June 2025
Birthday celebrations, Agent meetings, Gigs Galore and ANOTHER Strictly Shout-out!!!
Life Updates
Ahhh we are now officially in the second half of 2025! And I’ve been writing these monthly Substack posts FOR A WHOLE YEAR! I absolutely love blogging again, and whether you’ve been here the whole time or you’ve only just joined me, thank you sooo much for being here!!
First things first, June was my birthday month!! 38 baby. I had a lovely chilled day having takeaway with my parents and my Mum redyed my hair (check out our trout pouts below). After spending last year away in Prague, it was nice to do something small and chilled with Mum and Dad this birthday.
Of course, there were other celebrations, but more on that later…!
On the first week of the month we went to see my beloved pirate crush Rhys Darby live at The New Theatre Royal. We had front row seats and he was honestly looking straight at me during some of his set!! I’ve got to admit, his stand-up was VERY silly (including a surreal beatboxing section with a looping soundboard, choo-choo noises and ominous bird cawing)… Some of the material really tickled me, whilst some of it didn’t quite land. BUT STILL. He’s such a cutie with incredibly magnetic energy and I’m really glad we went to see him. After arguing with Amazon all week, I needed to get out of my own head and just get lost in ridiculous comedy for a few hours.
I also got lost, this time physically, on the way to the toilets and ended up trapped in the corridor of the adjoining White Swan building and having to go out the back exit and plead to be let back in again without a ticket. An older lady had followed me in my quest and was evidently very cross that I got us both stuck. “You looked like you knew exactly where you were going!!” she fumed at me. Well, lady. I can tell you with great confidence that I never know where I’m going, even when I look like I do, so if you choose to follow me it is at your own risk.
The first weekend of June was Portsmouth Pride! There was a huge celebration on Southsea Common including stalls, food trucks and two stages of amazing entertainment. We saw SO many good acts including local drag queens Cherry Liquor and Lucy Caboosi, Drag Race contestant River Medway, and the awesome Pink tribute act ‘Pink-ish’. Sadly, it was pissing down with rain (boo), but it didn’t do anything to dampen the spirits of the crowd who were all singing and dancing along in total celebration and freedom.
With right-wing, bigoted opinions getting louder and bolder in these modern times, we need to make sure we keep showing up and drowning out the bullshit with love. I am so proud to live in a city that always celebrates diversity and inclusivity, and it was a beautiful afternoon to be a part of. I also really loved the speech given by reality star Ella Morgan about how she is so thankful to every cis person who shows up for the trans community and how much everyone’s voices together makes a difference. It was really touching to hear that and to see so many people around me on the right side of history.
Mat and I celebrated my birthday later in the month with a mini-break in London. We went to a gorgeous Italian restaurant called Jacuzzi where I had the best chocolate mousse of my life, perused big book shops (my dream) and had drinks and cocktails in multiple hipster bars.
We also went to KT Tunstall’s 50th birthday gig at The Royal Albert Hall - and the 20th anniversary celebration of her debut album Eye To The Telescope. I was 18 when this album first came out and it had a profound influence on me as a songwriter, so to hear the whole masterpiece live from start to finish with a full band was EPIC. KT sounded utterly fantastic, the band were out of this world and I remembered every lyric to songs I haven’t heard in years. (Seriously, these songs are imprinted on my BONES.) So nostalgic and wonderful. I would have been more than happy if that had been the whole gig, BUT THEN, KT sent us all away for an interval, and treated us to an epic, rock and roll, birthday bash PART 2, including loads of special guest stars!
In total, including a few cameos in Part 1, the special guests were Mel C, Natalie Imbruglia, Rick Astley, Jools Holland, Emma Flynn (who plays Cher in Clueless The Musical) and Roger Daltrey from The Who. They all performed with KT and they all sounded fricking incredible. The set list was delightfully bonkers from a Spice Girls Stop mash-up with Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing, to Rick Astley drumming as he sang Highway To Hell. KT was dressed up like Van Halen and jumping around the stage like an excitable, highly-talented gerbil all night. IT. WAS. EPIC.
Also we were soooo close! It was like hanging out with a bunch of mega famous pals!!
Seriously, one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen in my life. Such an amazing thing to see right before my 38th birthday, and a reminder that there is simply no age to creativity, talent and making mischief. (Roger Daltrey was 80 and still absolutely rocking it!!)
OOH and speaking of birthdays… It was my Dad’s 70th on the 13th! We had a BBQ and some drinks from “Barry’s Bar”. Perfection!
One last thing! My bestie Paul (aka. One Box Of Fudge) scaled The Spinnaker Tower last weekend for charity - he raised over £2000 for local charity Sophie’s Legacy and we all cheered him on as he performed such an incredible feat! Well done babes, we are all so proud of you!
Creative Updates
Bookish Stuff
This month has seen me get my head down and really get to work on my new adult romance book, ready to pitch to agents and romance publishers over summer.
I have been working SO hard on this, and I think (well, I hope), I’m going to have a very different experience pitching this book than with my dark academia YA Mrs. Violet’s School For Criminal Girls. (Which I still love by the way, and will put out myself if all else fails).
YA is in a really weird place right now. Unless it’s romantasy or a heavy issues-led book, it’s not really being sought after. Adult romance on the other hand? That market is BOOMING. Simply perusing agents’ wish-lists has already felt like a gentle downhill slope compared to the energy-sapping, uphill battle of pitching YA. I feel like I’ve turned up to the bake sale with a delicious, gooey chocolate brownie rather than a slightly stale spinach quiche no one really wants to eat. (But the quiche is good if you just try it, trust me!)
Anyway, who fricking knows what will happen. I certainly don’t. I’ve lost the ability to hope anymore. But I haven’t lost the ability to keep trying anyway, thank God for that. And my lovely friend Gina imparted some excellent editing notes to help make my book even stronger before going out with it, so let’s hope I’m doing everything I can to give RR (ooh secretive title) the best chance possible out there in the trenches.
In the meantime, the self-publishing dream has… kinda plateaued. Blurgh. This month, Nerd has not been as lucrative as during the bountiful month of May which has definitely thrown a bit of doubt into my “hybrid publishing” plan and whether it’s still the right path to follow or not. And it’s not about the money, it’s about visibility and knowing that my books won’t get swallowed into a black hole all over again.
BUT, there is still lots to be done before I give up with it all (which I’m not going to by the way). I am currently battling Amazon who have blocked me running ads due to an 8 YEAR OLD UNPAID NVOICE OF JUST OVER A DOLLAR. How this invoice has been missed in the first place I have absolutely no idea, but it seemingly lives in digital purgatory where it simultaneously exists and doesn’t exist at the same time because it tells me it was written off years ago and then expects me to still pay it. Which I can’t, because it doesn’t exist.
Anyway. That’s been hellish fun, especially when I have no time to be on chat support for hours on end. Do you find that everything in the world simply doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do right now? Is it just me? Oh well, when I’m finally over this hump, I’ll be running ads, occasional discount deals, and of course, there are more books in the series to come which will help with visibility massively. I’ve just got to keep on trucking!
Meet Cute Festival
The other bookish event of this month was attending the romance convention Meet Cute Festival on the 28th! It was in a big field in Elstree and featured stalls, panel talks and 1 to 1 meetings with industry experts which was sooo helpful!
I met with a literary agent, the head of a romance indie publisher and an editor from Simon & Schuster, all of whom gave me really thoughtful and detailed advice on my writing and pitch. It was a lot of information to digest, and in some cases I received conflicting advice (hello art being subjective!), but overall I think these meetings will make my query pages so much stronger. I may even have a lead or two, but it’s tricky to tell for sure… The vibes went from “sweet and casual” to “you are being aggressively grilled in The Apprentice boardroom”, so that was, uh… interesting! I definitely know I’ve grown as a human being when I no longer so much as break a sweat over being hauled across the metaphorical coals, so that’s something to be proud of!
Oh yeah, another thing… The 1 to 1s were supposed to be in a marquee, but the marquee collapsed (RIP), and we were all sat on chairs in the mud around a big tree. Well, during my first meeting, my chair began to SINK INTO THE EARTH and took me down with it. I tumbled to the side and onto the floor whilst screaming “aah what’s happening?!” and then had to profusely apologise at the sheer unprofessionalism. Luckily, the very nice lady I was chatting to saw the funny side. Erm, hopefully it will make me memorable. (WHY DO THESE THINGS ONLY HAPPEN TO ME???)
I also got to meet loads of lovely authors at this event, including my friend Jack Strange who I’ve chatted to on Instagram, but never met in person before! He introduced me to fellow romance author Zac Hammet who was lovely, and I also got to meet the other authors from the panel I’d just watched, including Lucy Vine who was absolutely lovely! Overall a fabulous day of inspiration and networking. Thank you SO much to Matty for driving me, and sitting alone on the field watching The 1975 Glastonbury set whilst waiting for me - I love you.
Music Stuff
Very exciting news - I wrote a second song for Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell from Strictly Come Dancing! They SHOUTED ME OUT (for about the third time now) on their podcast Winning Isn’t Everything, specifically asking me for a new song… So naturally, the challenge was accepted! I wrote the song immediately and booked in at Mayfield Studios to record it up in time for the very next episode.
I decided to give this one a totally different vibe to “Anything Is Possible” - think tender, beautiful (but funny) musical theatre. Dianne Believes is all about Dianne’s love of angel numbers and manifestation, which she talks about on the podcast often, much to Chris’ exasperation.
Dianne said the song was beautiful, gave her goosebumps and that she had never felt more empowered in her life! And Chris said, and I quote, “I believe in the power of Becky Jerams”. Please put that on my gravestone so I can die happily.
Tune in around the 1.01 mark of the episode to hear their reactions - they are such legends and I’m so happy to have interacted with them in such a positive way!
In other news, on June 18th I played my first gig in absolutely ages at Southsea Spirits as part of the Southsea Sounds monthly covers night. It was SO MUCH FUN and literally lifted my soul. (Plus the sound quality was soooo good, which makes ALL the difference).
I performed with my lovely and super talented friend Matt Blackwell on piano - we did 6 covers songs ranging from a jazzy rendition of Murder On The Dance Floor to a massive group singalong of Never Ever. The vibes were immaculate and I was taken straight back to my teen open mic nights of yore with everyone getting involved, bantering and adding gorgeous harmonies to all the songs. I was so chuffed that so many people came along to support me and I met loads of awesome new local musicians/heard some really cool covers.
This sounds dramatic, but I felt like I was exactly where I belonged that night. And that feeling has been very much needed as of late.
Ooh also! My full-length vlog for Poland is now up on Youtube! Please do give it a watch if you want to see me and Mat drunkenly ranting about the rude Wodka barman for five minutes, or if you want the full-length experience of the HORRORS of the haunted waxwork museum (truly the funniest 10 minutes ever committed to film if you ask me):
Movie Recs
Marcell The Shell With Shoes On - OK, I really thought that this movie might be too twee and cutesy for me (I always prefer my twee with a bit of bite), but I decided to give it a go before it left Netflix and on a recommendation from a friend… And OH MY GOD, it really captured my heart in ways I couldn’t have predicted. A tiny little shell just trying to find his lost family? I can’t cope. There was such a tenderness and bittersweetness running through the whole film, with lines of dialogue that really hit home. (The final monologue had me weeping.) Very much recommended.
And Mrs. - This was a pretty cute and heartfelt little movie starring Aisling Bea who I absolutely adore. She plays a young, recently-engaged woman whose husband suddenly dies, but she decides she wants to go ahead with the wedding anyway. Not your typical rom-com by any means, but it was sweet and easy to watch. Also, there are loads of cameos from great comedians. Suzie Wokoma in particular is a BABE.
Another Simple Favor - I absolutely LOVED the first instalment of this franchise (Anna Kendrick and the rather controversial Blake Lively are BABES) so I was really excited for this sequel… Sadly, I think the storyline was complete TRASH (sorry lol), but it was super campy and the outfits/setting were EXQUISITE so meh, I still had a fun time with it. I do think it could have been camp, fun and soapy whilst remaining A TINY BIT grounded in reality, but oh well, I will just have to accept the long-lost, incestuous triplet storyline into my heart and get over it.
TV Recs
Big Mouth - The final season of this gross, weird little cartoon is upon us, and I am so sad to say goodbye to the whole perverted gang! This last batch of episodes has not disappointed and all the wild and wacky plot lines have amused me no end… Plus Nick has had a growth spurt and finally been drawn taller?! Hilarious.
Sirens - I have kind of been watching this mini-series in the background in the evenings, it took me a little while to get into, but there is something kind of addicting about the glossy island summer home setting and gorgeous outfits. It follows two sisters - one of whom appears to be in some weird, cult-like relationship with her guru boss Julianne Moore, and the other who is trying to drag said sister back home to help with their ailing father. It’s a little style over substance, but still worth a watch.
We Were Liars - Another “everyone is beautiful and wafting around, but just let it wash over you” kind of show (why are so many like this right now?!), but it is based on a YA book that I read last year, one which has a pretty shocking plot twist at the end so I’m kind of intrigued as to how that’s going to play out on-screen. The setting is stunning and there is lots of drama, so I’m invested enough to keep going.
Book Recs
Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood - Ali Hazelwood is my favourite rom-com writer of all time. Her books are just so quirky, intelligent, hilarious and sparky, I can’t get enough of them! (Which is handy because the woman is PROLIFIC with a Capital P). I wasn’t sure if I would like Not In Love as much as some of her other titles, but I would say it’s easily made my Top 5. This one is a little more serious and angsty in places than past stories, but that really worked for me. Rue is a cool, complicated leading lady and the spicy scenes are super hot. I also loved Ali’s signature ‘women in STEM’ setting which this time revolved around patent theft. A 5 star read!
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne - I am truly in my rom-com era this summer, and while for some reason this book took me aaages to read (think it was due to reading on e-book), I still absolutely loved it! A classic workplace-based enemies-to-lovers story set in a publishing house. The plot was minimal, it was mainly vibes based, but the writing was SO quippy and sexy, and it was honestly so funny. Made me wanna re-watch the movie next!
Part Of Your World by Abby Jiminez - Another rom-com rec and my first full-length Abby Jiminez novel (I did however read and enjoy her short story in last year’s Valentines anthology by multiple authors). This was a pretty cute story about a posh, rich girl who falls for a small-town, sexy guy 9 years her junior, much to her snobby family’s disapproval. It did feel a little bit overly “American” in places, but it was smart and funny, and I’d definitely check out the next books in the series!
Music Recs
I Quit by HAIM - The coolest sister trio in music is back with their fourth studio album and it’s a banger. Full of vibey, summery tracks featuring sultry vocals, jazzy instrumental parts and weird-as-hell melody lines that get totally stuck in your head. One of my favourite bands of all time who never disappoint.
Something Beautiful by Miley Cyrus - This is Miley’s 9th studio album (blimey) and features some really interesting songs and moments. I was discussing this with Paul and we both agree, it’s not really as strong as her last album, but I will say there is something about it, and I think the ‘visual album’ element will really enhance the experience when I finally get to see it. I also LOVE Easy Lover, it’s sooo catchy!
Medicine by Grace Potter - This is a re-imagined re-release of the 2010 album of the same title (released under ‘Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’) featuring brand new, bluesy arrangements of all the songs. They sound so different that when I first had this album on in the background, I didn’t even twig these were songs I already loved and knew so well! Grace’s voice is so husky and gorgeous, and 15 years later it sounds just as rich. I’m not sure why she is revisiting this tracklist through a different lens, but I’m totally here for it!
Bloody hell, this month was insane hahaha. But that’s just how I like it!
Let me know your plans for this summer. And invite me to your BBQs OK!!
Becky xxx
Another insane month babe 🤣🤣🤣 well done darling 😘😘😘