Christmas Interview with Author Pamela Freeman

Join me in warmly welcoming author and teacher at the Sydney Writing Centre, Pamela Freeman.

How did you celebrate Christmas as a child?

After Midnight Mass (very exciting to be up so late) all my family's friends would come over and we would cut the Christmas cake.  Then presents in the morning and a huge family dinner.  The adults all went to sleep in the afternoon while we kids played with our new stuff.

Do you have a family Christmas tradition? Tell us about it.

My grandmother, and then my mother, always made the traditional boiled Christmas puddings.  I have inherited Nana's cauldron, so now I am the pudding maker for the clan.  The process starts six weeks before Christmas with the making of the puddings and hanging them up in their cloths to mature.  That's when I know that Christmas is just around the corner.  And you get a wish each year as you stir the pudding!

Have you celebrated Christmas in another country?

I lived in London for a couple of years and celebrated Christmas there.  The strangest thing for me was having no cherries on the Christmas table!  When I was little that was the only time we ever bought cherries.

What will you be reading over Christmas?

I teach novel writing at the Sydney Writers' Centre, and I will be reading some of my students' work over Christmas.  I'm looking forward to it - I have some very talented students!

I might slip in some crime, fantasy and history as well.  But really, my holiday reading comes in January - Christmas is usually too busy to read much!

I hope you all have a wonderful peaceful Christmas and a lovely New Year!