s supposed poison gasses, the owner, an eccentric aristocrat, has ordered the house to be locked, the windows boarded up and everyone, guests and servants alike, to be sealed in their rooms. Until the danger has passed and they can begin new lives

Naturally, at some point in the dark night, the owner is murdered. Crossbow bolt through the eye – as per Harold at Hastings, apparently.

The police are ineffective so solving the crime falls to an irascible old lady – oh, how I identify – together with her maid and Stephen, the second footman.

I’m really enjoying it so far. Give it a go and see what you think.

Have you enjoyed this book too?

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This Week in History: 29 December 1170: The Murder of Thomas Becket

On 29th December 1170, one of the most shocking acts of violence in medieval European history took place within the walls of Canterbury Cathedral. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and the most senior churchman in England, was cut down by four knights while attending to his ecclesiastical duties. The killing reverberated far beyond England, reshaping relations between church and crown for generations and leaving a permanent mark on medieval political thought.

Becket was not born a rebel. The son of a prosperous London landowner, he rose through ability and royal favour to become Chancellor of England under King Henry the Second. In this role, he was loyal, efficient and worldly, vigorously defending royal interests and living in a manner befitting a powerful courtier. When Henry secured Becket’s appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, he expected a trusted ally who would support his efforts to bring the English church more firmly under royal control.

The transformation that followed surprised and infuriated the king. Becket embraced his new role with uncompromising seriousness, adopting an austere lifestyle and defending the autonomy of the church with unexpected ferocity. The central issue was jurisdiction. Henry sought to limit the privileges of the clergy, particularly the right of church courts to try clerics accused of serious crimes. Becket resisted, arguing that ecclesiastical independence was divinely sanctioned and essential to the moral authority of the church.

The dispute reached a crisis with the Constitutions of Clarendon in 1164, a set of royal customs intended to define the limits of papal and ecclesiastical authority in England. Becket initially appeared to accept them, then withdrew his consent, claiming his conscience would not allow it. The breach with Henry widened into open hostility. Accused of financial impropriety and contempt of royal authority, Becket fled into exile in France, where he remained for six years.

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December - Book of the Month: The Something Girl, Joy To The World and Storm Christopher

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