Stepping into Christmas
In which I get exciting news that's been years in the making
My favourite Christmas song is “A Spaceman Came Travelling” by Chris de Burgh. I particularly like how, in de Burgh’s world, the language of the mysterious titular alien goes “La la la la la la la la la laaaa”. Magical stuff.
I do love Christmas though. I love every little part of it, especially the traditions, and I hope I always will. One of the Christmas traditions in the Lynch household for the past few years has been the Lucy Wilson Christmas Story.
For those of you who don’t know, Lucy Wilson is the granddaughter of Brigadier Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart from the classic era of Doctor Who. Along with her best friend Hobo, she protects the world (but mostly Ogmore-by-Sea) from threats from beyond this world. The Lucy Wilson Mysteries are officially licensed by the Haisman Estate, a legitimate part of Whoniverse canon. Just ask the TARDIS wiki.
I’ve written four Lucy Wilson Christmas stories so far. Given to overwriting as I am, they’ve become more like little novellas in their own right and have sneakily developed their own internal continuity. Last year Candy Jar brought together the last three stories, two of which had previously been given away as Christmas gifts to Candy Jar subscribers, in the very bold titled The Best Christmas Ever.
The three stories included are: ‘A Little Lucy Christmas’, a story about some traditional Christmas ornamentation that holds a very strange secret; ‘The Grey Lady of Martyr’s House’, a classic Christmas ghost story with more than a few hidden Easter eggs; and “The Krampus Who Came To Tea’, in which the fantastical creature Krampus comes to Ogmore-by-Sea looking for someone very naughty indeed.
You can order THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER direct from Amazon, delivered in plenty of time for Christmas.
The opportunity to write Lucy, Hobo, and her family has been hugely important to me. I’ve been a massive Doctor Who fan since I was a kid, my own kids are huge fans of it as well, so being able to have an officially licensed book out there in the year of Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary is really special. I do feel very lucky to be able to look at a book with my name on the from and FROM THE WORLD OF DOCTOR WHO on the back.
If you’re only familiar with my writing from Welcome to Neverbury then The Best Christmas Ever is a bit of a change of pace, as it’s written for a younger audience. However, it’s still just as spooky and weird and (dare I say it?) timey-wimey as any of my other work.
If you’ve got kids, I guarantee they will love it. (Well, my kids do anyway).