My Favourite Christmas... by Jill Mansell

Welcome back to my Christmas 2011 feature! As you know, I've asked lots of authors to write something about their favourite Christmas, and I've been lucky to have a great response. Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming the fab Jill Mansell!

I will actually take a bet that I watch more Christmas films than any other author. As lots of people now know, I always have the TV on while I'm working. As soon as the Christmas cable channels start plying their wares, I'm there. I know all the movies and can watch them again and again. Go on, test me, I have most of them permanently imprinted in my brain!

I adore decorating the outside of our house ready for Christmas. In our road hardly anyone else does it. We don't go completely wild but I do love the icicle lights and plenty of glitter. And inside, we have a couple of trees, lots of candles and fairy-lights galore. My best new buy is a long-handled lighter that means I can light dozens of candles-in-jars and tea-lights without endlessly burning my fingers. Life-changing! We also enjoy decorating my bear. His name is Bear and there's a photo of him below - isn't he a fine figure of a bear?

We'll be here at home, as usual, for Christmas, with the rest of the family coming to us. We'll cook all the traditional food and have a wonderful day, and in the evening will crash out in front of the TV amid a sea of new stuff that doesn't yet have a proper home. On Boxing Day we'll go to our local pub with friends for a raucous afternoon of Christmas Karaoke. Food will be traditional Boxing Day things - hams and pickles and absolutely anything left over from the day before. The more cold roast potatoes there are, the better. Last year I sprinkled iridescent glitter over them for added pizazz. This year I've bought edible gold spray...

The other fabulous thing about Christmas is not doing any writing for a few days, which I probably shouldn't admit. Well, it's nice to have a break from all that hard work! But I'll always be secretly gathering ideas for future books, so it still manages to count as research.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, everyone. And look, here's Bear!

You can read my review of Jill's latest book To The Moon and Back here. Jill's next boko A Walk In The Park is due out on 16th February 2012, and you can pre-order it in paperback or eBook now.