“Put your hands together for
Josie Dom
appearing at Colchester’s newest bookshop,
House of Joy!”
And the crowd go wild!
This feels very BIG!
I was moseying along Crouch Street in my home city of Colchester one day in March when I saw the beginnings of House of Joy taking shape. “Oooh,” I thought, “a new bookshop – I’ll be back.” And I did go back, bought a book (Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey – excellent, highly recommend) and had a chat with the owner, Ryan (he plans to combine running a commercial business with ensuring the space is available for community, including popping in for a chat and a coffee, so do get along to enjoy the atmosphere yourself), to introduce myself.
Brazenly and with confidence, I suggested that House of Joy might like to have a Writer in Residence, and then we spoke about workshops for children. At some point in the following weeks, my confidence dipped again and I dithered over contacting Ryan again. But thankfully, I had planted a seed which grew, and Ryan emailed me! In a boost for shy people everywhere, Ryan told me that he had got in contact with me because I was the least pushy author who had been in to his shop in the first few weeks.
I will be in House of Joy fortnightly on Fridays from 1-3pm. Forthcoming dates: 24 July, 7 August, 21 August, 18 September.
If you spotted the missing date in that list – well done! I won’t be there on Friday 4 September – that week, I’ll be there on Thursday 3 September.
As Writer in Residence, I’m enjoying the opportunity to talk to customers about stories, writing and publishing processes, using our imaginations, and lots more book-ish chats.
House of Joy and I will be collaborating in the summer holidays to run workshops for children.
29 July: Imagination & Creation Workshop – for children age 4-11. Come along and get involved in creating your own story! We’ll start with some fun activities to get our imaginative minds working. Followed by craft activities to help us visually create stories. Every child receives an Imagination & Creation workbook to take home.
15 July: Lum storytime and crafts – for children age 4-7. Join Josie to hear her Lum story and get to know Lum and Josie during a relaxed crafting session based on the book.
2026 is certainly shaping up to be a year of moving forward for me. I’m getting ideas, not allowing myself to tell me that they’re silly and then I’m taking action to make them happen!
Becoming a Writer in Residence seemed impossible for someone like me: shy, quiet, independently published and lacking in confidence. But it is happening and is my third impossible thing this year, and I’m halfway to my celebratory breakfast at Milliways!
Find out what my forth impossible thing is next week!
