Life Updates
Hey hey everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s Eve, whatever you may have been doing. As I am posting this, I am getting ready to go on an exciting trip to NYC with Matty which I am super excited about, but which sadly means an early night for new year. I’ll miss cheering and/or dancing at midnight, but I’m sure we will more than make up for the lack of celebrations while we are away!
Christmas Celebrations
My Christmas was a bit of a weird one. The run-up to break was HELLISH with my work being a chaotic, understaffed nightmare, and then both of my parents getting really sick and having to miss out on all of our December plans. It hit me quite hard, especially as I no longer see my Mum in the shop every day… I think like many people, I suffer with SAD at this time of year and the coldness, darkness and broken plans left me with a real sense of melancholy that I found hard to shake. But I don’t know, maybe a little Winter melancholy is good for the soul? I tend to get very reflective and existential this time of year, but that feeling always fuels action and determination when January rolls around.
Anyway, despite Mum & Dad missing Christmas Dinner, we did still see them briefly for present swapping - then we popped to our local The Merchant House for a few drinks with friends (as is tradition), had a lovely home-made curry and then visited Mat’s Mum and step-Dad (and Thor the dog) for games and cheese (yay cheese!)… It was actually one of my favourite Christmases ever in the end, and full of good cheer!
Other Stuff!
At the start of December, Paul and Andy came to ours for a festive watch party of My Secret Santa - a Netflix Christmas movie written by our very own amazingly talented friend Carley Smale!
This movie is SO MUCH FUN!! The story revolves around a single Mom who disguises herself as Santa in order to work at a posh ski resort, and get her daughter cheap snowboarding lessons… Cue hidden identity hijinks! We giggled all the way through and had such a great time watching. So proud of Carley, and the fact the movie was number one in so many countries, and gained over 18 million viewers. Even iconic rom-com author Emily Henry was watching!
Later in the month I had a weekend away in Brighton with Mat, my cousin Erin and her partner Doody. It was supposed to be with my parents too, but they were too unwell to make it which was GUTTING. Especially as we went to see Sunny Afternoon - the musical about my Mum’s favourite band The Kinks that she was so excited to see.
The musical was utterly brilliant and really transported us back to the edgy band scene of the 1960s - we will definitely see it again with Mum and Dad next year, hopefully in Edinburgh this time! After the show we went to some great Brighton bars and had dinner in a delicious Thai restaurant where the waitress shared all her home-made Thai moonshine with us (ICONIC). Also, our hotel had a robot cleaner! Erin got drunk and fed it a chip!! Good times.
Creative Updates
Book Updates
So… I finally got my rom-com edit notes back from my new agent Daisy HOORAH! I had been patiently waiting for her thoughts on the big rewrite I’d sent over a few weeks ago. And luckily for me, she really loved the new ending and many of the changes and tweaks I’d made.
HOWEVER… There was still further work to be done before it was truly ready. I received a new list of notes to work through, including honing in on the tone of certain scenes, tweaking specific language, getting rid of any weird moments that weren’t landing, and threading stronger character motivation throughout.
I’m not going to lie, editing to this level has been hard. It’s the most I’ve ever been pushed when it comes to edits, but I think that’s what will make all the difference compared to manuscripts past. Daisy is an absolutely amazing champion who completely matches my energy and she has helped me take my work to a whole new level. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of! I feel like I’ve finally been taken off the bench and allowed to play with the big boys, and it’s scary but utterly thrilling.
All being well, we should be ready to get this book out to editors in January… And I will keep everything crossed that someone out there falls in love with my sunshine leading lady and her grumpy, finance officer love interest…!
Music Stuff!
On the 17th, I performed not one, but two gigs over the course of the evening with my amazing, talented friend Olly on guitar - the first was a colleague’s leaving do at the Uni, where we performed 10 songs surrounded by festive fairylights in the foyer of Eldon Building.
I have to admit, it was quite a tough gig - we were competing with loud noise levels (as was expected), and the buffet inexplicably being opened over our set rather than after as was scheduled (we just cannot compete with free curry)… BUT, despite these challenges, I think the set went great, and we had a cluster of supporters right up front including our fellow band practice members and a few academic lecturers who I suspect may be becoming not-so-secret Becky Jerams fans. Also the Dean knew all about me and gave me a shout-out on the mic during the pre-drinks… Gosh! In a job where I feel like the lowly, invisible shop girl most of the time, it’s so nice to finally be seen by the people I work with. And I never feel more like myself than when I’m singing on stage.
We went on to The Wine Vaults straight after, along with a gang of Uni pals, to join my friend Matt Harrison and his band Hometown Show for a festive jamboree night! The vibes were quite different at the pub - boisterous, but very engaged with the music, which was awesome! We repeated a handful of songs with our brilliant friend Mel on violin, and I played a few extra songs with Matt too. We had such a great reaction, and a stranger even bought me a drink after dancing along, how nice!
I loved hearing Hometown Show’s set, and being surrounded by so many faces I know and love. It was one of those “yep, this is the life” kind of moments - I’ve been singing in pubs with my friends since I was 16 years old, and here I am over 20 years later, still performing with them, still dreaming, still making music. It’s something I feel very proud of. And no matter what happens with creative successes in my life, I will always have this. Pure joy. Shared connection. A life filled with love and music. Sheer perfection.
OH YES. AND. Our Christmas edition of Ted’s Trivia Tuesday was the most packed and successful quiz night yet! Thanks to everyone who has come out to support our nights - we look forward to hosting many more in 2026.
Movie Recs
Pillion - The hottest vampire from True Blood and Harry Potter’s childhood bully join forces in this very funny, very spicy and oddly moving story about a BDSM gay relationship. I found myself thinking about this for weeks after watching - it really got under my skin and I absolutely loved it.
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie - I expected very little from the JoBro Xmas special, but I actually thought it was hilarious and the music was top tier. Why did I ever doubt them?
The Housemaid - I was SO excited for this adaptation of Freida McFadden’s thriller and it really did not disappoint. Twisty, campy and very enjoyable!
And of course My Secret Santa which I mentioned earlier - go watch it!!
TV Recs
No Strings Attached - Mel from Mel & Sue sits down with random celebrities and gets them to read invented erotic fanfiction about themselves whilst puppets re-enact the story over the top. The stupidest show that ever got the green light, BUT I FIND IT VERY ENTERTAINING OK? DON’T JUDGE ME.
Dash & Lily - My favourite ever Christmas mini-series, I watch it pretty much every year, and this year it’s making me SO EXCITED to be in NYC in Jan!
Emily In Paris (S5) - Yes, I keep watching this crap. She’s in Italy now. Who knows what’s going on, who cares? The outfits are spectacular and that’s all that matters!
Book Recs
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Hayley Dunlop - A really lovely festive rom-com that deals with harder issues, such as grief, alongside the cute Hallmark-trope inspired A-plot. I loved following our leading lady Mally as she returned to her small hometown over Christmas and re-connected with the guy at school she always had a crush on!
Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey - An easy, spicy festive read about an ex-convict window dresser and the jolly owner of a posh department store who share a little more than a decorative window if you know what I mean. I love any story set in a department store at Christmas, and when it’s cute and sexy, even better!
The Spa Break by Hannah Doyle - Yep, I read a summery rom-com during Winter and I loved it! Such a funny, entertaining book that had a great theme of female friendship alongside the romance.
Music Recs
As it’s the end of the year, I thought I’d share my 2025 BANGERS playlist - all killer no filler from the past year of music releases:
(The embedded version is 100 songs long but this baby is at 754 tracks and counting, so plenty to listen to !!)
Well, it’s been an amazing and productive year and I’m sooo excited for what might come next - have a wonderful 2026 everyone, and thanks for reading all my silly little ramblings!
Until next year…
Becky xx
Yayyyy! Well done babe Xx a jam packed December 🥳🥳🥳