HAPPY BONFIRE NIGHT or if you’re a stickler for tradition, Happy Guy Fawkes Day from my little part of the United Kingdom!
Photo by Caroline McFarland on Unsplash
First of all I want to say a big thank you to all those who downloaded my free books over the last fortnight.
I would also like to wish a big hearty welcome to all those who have subscribed to my website! You will be among the first to find out when my next books are published and you will never miss out on one of my romance freebies.
Preparing for Halloween and Guy Fawkes' Day
It certainly has been a bit of a rush recently between getting my romance freebies The First Romance with the Earl and A Date at the Pumpkin Cafe ready for publishing in October. All the while writing A Summer Romance with the Earl and preparing for Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day which in my household tends to stretch into a week-long celebration.
But as I love writing the best stories I can to entertain my readers, giving each of you a slice of village life to escape into is certainly less of a trick and more of a treat for me.
Meanwhile Autumn Marches On…
Speaking of village life, the mornings have been filled with the call of geese as they announce their return to our local lake, the clocks have gone back for Autumn and the neighbouring sycamore trees in their autumnal garb have been sprinkling the garden with helicopter seeds.
Meanwhile I’ve been getting the thermals out of storage, lighting candles which fill the house with the scent of cinnamon and mulled wine as they brighten the lengthening evenings and I’ve already heard the pop and crack of distant fireworks as we march towards winter.
For me, Halloween and Bonfire Night always herald the beginning of the Christmas season, opening the door to the most magical time of the year.
Of Phoenixes and Infamous Pyromaniacs
More importantly in the United Kingdom, Bonfire Night also commemorates the failure of Guy Fawkes to blow up King James 1st in the Houses of Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. And yes this is the chap the J.K. Rowling named Dumbledore's phoenix after.
How do we Brits celebrate this foiled assassination attempt?
By placing an effigy of Mr. Fawkes on a bonfire and burning him to ashes.
Now it might seem a little bit ‘Wicker Man’ to be burning the likeness of someone on a pyre, especially when Guy Fawkes was trying to stop King James from persecuting Catholics, but the holding of fire festivals around this time of year actually predates Fawkes and even Christianity in British history.
And when I go into the neighbouring town I am often surprised to see children still carrying on the tradition by lugging their 'Guy' around on a sled and asking for “A Penny for the Guy” while their sock-stuffed effigy beams, oblivious to his fate.
Though I’m not sure about some towns’ traditions of burning effigies of past prime ministers… eek.
No Burning Effigies For Me This Year
I personally won’t be throwing a Guy on the bonfire this year, something about seeing a smiling man cheerfully going up in flames gives me a serious case of the collywobbles.
Instead my family and I will be attending a local fireworks display and little bonfire, then coming back to some mulled wine and butternut squash soup to welcome in the season. I plan to pinch the BBC’s lovely Butternut Squash recipe which includes just enough chillies to warm the cockles.
A Summer Romance with the Earl…
Meanwhile I’ll be making the most of that magical time between Bonfire Night and Christmas by reaching the end of my second draft of The Summer Romance with the Earl. And if you are subscribed I will let you know as soon as it’s out.
So I do hope you have enjoyed at least one of my free romance reads this fortnight. But if by any chance you have missed any of my freebies then please please please sign up so you don’t miss out next time, as I love giving away fresh new romances for my readers to escape into!
So have a lovely autumn here from the UK or if you live down under, spring.
And in the meantime, happy romance reading!
Kate
P.S. And if you really enjoyed one of my books and you know someone who would just love it then get them to click Get Free Books Here so they can get a freebie too!
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