SHOULD BE IN BELFAST....

if misty ropes of fog hadn't been swathing the runway and causing my flight to be cancelled :((

Instead of landing in a city I've heard so much about but which I haven't visited since I was about five - I am staring out of the window at the familiar view from my writing room. I know there are things I could be doing. Things I should be doing. But it's funny how your mind becomes a butterfly when your plans are thrown up into the air.

So here's a festive photo, because....

Well, because it's nearly Christmas, I guess.

Any exciting anecdotes about delayed travel?

FESTIVE GREETINGS, HURRAH AND PROMISES

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - and if you're celebrating something different - I hope that everybody has a fabulous time.

As usual, I seem to have ended up with too many presents still to wrap....

I've spent the morning cooking (a motley mixture of two different types of chilli and some cauliflower cheese! This is because my son's Christmas Eve party has now become an annual event) - and I know that there are a whole pile of things I should be doing - if only I could remember them.

But one of the reasons for my disorganisation is that I have spent the last few days tweaking my latest manuscript and my editor has just phoned to say that it's been accepted. Hurrah! What a lovely way to start the holiday!

So for all you readers who wanted to know if Zahid and Francesca had their own story - well, they do now!

For everyone who has read and commented on this blog - thank you. And for all the people who still haven't received their prize-winning books - these will be reaching you very soon.

Try to listen to the Carols From Kings - which start at 3pm GMT today, sung live from Cambridge - and which you should be able to access due to the marvels of modern technology. The sound of that lone choir-boy's voice is pure, spine-tingling perfection.

I wish you all peace. And love.

Sharon

Christmas....and a new book!

I love the cover of this book, THE FORBIDDEN INNOCENT - which is out in the UK now.

It's a book which has an interesting little back-story of it's own....

Last year I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at the Cheltenham Literary Festival (weirdly, I have given Nick Clegg a name check, in those faraway days when he was just another Lib-Dem politician who probably thought he'd never set foot in 10 Downing Street.....wouldn't life be peculiar if we could each look into a crystal ball?).

It was at Cheltenham that I had to talk about Jane Eyre (among other great classics) and had to hurriedly read it up beforehand. As a latecomer to the book, I completely fell in love with it - so much so, that when I mentioned this to one of our editors, she suggested I write a modern version for Harlequin Mills & Boon.

A daunting prospect! But what is life without challenge? So, I wrote the story of Ashley and Jack and the isolated and harsh landscape they inhabit. Some things about the story have changed to fit in with the times but I hope that the emotions are the same. A young, innocent girl who falls in love with a tortured man, with secrets he dare not share.....

I'd love to know what you think of it.

(CHEERY CHRISTMAS LOGO!)

And the photo featured below was taken by a pal who demanded I showcase it on my blog!

So here's a snowy fir, to get you in the mood for the festive season.

Are you knee-deep in wrapping paper?

Searching for those hidden presents and wondering where on earth you hid them?

Or have you given into the lure of the mince-pie?

Do tell what Christmas preparations take place in your part of the world.

Maybe you treat it as just another day....

TWO TYPES OF PIANO

Yesterday, I was singing carols around a baby-grand piano (and eating far too much pastry) during a glorious afternoon spent in London.

Hurtling by train through the foggy and still-frozen snowy fields of Hampshire - I was amazed to be greeted by bright blue skies and sunshine the minute I arrived in Canary Wharf.

And when I stood on the terrace of my friends' apartment - it looked and felt as if I was on a luxury cruise-liner, headed for some balmy destination.

It was also an extremely inspirational day - because this is exactly the kind of achingly-cool urban penthouse in which one of my heroes would live.

Look in the distance and you will see Renzo Piano's controversial Shard which is in the process of being built.




And here's the Christmas tree in the dining room. Quel view!

And the best carol?

Silent night, probably (especially the verse sung in German).

Or Good King Wenceslas (sung in parts).

But every one of them gave me the requisite lump-in-throat-now-where-on-earth-did-I-put-my-tissues?

What did you do which was inspirational this weekend?

MORE CHRISTMAS IRRESISTIBILITY

Yesterday, I had lunch at Skye Gyngell's sublime restaurant at Petersham Nurseries - which was a fairyland of creamy candles, sprays of green foliage and waxy, scented gardenias. And lots of Christmas trees....

Look closely and you'll see that (in true panto fashion) there's one behind me!

It is the most incredible place to eat - full of light and atmosphere and using locally-sourced incredients wherever possible. Somewhere in among the branches behind me in this photo - a little robin is hopping around.

It took some time before I could be persuaded to remove my coat because the temperature outside was ARCTIC! But the restaurant helpfully provides soft, tweedy blankets which you can snuggle up in. We ended wrapping them around our waists, sarong-style and staging an imprompu fashion show (thanks to the diners on the next table for applauding!).

And the best part of the meal? The conversation, naturally - though the baked ricotta and Italian peasant soup came a close second.

I'm off to a wedding this afternoon - after I've scraped an inch of ice from my windscreen....what will you be doing this weekend?

IRRESISTIBLE

Once again, I visited Waddeson Manor - the luscious Oxfordshire pile belonging to the Rothschild family. Only this time, Christmas had come early.

Usually, I'm one of those people who try to hold off from buying a tree or being bewitched by twinkly lights until the very last minute - but this time I just couldn't resist cooing in admiration.

The slightly spooky soaring building was enhanced by Christmas trees....




Which, when viewed en masse - looked a little like a troupe of Daleks gathering before attack (question: are Daleks famous throughout the world?).

And has Christmas "got" to you yet?