On a bright September morning, the doors opened for our very first Bookshop Celebration festival, to coincide nicely with the Bookshop opening full time. Over 80 bookish people gathered, not quite sure what they had let themselves into (and neither were we to be honest!) and eleven wonderful Authors joined us for a full day of books, food and laughter.

Event Panels

• Creating characters that we love to hate – Chaired by Anne Corlett featuring Daniel Cole, Sarah Clarke and M J White.
• Representation in Fiction – Chaired by Emma-Claire Wilson featuring Linda Corbett, Emily Critchley, Ella Allbright and Helly Acton.
• Fact or Fiction – Bringing self into writing & re-writing history – Chaired by Ella Allbright featuring Helly Acton, Anne Corlett, Emma-Claire Wilson, Amanda Prowse, Judith Heneghan and Sarah Clarke.

Interviews

• Emma-Claire Wilson interviewed Judith Heneghan about her latest novel, Birdeye, set in the Catskill Mountains upstate New York. An exceptional storyteller, Judith was under the interviewing eye as Emma-Claire probed to find out exactly what inspired her.
  
• Contemporary Romance Author turned Crime writer, Miranda Dickinson, put Daniel Cole under the spotlight to talk about the Ragdoll Series of books, Jackdaw, publishing and exactly how he managed to come up with such horrific but compelling storylines.
  
• We also heard from Emily Critchley, our September Book Club Author, as she was interviewed live on stage by guest book club member, Sarah Price and the audience got stuck in with questions too.
  
  Our guests were fed and watered through the day with freshly baked cookies on arrival, sandwiches, cream tea lunch, and cake to finish off with. There was time for bookshop browsing, and everyone left with a massive bag of bookish swag too!

Tea Leaves and Reads were generously supported by eleven wonderful Authors and their publicists, Harper Collins, Bounce Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing, MuddyLittleboots Publishing, Bird and Blend Tea, Choices Hire Services and Fox Under the Moon Ltd to make this day happen. Sponsored tickets were very generously provided by Vikki Patis (Author) and Choices Hire Service and recipients confirmed. 

The Authors

Helly Acton

Helly is a best selling Author of funny novels that offer a fresh twist on self-love, relationships and romance. Her first novel was The Shelf, a self-love story about life pressures, and her most recent publication is Begin Again. Helly survives on minimal sleep, ten coffees a day and leftover scraps from her sons dinner plates.

Ella Allbright

Ella aka Nikki featured in our very first special edition book boxes as we themed a box to her novel, The Last Charm. Nikki just won third place in The Elizabeth Goudge Trophy – from the Romantic Novelists Association! Nikki is a self confessed reading addict and as well as writing under Ella Allbright, she is the Author of the popular Love London series.

Sarah Clarke

Sarah is the Author of psychological thrillers, her most recent being The Night She Dies published by Harper Collins. A lot of her books feature Mothers, and she likes to set them in real places – The Night She Dies is her fifth novel. Her intrigue in the human psyche fuels much of her writing and copywriting.

Daniel Cole

Daniel Cole has worked as a Paramedic, RSPCA Officer and for the RNLI, yet in fiction he regularly kills off characters in his crime thriller Ragdoll series and standalones, Jackdaw and Mimic. He is a bestselling Author probably best known for the Detective William Fawkes series, now a popular TV show!

Daniel was the very first Author to visit our in person book club after they all suggested that we just ask him! He’s been back a second time now and has told us all the ins and outs of both his Ragdoll series and more recent publication, Jackdaw.

Linda Corbett

Linda is the Author of Love You From A – Z and What Would Jane Austen Do – her work is described as feel-good contemporary romance. More importantly, Linda’s books span representation and disability portrayal in books is a passion close to her heart.

Anne Corlett

Anne is the Author of The Space Between The Stars published in 2016 and more recently, The Theatre of Glass and Shadows which was published by Bonnier in May 2024. It’s a book about immersive theatre, perfect for fans of The Miniaturist and The Doll Factory – filled with intrigue, tension, and magic.

Emma Critchley

Emily’s debut adult fiction novel, One Puzzling Afternoon, was published in June this year in paperback. Emily’s writings have gained international awards particularly for her Poetry. Emily describes herself as an experimental writer and academic. Her debut is a clever murder mystery – and an empathetic and realistic portrayal of the toll Dementia can take.

Miranda Dickinson

Miranda is the Author of bestselling contemporary novels and doubles up as a crime fiction writing with her Cora Lael series – writing as M J White. She will be attending the event with both of her ‘hats’ on to answer your questions, chat about her books and read an extract *maybe two!* Her recent novel as Miranda Dickinson is Things We Do For Love, enemies to lovers with a good helping of Shakespeare. As M J White her latest release is The Deadly Echoes, with the next book in the series coming up in the Autumn.

Miranda has been a firm supporter of Tea Leaves & Reads since the early days, signing books in very unique and special ways and championing bookshops, especially independents, in her weekly Fab Night in Chatty Thing Facebook Show.

Judith Heneghan

Judith is a senior lecturer in Creative Writing and a novelist. She teaches the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Winchester. Judith’s second novel for Adults, Birdeye, was recently published. With luminous prose, infinite humanity and exceptional storytelling, Birdeye shows us family – whether chosen or given – in all its fasacinating complexity.

Amanda Prowse

Amanda is a multi-million bestselling Author of compelling, emotional fiction. She has published more than thirty novels and narrates her own audiobooks. Her recent novel, Swimming to Lundy, reminds us how it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Amanda was the very first Author to sign books for us, way back at the start of the pandemic when we began. She is the very reason that the bookclub is here as she inspired us to start a virtual group when we couldn’t be together in person. We’re delighted that she joined us for our celebration day because she and her husband, Simeon, have been a champion for us from the very start. Amanda’s introduction of us at the very start, was beautiful.

Emma-Claire Wilson

Emma-Claire Wilson describes her purpose for writing to ‘make sense of the world’ – she published her debut novel, This Child of Mine, in 2023 and her most recent book, When you Were Mine, just came out in the UK in 2024. Emma-Claire travelled from Spain to be a part of the bookshop celebration day! She writes emotional and powerful novels of motherhood, friendship and family.

Save the Date: We’re looking forward to our second Bookshop Festival in 2025. Save the date now – 26th September – 29th September 2025.