Poppy’s Christmas Wishes

I’m absolutely delighted to be a part of the Blog Tour for Poppy’s Christmas Wishes. This is Annette’s third book and the author has very kindly written a Christmassy piece for you. Enjoy… 


I absolutely love Christmas and usually start reading festive books in November but this year I’ve only had time to read one, (Underneath the Christmas Tree by Heidi Swain,) as I’ve been working hard on my own novel. 
I’m delighted to say that Poppy’s Christmas Wishes was published in ebook on 2and December and should be out in paperback on Monday and the reviews so far have been amazing, check out the blogs on this tour if you’d like to read some. 
I’ve also been told they make perfect Christmas presents.

Poppy’s Christmas Wishes is a very special book for me because although it’s my third published novel it is the first one I wroteand probably the one that has taught me the most about writing. 
Having always wanted to write I found I got stuck after the first few pages because I didn’t know what to write about. Then one night I was on a Christmas night out and my friend and I got talking to a guy who told us he was playing a genie in Aladdin. 
This sparked an idea which five years later I wrote about, the idea of a woman meeting a genie on a night out I found intriguing. It took a while and two more books to find my voice and then Wedding Bells at the Signal Box Café was published, quickly followed by The Cosy Little Cupcake Van. 

The more I wrote the more I learnt and as a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Society’s New Writers’ Scheme I was entitled to a critique of the manuscript, the first one that came back about Poppy was very honest and I realised I needed to do a lot of work on it and I still had so much to learn. You have to develop a thick skin in publishing because professionals will just be truthful, and you need to be able to take advice without taking offence. I tried to take something positive from every rejection and use it to improve the final manuscript. You don’t have to make all the recommended changes that your editor suggests but it’s good to ask yourself why they are asking for that change as it probably means something isn’t quite working and together you can find another way toachieve that aim that keeps you both happy.

After my first novel was published,I still had the opportunity to have a manuscript critiqued so I submitted Poppy’s Christmas Wishes again and the report came back really positive. Shortly afterwards it was requested by Orion Dash and after a little more editing it was finally published, five years after it was written.

I loved Poppy’s story and had such a lot of fun writing it and I really enjoyed popping back into the book with each edit as I could see it improving each time.I’m often asked how I get in the Christmas mood when writing out of season and the answer is 

that I light a vanilla frosting candle or my cinnamon and orange wax melts and I sometimes put on a Christmas film if I’m in the house alone. The truth is I don’t need an excuse to watch a Christmas film.

I am delighted to have a Christmas book out as I’ve always loved them. I wanted it to be lots of fun and to reflect the strong friendships I have with some of my friends and encapsulate them in book form. 
I couldn’t believe it when the lovely Heidi Swain provided me with an amazing quote which I felt captured the essence of the book perfectly. “A heartwarming read,full

of friendship and fun.”Heidi Swain.

I hope Poppy’s Christmas Wishes brings lots of comfort and joy to anyone who needs it for this Christmas and for many more to come.

Thank you so much Julie for having me on your lovely blog.

Annette x x