Today’s my stop on the blog tour for the final instalment of Jennifer’s ‘Witches’ trilogy. If you haven’t already read them, make sure you find yourselves copies of ‘The October Witches’ and ‘The November Witches’ to read first. You can get to know the characters ahead of time by reading Jennifer’s exclusive piece about the ‘young hags’ who feature in her stories.

“December is Clemmie Merlyn’s favourite month as it usually begins with birthday cake and gifts. But as she turns thirteen, it begins with a bang: Clemmie, and Clemmie alone amongst all witches, is full of magic. So full of magic she might not make it to the end of the month. As the snow spirals down, anxious Clemmie and the young hags will have to find some way to stop her exploding.

Because someone, or something, has chosen Clemmie and made her their One True Witch. But magic is meant to be shared and no-one can survive being filled to the brim with starry power. Can the Merlyn and Morgan covens finally take on the ancient twisted magic of their ancestors? And can they do it in time for Christmas?”

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It’s time for Jennifer’s exclusive piece which explores the ‘young hags’ at the centre of her trilogy.

Character break down

Spending three books with my ‘young hags’ means I feel like I know them pretty well. They’re no longer my young hags though, now they’re yours! And you might see in them totally different things.

Kerra

Kerra returns to the young hags at the beginning of The December Witches but after getting stuck in the tapestry, she is changed forever. Her loud, squeaky, insistent voice (usually telling the rest of the witches how something should be) is gone and she is silent – or silenced – for the beginning of the story. Kerra, who was always so bold, is scared now and nervous, still recovering from being tapestry-trapped.

Like her sister, Kerra is the way she is because as a young Morgan witch she has spent her whole life so far trying to impress her mum, the leader of their coven.

She and Clem came into conflict in November – you’ll have to wait and see if they can heal their rift in December!

‘Kerra and I were born at different times in different places to different families but we’re made of the same stuff. We came out of the same soup of ingredients. She’s my soup sister.’

Mirabelle

Clem’s cousin – and favourite person – is quick-witted and clever. She’s smart and funny with her words, most of the puns come from her! She uses her humour to deflect from some of her bigger emotions and at the beginning of the trilogy was hurting and alone. By December, she’s growing upand choosing joy. Whilst Clem and the rest of the young hags are struggling, Mirabelle takes on the role of cheerleader, giving herself the job of being an elf. She is still pretty short, has purple curly hair and a pointy chin but you’ll hear a lot more laughter from her in this third book!

‘Yes, we’re scheming but we’re scheming because we love you. Love-scheming, if you like.’

Senara

Senara is a Morgan witch, meaning like her younger sister Kerra, she was raised in isolation amongst witches only. She doesn’t really know much about the ‘human world’ but over three books, we see her really try! 

She cares, about all people, magic or not and in The December Witches we see her take on even more of a caring role. She’s also the voice of logic and the one keeping an eye on Clem’s health – you can’t be full of all the magic in the world for long without being at risk of exploding and though Senara is not yet a doctor, she’s on her way!

Senara’s eyes turn spacy for a moment. ‘Doctor Morgan,’ she murmurs. 

Clemmie

All three books are told from Clem’s perspective as her power descends from the stars for the first time and she grapples with that. Clem is a witch who makes a LOT of mistakes – and has felt a lot of guilt for that – but mistakes are how we all learn and in November she proved she can lead a coven.

Now, we see her up against the strongest power yet which is trying to take her over from the inside. Clem has never known exactly who she is (Clem/ Clemmie/ Clementine or even Clemency!) but now she is pulled in lots of different directions – is she going to be Sister Christmas or the One True Witch?

It’s like being asked where my homework is, but not only have I not started it, I’ve also kind of burnt down the school at the same time.

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I think that readers will identify with elements of all the young witches’ characters as they all search for their place in the magical and human worlds. Even magical families have their squabbles and unspoken hierarchies which its members must navigate.

Jo.

*Many thanks to Uclan Publishing for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour*